A tender, queer romance that will have you jumping into the ocean to find a merman of your very own.

This book is like a big cozy hug.

I am a sucker for great art in novels. I picked this up because of the AMAZING illustrations throughout the book and I'm so glad I did. This novel includes two different full-color endpapers for front and back, fully-designed chapter headers, and 27 pieces of detailed illustrations throughout, using beautiful two-color, aqua blue and black inks.

This is a beautifully written story that makes you feel like you're right there beside our main character Benny, as he navigates his young life as an immigrant to New York City in the early 1900s.

I love the setting of an amusement park with a crew of sideshow performers. They are all different and lonely in their own way, but ultimately love and support each other through everything.

The pacing is great, the atmosphere is on point, the characters are all compelling and interesting and the romance between Benny and our merman Rio, feels very real even though they're separated by glass.

Pick this up if you love
🧜🏼‍♂️ Queer romance
🧜🏼‍♂️ Found family
🧜🏼‍♂️ GORGEOUS illustrations (27!)
🧜🏼‍♂️ Circus/sideshow setting
🧜🏼‍♂️ So many amazing quotes

This book is best read by the ocean, searching for your very own merfolk to fall in love with.

Thank you to Erewhon Books for the physical ARC!

Benigno “Benny” Caldera is a Boricua blacksmith in 1910s Brooklyn, New York tasked to create a tank for famed Coney Island playground, Luna Park. Benny is invited to join the show’s eclectic cast & share in their secret: the tank will cage a live merman stolen from the banks of the East River. While everyone else sees the merman Benny eventually names Río as some mythical monster, Benny sees him as beautiful & kind, a miracle. They soon find they have something in common, they're both caged. As they spend more time together their friendship grows to love & it becomes clear that Río will not survive in the tank. He needs to be returned to the ocean. But that could mean Benny losing Río, his new home & his found family forever.

I have been waiting a really long time to read this book! It absolutely broke my heart & put it back together. I was ugly sobbing by the end. My heart hurt so much for sweet Benigno who has no family left & has never felt good enough or worthy of love. Until he meets Río. Both of them are grieving & find a home with each other. I loved watching them begin to trust each other, the playful banter & the oh so tender moments.
This book has a colorful cast of characters, especially those in the menagerie. I loved learning all of their backstories & how they came to be in the show. While this book is a romantasy with a mythical creature, so much of it is about self discovery & identity & the messages are so important.
I could say so much more about this book & try not to give away the rest of the story, but you truly need to experience this one for yourself. I'm not much of a fantasy reader but this book had me fully engaged from beginning to that perfect ending.
Venessa's writing is heartbreakingly beautiful & vivid. So cinematic! SO much love & care has been put into this book by Venessa & it shows. Bonus that the book is fully illustrated by the author!

This book! Gah! It was so unbelievably beautiful. The characters, the setting, the lore….everything was described in intricate detail that made it so easy to see this wild sideshow family. I have loved Venessa Kelly’s art for a long time, and I wanted to read the book at first just to see the art, but she is a magnificent storyteller. I loved it so much.

This is a beautiful and colorful story! If you are a historical romance fan that loves getting actual history lessons, appreciates yearning over spice, and wants an MM where one “M” also means “merman” - look no further. It’s a romance, yes, but an even more than that, a story of identity, belonging and dreaming for more. And there are ILLUSTRATIONS done by the author and they’re gorgeous!

Ever since Benny Caldera moved from Puerto Rico to New York City he’s survived on the bare minimum - wages, lodging, clothing, attention. One day a wild request comes into the blacksmith company where he works: an enormous tank. Benny puts everything he has into building the piece, but as it turns out that’s only the beginning of his journey…

The story of Benny & Río falling in love is full of angst and sweetness. It’s forbidden for so many reasons - first, both are under the watchful eye of their vicious ringmaster boss, second it’s an era where same sex relationships are extremely dangerous, and third, the obvious…one is a human and the other a merman. Benny in particular opening himself up to Río layer by layer to get to the pain and loss underneath was heartbreaking and so well done.

I absolutely adore found family, and that’s one of the other strengths of this book. Each of the Menagerie members took circus stereotypes and made them unique and three-dimensional. All have SUCH vibrant backstories, and have overcome so much to claim their place in the world. If you loved Greatest Showman you’ll love this.

What Greatest Showman glosses over however is well-represented here: the cultural melting pot that was New York City in the early 1900s. Between the various languages and accents deployed - and often - you really feel the diversity, and it makes the world come alive. Benny’s culture is especially present in the narrative. From his aunt, to his life in Puerto Rico, his music and more - and especially the prejudice he faces because of it every day.

There is also a lot of real history represented! Events such as the sinking of the General Slocum, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and Dreamland Fire of 1911 factor into the plot.

An incredible, thoughtful, poetic debut novel!

i don't know if i have the ability to articulate how magical and wonderful this debut novel is.

the cover? stunning. the illustrations within the text? gorgeous. truly, this was a work of art.

to give a brief summary, this was a story about a puerto rican blacksmith, benny, who joins a menagerie of gifted individuals and ends up falling in love with the merman, rio, who's become the latest act to join the show. everything in between that overall plot line was a wonder. to say that the writing was beautiful is a damn understatement. the lyrical prose, the imagery, and the unique voices between each of the characters was done immaculately. while this was on the longer side, the author really took the time and care to give each character their own voice and development.

in this we follow what i can only describe to be the best depiction of a found family. despite mainly being in benny's pov, we get fantastic scenes of the characters dynamics with each other. because they are all seen as outcasts and freaks of society, they may not always get along, but every interaction is made with sincere love and understanding for one another. the author also does a really great job of building the world of this particular time period through the way the characters dress, speak, and act. i appreciated the diversity of the cast, coming from all shapes and sizes (literally) of the world, especially for the where and when this took place.

the slow burn of the friendship to something more between benny and rio happened at the best pace. we got glimpses of their relationship budding while also balancing the outside plot and other character stories. there was action, there was emotion, there was humor, and there was a lot of love. i lived for the tender and touching moments between benny and the rest of the menagerie cast - they really took him in and treated him as one of their own. there were many times that i teared up!

the ENDING. wow. it was the best ending. this was stunning. absolutely no notes.

Set in 1910s NYC, a Puerto Rican labourer ends up working for a carnival side show after helping them trap a merman (who he then falls in love with). Sweet and kind of slow-burn romance, which doesn’t entirely gloss over the captor/captive power dynamics. There were strong Shape of Water (but queer) and found family vibes from the ensemble cast. The story felt really authentic to the time period and location. There's lots of Spanish in it too. I speak Spanish, so it didn't interrupt the flow of the story for me. There was a glossary at the end, so you could look up translations. The eARC had the gorgeous illustrations by the author in it as well. I don't often buy physical copies of books, but will probably make an exception for this one because I don’t think the screen did them justice!

This was truly lovely. I went in expecting something simpler, and I could not be more happy to be wrong. The setting, a 1910s Coney Island park, feels impeccably researched and alive, and I loved how much the author clearly cares for all the people of NYC. The details of Puerto Rican identity and diaspora were central to the character of Benny, which I loved.

I spotted the twist early, which at this point may as well be on all my reviews like a forum signature, but I mention it here not to complain but the opposite: the themes and worldbuilding are deftly foreshadowed and well-executed. The romantic conflict felt real and the choices felt meaningful even if we know from the genre that some of them are inevitable, which is legitimately hard to do. We know Benny must help Río escape—it's in the description after all—but the delays never feel manufactured. You can be a good person and doing the right thing can still be hard.

A charming romance with a great cast of characters and a well-wrought setting. Highly recommended.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

If I had a dollar for every five star read that's been compared to The Shape Of Water, I'd have two whole dollars. Not a lot, but it's happened twice in three months.

I had a feeling this was going to be a new favourite, but I wasn't prepared for the range of emotions it evoked.

It's no secret that I'm a sucker for found family- and I ended up loving this one as much as the romance.

The few illustrations that were included in the ARC really enhanced the story. I can't wait to see the rest when I'm able to get my hands on a finished copy.

I was so excited for this cozy historical fantasy. This debut author is an incredibly talented illustrator and the cover and illustrations throughout were beautiful. I was drawn in by the beautiful cover, the blurb, and the tropes, but I stayed for the story. This story was FANTASTIC! The slow burn romance between Benny and Rio was beautiful, the found family of misfits aspect was entirely endearing, the book was descriptive and alluring. The story poses thoughtful questions on ethics and morality that I appreciated. As a World History teacher currently teaching about the early 1900’s, I really appreciated the historical setting of the book. I really fell in love with the characters and loved everything about it!!

𝓣𝓻𝓸𝓹𝓮𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓥𝓲𝓫𝓮𝓼:
🧜‍♂️Historical Cozy Fantasy
🐚 Queer Romance
🧜‍♂️ Found Family
🐚 Slow Burn
🧜‍♂️ Merman x Monster
🐚 Author Illustrations Throughout
🧜‍♂️ Grief & Comfort
🐚 Friends to Lovers
🧜‍♂️ Forbidden Romance
🐚 Dual POV
🧜‍♂️ One Tank 👀
🐚 1910s New York Setting

“All I know is that he misses the moon. If I could, I’d ride a rollercoaster to the sky just to steal it for him.”
SWOON

Thank you netgalley and Venessa for such a beautiful and tender read!

Outside of the enchanting writing, the characters were super attaching. The found family Benny discovered in the circus menagerie felt so real and their interactions were so adorable. The romance was sweet and tender and I absolutely adored the historical aspect of this book, the spanish words perfectly mixing up with the english or the fact that we get to follow such an original story though the eyes of a Puerto Rican immigrant in early New York. It gave me everything I wanted and then more!

I can’t do anything but recommend this book! Think M/M x Water for the elephants x The Shape of Water! ♥️

I’m heading to London in a few days so I’ll be sure to grab a physical copy of it when I’m there!

Normally, when I come across a synopsis pitching a book as a mix between two or more books or movies, I end up with either feeling like it don’t meet those expectations, or thinking it felt like a “can I copy your homework” situation. I was excited and worried when I saw that 'When the Tides Held the Moon' was pitched as The Shape of Water meeting The Greatest Showman, but I couldn’t have described it better myself.

The art and illustrations Kelley has produced for the book enhances the reading experience, but even without it I could easily see this story visualised on screen just from how vibrantly she wrote the story. Adding the songs she wrote into the story, I struggle to comprehend how she managed to infuse all types of art into the pages so smoothly.

The characters were a delight to get to know, and every time I thought "this is my favourite side character", one of the others said or did something to shift it again for me (minus the obvious guys, of course). The more I learned about them, the more I found myself joining Benigno in dreading the decisions he would have to make. Including the glimpses into Río’s mind as a dual POV added so much depth to plot, and complemented the story in a perfect way.
The found family and the romance storylines both delivered so perfectly, and somehow didn't felt overdone at any point for me. While the story ended with a few questions unanswered, it felt more right than if Kelley had given us the answers, and left my heart feeling warm despite the fact that a few tears were definitely shed on my part.

I have so many thoughts on this story, yet finding words to do it justice in a review feels less likely than me stumbling upon a merman myself. Venessa Vida Kelley coming out with a debut story like this is a testament to what we might expect from the author in the future, and I can’t wait for whatever she writes next.

Ah, this book just was not for me! It had a few too many of my writing pet peeves and did not really grip me. I am sure this will be someone's new favorite book, it just will not be mine. I decided to put it down at about 25%.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kensington Publishing for a review copy!

Gorgeous, lyrical and immersive! I went pretty blind into this book (I didn't even read the blurb) and found myself absorbed with the mythology, the history, and the characters of this wonderful edition.

Set in Luna Park, a historical amusement park that existed in Coney Island from 1903 to 1944, the story follows Benny (Benigno), a Puerto Rican blacksmith turned stagehand who was tasked with building a large portable aquarium for Sam Morgan, a side-show proprietor, and is bribed into participating in the capture of a mermaid. The Mer they capture (named Rio by Benny) is a beautiful, devastated, and grief stricken merman, and Benny is immediately filled with regret. Joining Morgan's Menagerie, Benny vows to set Rio free, but as they grow closer, he realizes that setting the merman free also means losing him...

I loved Benny and Rio's love story, and the assorted cast of unique side characters who are each sideshow performers in Morgan's act. Morgan's Menagerie forms a unique, found family of oddities, including a giant man, a miniature woman, a fake "conjoined twins" act, a contortionist, and a bearded lady. This family immediately accepted Benny as one of their own, even as he worked hard to hide his true self and his secrets from them. All of the characters in this book felt incredibly well fleshed out, made even more so by the gorgeous illustrations accompanying this tome. Both the prose and illustrations completely immerse you into this story. The art is absolutely gorgeous, and I haven't even seen the final edition of the drawings yet (the ARC I received contained only the in progress sketches).

I highly recommend this book. It's worth picking up for the art alone, but the story is equally enthralling! Perfect for fans of historical fiction, magical realism, and tropes including hurt/comfort, found family, and amazing Latine / Puerto Rican rep.

Note: This book does contain quite a few Spanish phrases. I muddled through with Google Translate, only to realize there's a full glossary of translations in the back! Be sure to check the glossary if you're looking for any translations. I do wish the translations had been footnotes so they would be a bit easier to find.

Big thank you to Erewhon Books for the gifted eARC. Thoughts are my own.

This is such a cozy, magical little gem. Set in 1910s Coney Island, it follows Benny, a Puerto Rican blacksmith who ends up building a tank for a captured merman and things get emotional from there. The story blends queer romance, found family, and a bit of fantasy in a way that feels super heartfelt and unique. I had a really fun time with this!

I am a sucker for early 1900s New York + fantasy, and this book is no exception. The emotion between the two main characters is what particularly stood out, the progression of their feelings for each other was beautifully written. Furthermore, the action and suspense felt well balanced, I didn't feel constantly on edge the whole book, but the 'forbidden' element of the romance always lingered.
My only issue is that there is a lot of Puerto Rican in the text, which is not an issue in itself as for the most part, the author does a good job of contextualising non-English speech so the reader doesn't need the exact translation to get the idea of what was said, but there are some moments where I felt I was missing something because it wasn't super contextualised. There is a translation guide at the back of the book (and google exists), so it isn't a big issue, but the guide is quite long and reading on an ereader (as I did), it can be annoying to flip to.

I think technically this is more of a 4.5 for me, but based on everything and how half stars aren't a thing here I'm going to round it up to 5. For the most part this was really sweet, and the fact that it's a debut makes me even more excited, because that means that Kelley will no doubt get better with every book they write. I think technically this book is billed as sci-fi/fantasy, but honestly if you told me it was just magical realism I would buy that as well, because the only thing that's really fantasy about this book is the fact that there are mermaids. Everything else about the story is wholly grounded in reality. In fact, I have a feeling that fans of The Night Circus and Suzanne Clarke will just eat this book up, because it has a similar vibe going for it, as well as the beautiful prose. The illustrations are also gorgeous (and done by the author), and while they don't really add anything to the story as a whole the enhance the book by giving it that little extra something special. Now, while the plot is a lot of fun, where this book really shines is the characters. Benny (Benigno) and Rio shine through as our stars, but the supporting cast is just as wonderful, and Kelley really makes you feel the love everyone has for each other. Honestly, the only "issues" I had here were 1) it takes a little while to really get going, and 2) the main character will just throw random phrases and words of Spanish into the narration. I will note, he's from Porto Rico, and thus it makes sense, and there is apparently a glossary in the back of the book (although it's not overly helpful in an e-book), so while it makes sense I still found it jarring because I don't speak Spanish and for the most part it doesn't seem to have much of a purpose. I will also say that I didn't find the reveal at the end to be all that surprising; in fact, I saw it coming from miles away and I almost think it would have been more impactful if it had either just not happened, or happened differently. I also kind of have a question about it, and while it's not overly important it's bothering me more than I thought it would. But honestly all it all I can't really complain too much. Kelley has created a beautiful love story and interwoven it with themes of belonging, exclusion, and what it means to be different (especially in America). I'll almost certainly be buying a copy for my own shelf when it comes out, and I'll definitely be writing a shelf talker and trying to hand-sell this to all who will listen. I'm excited to see what Kelley comes up with for their next book, because if it's anything like this one it's going to be spectacular.

This book was a little too weird for me. I really struggled with reading this one. I also thought the art throughout the book was weird.

A haunting, lyrical blend of historical fantasy and queer romance, When the Tides Held the Moon follows Boricua blacksmith Benny Caldera in 1910s New York as he builds a tank for Luna Park only to learn it’s meant to imprison a living merman, Río.

As Benny and Río form a deep, unexpected bond, their growing love challenges the limits of captivity, identity, and sacrifice. With lush prose and aching emotion, Venessa delivers a powerful story about finding freedom, even when it comes at the highest cost. I loved the story and how powerful it was definitely a must read.

I was really interested in reading this book but unfortunately it was a chore to read with flowery language, slang speech, and lots of Spanish words mixed in without definitions. I will have to pick it up again when it’s fully illustrated in the final edition.

Omg so heart-wrecking!! This was so raw, emotional, and real!
From the start I was swept away in this historical world that gave me a lot of The Great Showman vibes coupled with merman romantasy! This world was rich in history but the real delight was the characters. I loved how real they were. I easily found myself caught up in their tale and rooting for them.

Benny was an easy character to like. He had a tough life and was only trying to get by. I loved his growth and how his confidence grew throughout the story. He really came into himself and it was beautiful to see.

Rio, oh dear real he was something else. I loved him and you couldn’t help but feel for him. Despite what he had gone through he still had a good heart. I loved him!

Now Benny and Rio together… perfection! It was so heartwarming and sweet. I loved how they complimented each other despite what was going on. The slow burn was beautiful between them and I couldn’t help but fall in love.

There was so many great tropes in here like enemies to lovers, captor/captive, found family, angst, tramuance, romantasy, merman romance, slow burn, historical m/m, building each other up, teaching him, music, lqbtq reps, sweet, discovering oneself, menagerie, and so much more!