A young blacksmith, Benigno, from Puerto Rico caught himself in a "fishy" showbiz's affairs in New York City. He was unintentionally helped Sam Morgan—the owner of this showbiz company—to capture a Merman to keep their business running. But little did he know, it would change his life forever. Torn between saving the Merman's life or his new family's future, Benny must make the right decision.
This is a beautiful tale of found family & love. I was sobbing reading the last 25% of the book. I love the merman (Río), I definitely root for him. The romance between Benigno and Río is beautiful, it shows us that we must fight for the ones we love. I thought it's supposed to be a slowburn romance, but the pacing seems to be a little bit rushed between them. I feel like Río just suddenly trusted Benny just because Benny showed him kindness?
The first 20% of the book was slow, very slow paced it frustrated me. But the last 30% was action-packed, fast paced, everything happened at once. A very interesting read as a debut novel.
The ending... A chef kiss. Heartwarming, and it made me cry again. Oh, and the illustration!!! Very captiviting! I love it. 4.25 stars for this book.

It might just be a me thing but I really had a hard time getting through this. The pacing was so slow it made it very hard to get through. I loved the illustrations and that there was an alternative perspective, but this book was just not for me. I think for someone else especially first person perspective enthusiasts—it'll be a hit.

I'm giving it 3 stars because I think the issues I have with it are me issues and there's enough things here objectively that work well.

Made me cry, 5 stars.

I absolutely loved this with my whole heart. The story, characters, everything was amazing. Benigno drew me in from the first page. The narration and writing is so beautiful and whimsical, especially Río's parts. Their romance is tender and heartwarming and I found myself tearing up reading some lines.
Every character is rich and diverse, they all feel so alive. I love the found family trope and this was perfectly done. I really cannot recommend this book enough.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for the advance copy of this book!

I loved this so so much 🥹 in this book we follow Benny, a blacksmith living in Staten Island who is commissioned to build a large tank for a mysterious client. He soon discovers that this client runs a menagerie of oddities over on Coney Island, and after an injury that prevents him from working for the smithy, he ends up with the menagerie. We then learn that the tank he built is meant to hold a merman, and Benny gets roped into helping capture the wild merman. The story that follows is one of love, trust, and family, and is just so beautiful.

Through reading this book, I realized that I really love a circus/carnival/menagerie setting in books! There is always such an amazing element of found family, and this book was no exception. Following Benny as he learned to open up to others and trust them to have his back was so beautiful, and I loved the way Rio really saw Benny for who he is and not what others typically projected onto him.

In addition to the incredible love story, there was such an amazing use of languages and art throughout the book! I wish I had known there was a glossary at the end, as this would’ve helped my comprehension of a lot of things, but I still didn’t mind figuring it out as I went. The art sprinkled in throughout the pages was so beautiful, and was a powerful addition to the story.

Overall I just cannot say enough good things about this book! If you enjoyed Water For Elephants but wish it was more diverse and queer focused, then I’d absolutely recommend this one.

Puerto Rican blacksmith falls in love with merman in 1911's New York. Sounds intriguing for sure, but this short little sentence basically describes the entire plot of the book and that just wasn't enough for me. It started out well enough. 22-year-old blacksmith Benigno Caldera is commissioned to build a glass tank for a Coney Island sideshow called "Morgan's Menagerie of Human Oddities". Benny quickly becomes involved with the show's newest exhibit – the merman Rio who was violently captured from a river and is now held in Benny's tank. I really thought this would make an interesting dynamic for Benny literally built the cage that is holding Rio captive, but Rio was pretty forgiving towards Benny and they quickly warmed up to each other. The story is very straightforward from that point on – they talk and fall in love and plan to free Rio. Not a single surprising thing happened, and I was quite bored while reading. The whole sideshow theme wasn't used much either, because it's off season for the majority of the book. There are a lot of "human oddity" side characters, but I didn't care much about them even though some of them got little backstories. The character illustrations by the author were great, though. The relationship between Benny and Rio was nice, but it was a little strange how no other character seemed to care much for the literal supernatural sea creature in their midst. All in all not a bad read, but not one that will stay on my mind for too long.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Erewhon Books for providing a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was a lovely genre-bending historical fantasy. The early 1900s Coney Island, sideshow setting was unique and fun, and the found family aspect was comforting. I loved Benny and Rio, and how they found their way to one another. Despite some anxiety over the more tense moments, this was overall a cozy and hopeful story.

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect when reading When the Tides Held the Moon, but it was much more emotional than anticipated. And I mean that in a good way. It was a beautifully written book about finding yourself, finding by your people, self acceptance and insight to both the best and worst humanity has to offer.
It’s an incredible love story full of fascinating characters, interesting mythology, and interesting setting. I highly recommend this story if you’re looking for for an emotional read with a hopeful ending.

I honestly had to DNF this book. It’s NOT bad, I swear it’s not. But the main character has my father name and I couldn’t get into the romance because unfortunately of the name. It’s NOT a bad book. I swear. It’s just me. I am the problem. I am sooooo sorry ! Thank you so much for this opportunity, i truly appreciate it. Again I am so sorry!!

- I won’t be posting anything negative on any sites.

This book was splendid! Whilst it was a slow start, I loved Benny's self discovery and the love story.

Found family is always my favourite trope and this was just exquisite. The writing style is quite unique and the art work is gorgeous!

When I first opened this book, I thought I had accidently requested the Spanish version and started panicking because I am a no sabo kid through and through. So, I will just go ahead and mention this book might be a bit frustrating if you didn't take at least Spanish 1 in high school.

However, wow, this book was an experience. I haven't been this completely immersed in a story in quite some time. It's a historical urban fantasy set in a New York carnival during the 1910s.

This a book where you can just tell the author put so much thought and care into it—every detail meticulously researched. I adored most of the writing, only minor grievances, and for a debut novel, this is amazing work.

I really also just learned a lot. I had to take like a 20 minute break to go learn more about Mohawk Skywalkers and how they helped build the city.

That being said, this book is often on the slower side and its heavily character focused with people from all walks of life. It’s definitely not for those looking for a quick mermaid romance—this is a weighty somewhat angsty read, rich with characters and prose.

*full blog post scheduled for April 22nd*

This book was full of beautiful, figurative language. I can't deny that the author could string together some gorgeous words to make compelling sentences that were enjoyable to read. However, much of it felt hollow. Despite trying, I felt myself continuously pulled out of the narrative by the inconsistencies in characters' voices, the inconsistencies within the narrative itself, and the fact that I couldn't find a foothold to bring me closer to these characters. It may have read better from a 3rd person omniscient perspective, because despite being in the 1st person, Benny's narration felt distanced from his character. The way he spoke in his head didn't match up with any other characterization we were given, and the language felt like a barrier to actually understanding Benny's thoughts or emotions. He referenced his hardened heart and his inability to cry several times, but the reasons behind this were half-explained if they were given at all. I am all for trusting the audience to connect the dots, but I could barely find the dots to connect. Beyond Benny, the other characters also tended to blend together until the only way to differentiate them was by the accents their voices were written in (which, as a smaller note, also tended to draw me out of the narrative). The cast felt a little too large and dependent on their stereotypes, which was a disappointing to see. Rio felt flat, his only purpose there to be a mystical figure that conveniently had the right words at the right time and thoroughly understood certain aspects of humanity, unless it would make a good joke for him to not understand. Outside of character, the tone was also rather inconsistent - there were some plot points that came up like a smack to the face, because the tone otherwise had not dipped so darkly (namely thinking of Sonia's storyline). Similarly, the emotional pacing was erratic. The emotional distance didn't lend well to following it through, characters' moods shifted on a dime, and while it made sense theoretically most of the time there was just no build for it in the narrative itself. I just couldn't buy in because everything felt very convenient, everyone seemed to inherently trust Benny for no real reason, and Benny also lacked a clear drive as to why he trusted others, especially when he was consistently referencing his "hardened heart". Even Rio flipped to Benny's side rather quickly when their first interaction was full of violence and death threats, and the best reason offered is this otherness he feels in Benny that doesn't feel built upon or even earned. Rio's sections felt as hollow as his character, it felt like we were just reiterating in even wordier passages what had just happened without adding much from Rio's perspective that we weren't already given through Benny's strangely omniscient viewpoint. The illustrations were gorgeous, though they also sometimes felt like a distraction, but I'll assume that was more due to the format and I do hope they're more seamlessly integrated in the final novel because they are just as beautiful as the language.

I appreciate Netgalley providing an advance review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

While the book's setting and worldbuilding showed promise, the writing style unfortunately didn't resonate with me. I found the dialogue and narrative confusing, and the editing could have been more polished. As a result, connecting with the characters became a challenge.

However, I did appreciate the lovely love story between the two main characters, particularly IlBenny's heartfelt journey of self-discovery and acceptance. The quirky cast of characters in the menagerie added a delightful found-family element to the story.

The artwork was breathtakingly beautiful, effectively conveying the emotional depth of key scenes.

Overall, while the writing didn't quite work for me, the book's unique elements and stunning artwork made it a compelling read.

Thank you netgalley for the arc!

This book left me speechless- to the point i dont even know what to say other than READ IT!

I cried- i cried so much. My heart was ripped out of chest and then put back. I really dont have the words to describe the beauty of this book. <3

"I have collected your smiles, your laughter, your songs like precious pearls".

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for the eARC!

When the Tides Held the Moon is a story about a young immigrant in the 1910's who escapes the hurricane-ravaged island of Puerto RIco only to realize that the American dream is not as much of a reality for people like him. While trying to survive on seemingly the only job he can get in Coney Island, he becomes entangled with a sideshow troupe and their charismatic boss who is trying to bolster their park by planning the ultimate exhibition: a real merman captured from the East River. As Benny comes to know both the sideshow group and the merman, he finds family, belonging, love, and a courage he did not think was inside.

This book is a both a tender love story and a reflection on what it means to be different in a world that is not ready to accept those differences. I really loved the lore behind the merman's world and how his POV chapters were so lyrical and beautifully-written. I also liked the theme of being bilingual and how love can transcend language when needed.

For a debut novel, this was a wonderful story, and the illustrations (done by the author!) added so much magic.

It took me a while to get into it but when I did I was hooked. Such a great book about mermaids and found family. 10/10 recommend for the fantasy and mm romance lovers.

I initially rated this book 4 stars, but after sitting with it for a few weeks and reflecting on the story, the characters, and my reading experience, I decided to lower it to a 3.

I had a good time reading this, and I thought the general idea of the book and the love story were excellent. The story gave Benny and Rio time to get to know each other before getting together, and that time was really lovely. The illustrations in this book are incredible and added so much to my enjoyment of the story. You can tell that the author put a lot of effort into making everything go well together.

Something this book really struggled with was pacing. The majority of the story was very slow, with a great focus on character relationships, but then towards the end the pacing becomes extremely rushed. I can appreciate a more open ending, but something with the execution of this just left me feeling unsatisfied and unrewarded. I also felt a lack of connection with the side characters.

It was also very disruptive how much of the main character's inner monologue was in Spanish. Don’t get me wrong, I think including Spanish was a good choice and it added to Benny’s character, but it could have been done in a much better way for the reading experience of non-fluent readers. Often you understand enough from context but there were many times when I felt that I would need a dictionary to understand, and I just did not care enough to bother looking it up. For context, I want to mention that English is not my native language and I took Spanish as a third language in school, so I’m used to mixing languages and have a basic knowledge of Spanish. With that context, I still thought it was badly incorporated here.

I think the reading experience for this would be best in physical format, with the beautiful illustrations and easier access to the glossary in the back.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for the eARC. I will not be posting this review elsewhere as I’ve heard about the author responding to negative comments.

I feel mixed about this because the premise is fun, the book cover is lovely, the interior artwork is great, and I like the cast well enough. But parts of the writing - particularly the merman's portions - are incredibly poorly written and visually frustrating (the long center-justified visual is something I wouldn't tolerate in fanfiction, either). To be clear, it's not an issue that this started off as fanfiction: many original novels and stories start life as fanfiction (e.g., anyone writing Sherlock Holmes or Cinderella fanfiction), and fanfiction is a wonderful medium, with many stories being better than many published novels, and many authors have written fanfiction, licensed or otherwise (e.g., no one writing Superman now was writing him back in the 1930s). But I think some quirks of this might come from its fanfiction background, and that turns this novel into a your mileage may vary read. If nothing else, Rio's sections should have been better edited. I understand this is an early copy and maybe stuff will change, but I can only review what I have in front of me.

While I appreciate that the protagonist is bilingual, and enjoy a story set from the perspective of a person of color, and appreciate that Benny does, realistically, often incorporate Spanish into his thoughts and dialogue, so much of the story is in Puerto Rican Spanish or other languages, and rather than having footnotes, translations are solely available in a glossary. I appreciate that the glossary exists at all, but this is better for a physical book or some other app that isn't the Netgalley app. I have no desire to paginate back and forth between where I'm reading and the glossary constantly. This may simply be a sign the book is not for me, but rather folks more comfortable doing that or who have more Puerto Rican Spanish fluency in particular than I do, and that's fine! But personally, it makes for a less than enjoyable reading experience. To be fair: it'd be a lot of footnotes each page, and that's difficult to justify. But also to be fair, "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell" managed, and with historical footnotes to boot, and that book is massively beloved.

I am also less than enthused to see the activity of the author, who has seemingly ignored the professional boundaries of reviewer and author on at least three occasions, reaching out to at least three less than positive reviews with long explanations for things. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the book started life as fanfiction for the "Simon Snow" series, and the author is treating this like an Archive of Our Own comment section, when that's not a thing you do with novels not published on Archive of Our Own. Nothing is obviously stopping any author from doing that, or this author from doing that, and I can only imagine they'll hate this review, too. But it makes me deeply uncomfortable as a reader and reviewer, especially when they do so on Goodreads, where reviewers cannot block author accounts. It seems like an abuse of site privileges.

I wish this author the best of luck. People seem to like their book, and I'm glad for them!

(spoiler-free review)

This book is a beautiful, lyrical, carnival and mermaid-lovers dream. Full of whitty, fleshed-out characters with deeply emotional backstories and journies with endless talents and quips, along with the romance and journey blooming between our main characters, I couldn’t put this book down.

Also, within the book, there seems to be artwork that will be included in print, which I am beyond excited to see! It is surely going to shape up as a lovely novel to add to reader’s shelves as soon as they can get their hands on it!

"You make me feel like I am holding the moon"
I loved this.
I've been in a huge reading slump for the last few months and every book I read did not hit the spot, or was boring, or was infuriating (we're not gonna talk about So Not My Type because I might cry) and this book right here pulled me right out. I read the first 40% in one sitting (which is a lot for me) and the other 60% today because I needed to see what would happen with Rio and Benny and Morgan. And it was great.
I loved the menagerie troupe (Matthias my beloved), everyone felt real and full, and I loved their stories and how they took care of each other no matter what (even if Eli was a little shit in the beginning). Lulu deserves everything and I love her. Sonia's story felt a bit rushed to me, it felt a little bit like whiplash.
The drawings are gorgeous (even if the ones here are not the final ones), and the aesthetic was beautiful. There were enough descriptions to build the world and make me feel like I was in New York but without making it boring and tedious, which is something very important to me because I get bored easily.
The only reason why I didn't give this 5 stars is because I felt like the relationship developed kinda weird? It definitely wasn't instalove, but at some point it went from kinda flirty "we like each other" to full on love and soulmate talk. I feel like it could have been better developed. I still love them a lot.

This book was recommended highly by a trusted friend, and it did not disappoint - I loved this! It's beautifully written, and exactly the escape from modern reality that I was needing. Thank you for the opportunity to review!