Review: Upon a Starlit Tide

Upon a Starlit Tide by Kell Woods
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Narrated by Esther Wane
Presented by Bolinda Audio

An interesting blend of Cinderella and Pride & Prejudice with a splash of The Little Mermaid.

I had both a physical and audio copy of this one, so began with physical and finished with audio.

The story revolves around Lucinde, who saves a man from a shipwreck. He's the handsome son of a wealthy family and she - as the adopted daughter of another wealthy family - finds herself greatly intrigued by him. She's also not like other girls so she likes to dress as a man to help her dude bro Samuel salvage wrecks.

So yes there's a little bit of a love triangle, but there's also fae folk running about and popping up to help or hinder. Which, honestly, was a rather refreshing twist - especially as they're not the purpose of the story, just an aspect of its world.

There's class stuff, too, with the snooty rich folk looking down on people who actually work for a living, so there's your P&P for you.

I enjoyed the blend, but it did bog down in the middle for me. I found, after certain events, that I was expecting it to wrap up but as it continued I was wearied by it. Still, it picked up again and finally introduced some really unique stuff that won back my interest.

The writing is quite pretty, and paints some beautiful scenes. I did notice I had more time for the writing when reading, as opposed to listening. The narrator has a very strong English accent and it did change how I related to the story. Still, she did an okay job, though some of the characters started sounding the same and every now and then she'd read a line in the wrong voice.

I think it was a little too familiar a tale for most of it to properly draw me in. The setting didn't hugely interest me and the 'rich people looking down on poor people' trope is one I'm really tired of. While the blend of retellings was a new angle, the stories themselves are not and I really felt that here.

I do think other fantasy lovers will enjoy this more than I did. There are some intriguing moments and it did re-tell the stories its own way. So as a retelling, it's quite unique. The characters are an interesting mix, but Charlotte was the standout for me because she was a character I haven't encountered often. I liked her blend of love/hate.

If you're looking for a retelling that does things differently, or a fantasy story that goes easy on the romance, this might be just the ticket for you.

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC, and Harper Collins for a physical ARC

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