Upon a Starlit Tide

With this book I'm a little torn. The first half dragged a bit and a few things annoyed me, mostly the inconsistent writing of some characters and the slow-ish plot-progression. I also was bored by the protagonist being from a wealthy, high society preoccupied with balls and finding husbands and picking out dresses - maybe I've just had enough period drama for now 😅 However, the further it progressed the better it got. The story became more and more gripping and I was invested in the relationship dynamics and the mysteries behind Luces origins. The setting was again superb, you could definitely tell that a lot of research and care went into portraying a historical Saint-Malo and its society. And the fairytale-mashup was great again as well, and so was the implementation of fae-creatures. Towards the finale the book took surprisingly brutal and angry turns, which I enjoyed. The very ending then left me teary-eyed and I loved the resolution. So all in all an enjoyable read, even though the beginning could have been more streamlined for my taste. Still, everyone who loves a good historical fantasy with fairy elements will probably enjoy this, as will fans of Wood's first book 😊 Thanks to Tor Books and Netgalley for the e-ARC!

I cannot overstate how amazing the writing is in this book. As a Cinderella/Little Mermaid retelling, is the story the most original thing ever? Of course not. But the language used is so enchanting that I literally did not care. The amount of research the author must have had to do to accurately describe the architecture and fashion of the era is nothing to sneeze at either. This was clearly a labor of love.