Thank you Erewhon Books and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

If you're looking for a book with LGBTQ+ representation, diverse characters, historical fiction, found family, and a down bad merman, then you're in the right place. Our story follows Benigno, a Puerto Rican immigrant who accidentally builds a tank for a merman, catches said merman, and ends up working and living with the band of misfits who want to add the merman, Rio, to their "Menagerie of Human Oddities". What starts as a way for Benigno to get off of his feet turns into a tale of found family, self-acceptance, and finding the kind of love you'd do anything for.

I absolutely loved Benigno and all of his flaws. As a bisexual woman of color, I related to his self-doubts brought on by his sexuality, ethnicity, and physical appearance. Although frustrating at times, his internal struggles felt very real and necessary for his character. Watching Benigno build his own harmony, accept himself, and fall in love was so rewarding!

Rio was such as sweet character. While I would have loved more tension between Benigno and Rio, I loved watching Rio lower his guard and let Benigno in. Rio did everything he could do for Benigno despite his restrictions, and I don't think Benigno would've come to accept himself nearly as quickly without Rio's love.

As for our side characters, Venessa Vida Kelley did such a wonderful job ensuring they all had their own story. Despite the book being in Benigno and Rio's POV, I was able to feel the found family in this book get stronger with each interaction the two of them had with the other Menagerie members. Each character in this novel felt very flushed out, and that is not an easy task to complete. In conjunction with the characters, I loved the historical fiction aspect of this novel. Kelley told this story in a way that educated me without taking me out of the story.

Kelley's characterization and story telling was incredible, and I cannot wait to see what she comes out with next!

I loved When the Tides Held the Moon so much. What a delightful story. It seemed to me to be both a story of embracing oneself and a romance. The chemistry between Benigno and Rio is wonderfully written, and the cast of characters is so fun. They all have their own personalities that light up the pages. I can't recommend this one enough.

1911 New York. Benny Caldera, an asthmatic blacksmith from Puerto Rico seizes an opportunity for the slightly better conditions in the Ornamental Ironwork Department over the structural department. He finds himself crafting an elaborate caged tank... one which will eventually hold a coveted prize for an exhibit at Coney Island's Luna Park: a merman captured from the banks of the East River. When he loses his Ironworks job, Benny finds a home for himself with the crew of performers, and drawn to the creature trapped in the cage. The closer Benny gets to Rio, the more he understands that his own identity as a queer immigrant from Puerto Rico is only part of his story as he begins to recognize himself as a part of a larger found family.

What a lovely romantic fantasy debut novel. I love the ability to pick up a historical novel set outside of popular eras and find that the author has paid a lot of attention and care to the details of worldbuilding. Venessa Vida Kelley is known for their character art, but showcases their skills as a writer capable of developing rich characters, even as a part of a large cast. The romance between Benny and Rio is closed door, but no less romantic for the pining, care, and sacrifices they make for one another.

What originally drew me to this book was the premise of gay mermen. What kept me reading was how great the story turned out to be.

Set in 1910s New York, this book tells the story of Benigno “Benny” Caldera, an orphaned blacksmith. Benny is just trying to get by until he unfortunately loses his job. Down on his luck, he is hired by the leader of the famed Coney Island playground, Luna Park, to help capture a merman for a new exhibit. However, as Benny gets to know the merman, he can no longer ignore the agonizing truth of Rio’s captivity.

This book really delivered in a way I didn’t expect. I loved how Benny was depicted and how the author fully fleshed out his character. It felt like we truly got to know both the boy from Puerto Rico and the man trying to survive in New York.

One of my favorite aspects of this book was the found family subplot. The cast of characters was eccentric and managed to make a home for themselves under unique circumstances. Even though they had very little in common, they still became a close-knit family despite their differences, and I found that really touching and beautiful.

The romance was really well done. The progression of Benny’s relationship with Rio felt organic as they went from enemies to friends to lovers. Their conversations were nuanced, full of emotion and passion, and I loved it.

The beginning was a bit slow for my taste—I wish we’d gotten into the meat of the plot faster. There were also moments when the dialogue didn’t flow as well as I’d hoped.

At the end of the day, this book was magical, romantic, and truly captivating.

Thank you to Hambright PR and Kensington Publishing for gifting me an arc of this book before its official release.

No excuses, I simply forgot to review this.

This was a lovely read: liked the romance, liked the characters and the writing style, and I loved the illustrations - the cover? Beautiful!

The best thing about this story is the romance to be honest - it was heart-warming but also gut-wrenching at times and pulled on all the right strings. And the standout part is the found family trope, which I am always a sucker for and here it's done so well that I desperately wanted to meet these people in person.

This book was everything I didn’t know I wanted in a Mer - story. 😍

It is the perfect combination of found family, historical, romance and fantasy all rolled into one. Rio and Benigno and their slow burn relationship was everything. The illustrations are superb. The descriptions of Coney Island made me feel like I was there.

When the Tides Held the Moon
Vanessa Vida Kelley
Published April 29 202
ARC Review
When the Tides Held the Moon was my first dive into an LGBTQ+ book. This story takes place back in the 1900's in NYC Coney Island. It combines fantasy with historical aspects and develops into a beautiful story about diversity, family and being true to who you are. It is a slow burn with minimal spice and a touch of forbidden love,
To anyone who loves a bit of fantasy I highly recommend this book.

Thank you so much to @HambrightPR & author Venessa Vida Kelley for the complimentary copy of the book!!

This book is OUT NOW!

Wow!!! This is not my usual type of book but I am so glad I read it. This book was deemed The Shape of Water meets The Greatest Showman and that is entirely correct. Now granted my memory of The Shape of Water is a little foggy but I do remember the main themes of the book and well The Greatest Showman is one of my all time favorites so naturally I was sold on the book! The part that made me nervous was the historical aspect of it and if you know me, you know I am not usually picking up merman books. I was nervous that because of the merman that it was going to be too fantasy and maybe high magical realism. I trusted a book friend's review of this and she ensured me that this book is easy to follow. She was right.

"Rio, you make me feel like I'm kissing the tides."
"Benigno, you make me feel like I am holding the moon."

I was able to follow this book from start to end with no issue. I thought this story was so original! I was enthralled in Benny's story and loved his journey throughout the book. He was this scrappy kid from Puerto Rico who was giving a name and sent to New York to start a new life. But as you can imagine, it was not an easy go for him. By chance he meets Samuel Morgan who commissioned Benny's employer Structural Ironworks to build a tank. When things go bad with them, he seeks out Mr. Morgan and from there Benny learns more about his business and meets a family of entertainers. See Mr. Morgan runs a stage show in Luna Park called Morgan's Menagerie of Human Oddities. And the merman is going to be the exhibit that saves them all from financial ruins.

I absolutely loved all the side characters in this!!! I thought there was just enough of them and you got glimpses of each of their personalities throughout the book.

I love Benny's relationship with Sonia and Matthias the most. Sonia is young and stuck in this role as the face of the Oddities. Morgan uses her to get money from rich men who help fund the side show. She doesn't want this life but she feels like she has no other options. I did feel bad when she thought she found a good guy in Benny (which don't get me wrong he is a good one) but Benny is gay. Matthias was who he confided in the most. They had meaningful conversations and I love that the Matthias was working on his memoir throughout the book. It just was a fun side thing he would do. He felt like the "dad" of the group.
Between the two of them, they really took Benny into the family and taught him about their life in the show and guided him. Benny felt like he could trust them the most.

By the end of the book all the characters were there for Benny and Rio - keeping it vague so you can see why & how!

"Cause the prettiest girl in Brooklyn wants me, but my heart wants someone else. Someone who knows me better than any human alive - including me. And I don't even know his name. 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."

The romance between Benny and Rio - gahhh my heart!!!! Benny just loved Rio for who he was - merman and all. I love their incaldenstine meet ups and how they bonded over music. It was so cute when Benny would play the guitar for him and they would trade off lyrics. Rio taught Benny how to swim and how to control his breathing (Benny has pretty bad asthma). Their relationship was just so sweet. You could tell they just needed one another. Benny had no family until he met those on the side show but Rio was taken away from his family (his mother was killed) and they just had this sense of loneliness until they met. And I thought the end was very beautiful.

My biggest issue is just a my own personal pet peeve (not reflective of the authors writing or the story itself) but I hate long chapters. The chapters on average were about 15-20 minutes on my kindle. As much as I loved the book, it took me a while to read because of the longer chapters.

As if this story wasn't original enough, because the author is a talented artist we got to see their work sprinkled throughout the book. The drawings are incredible and added that extra touch to really help set the book apart from other novels out there. Plus it's always nice to see the images that you are trying to imagine especially the one of all the performers.

I highly recommend this book!

When the Tides Held the Moon by Venessa Vida Kelley - ARC REVIEW

Happy Mer-May!! And what better way to kick off the month than to talk about this gorgeous book 😍

I've been anticipating the story of Benny and Río since I purchased some artwork of the two a few years back from Venessa's shop. As a result, I admit that I held off reading WTTHTM because I was worried I would be disappointed especially when a few reviews I saw noted some valid concerns with characterization. I can not speak for everyone but I felt like the representation was thoughtfully done. With the whole idea of an Oddity sideshow playing into what society thinks is weird and unacceptable, this group of outsiders has not only found a way to make a living off of people's judgment but has found a home amongst each other.

Seriously, the found family between the Menagerie members, Benny trying to find his place in the world, the commentary about not fitting into societal standards, and the growth of Benny and Río - were all just absolutely beautiful! Not only is Venessa able to capture a world of emotion within her artwork but they also weave it perfectly into their story evoking those same feelings amongst the words on the page.

WTTHTM published April 29, 2025 - My physical copy arrived in the mail yesterday and I am 100% going to do a reread so I can see the illustrations alongside the story.

Thank you @kensington.parties , @erewhonbooks , and @netgalley for providing an e-galley copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC!

I LOVE this book!

First of all, I adore Benny. He isn't perfect and doesn't always make the right decisions, but it's easy to see where he's coming from and his flaws just make him all the more relatable.

My favourite part of this book is by far the romance! The way Benny and Río's relationship developed felt so natural and organic. I love their dynamic, and how tender and loving they are with each other!!!😭😭

I also loved the cast of the show and their found family. They are diverse and come from all walks of life. I appreciate that they have their own personalities and feel like individuals, and are not just token stereotypes. The romance is the main focus of this book, but Benny gets to spend one-on-one time with each of them, and we get to learn about each of their backstories and how they came to perform in the show. Benny doesn't exactly hit it off with them at first, but over the course of the story, they grow and come together.

The art is also really good! They are so detailed and fit the vibe of the story. My copy is an eARC, but I imagine the illustrations in the published physical copies would be so much better than the tiny pictures on my phone screen.

Overall, a fantastic debut. I can't wait to read more from this author!

This book has been getting a lot of love, and while I didn’t fully click with it myself, I can see why so many readers have embraced it.

When the Tides Held the Moon is a sweeping, wish-fulfilment fantasy in the best fairytale tradition, but this time reimagined to centre a BIPOC immigrant experience. That framing is significant — and overdue. While the plot hits some familiar beats and unfolds in a fairly predictable arc, that doesn’t mean it lacks heart or purpose. There’s something deeply meaningful about seeing this kind of lush, romantic storytelling given to characters who haven’t often been allowed centre stage in this genre.

Kelley’s research into 1911 New York is meticulous, especially the aspects of history that are often sidelined — tenement fires, workhouse abuses, and the slang of the time all bring texture and grit to the story. The dialogue made me smile, and at times, wince. It’s a richly imagined world.

That said, I didn’t find myself swept away the way I hoped to be. Maybe I’m just not the ideal reader for fairytale-style romances, but I still appreciated what the book was doing. And the illustrations — I cannot stress this enough — are breathtaking. They elevate the story completely. Honestly, I’d recommend the book for the artwork alone.

I may not have fallen in love, but I’m still very glad I read it.

3.75/5 rounded up
This book was adorable and I was so happy to read a queer YA romance featuring a Puerto Rican immigrant. I felt so seen and along with the illustrations thoroughly enjoyed watching this romance progress. Rio had beautiful lyrical writing and Benny was so honest and real their scenes together were my favorite. I do feel like their romance was rushed a tiny bit and would have liked some more tension considering their circumstances but maybe because Rio was literally stuck in an aquarium it could have just felt that way too me (power imbalance).

The side characters were nice and I definitely felt that 'Greatest Showman' comparison but I don't think I could agree with the comparison of 'The Shape of Water'.

It started to feel predictable towards the middle and unfortunately because of this I got a bit bored and didn't feel a sense of urgency to finish and find out the ending.
Thanks to the publisher for the early copy in exchange for an honest review!

A stunningly written historic Romantasy with beautiful art work.

Benny is a Puerto Rican blacksmith, emigrated to New York for a better life. He takes on a project which inadvertently pulls him into a Coney Island show. The show crew capture a Merman as the new member of their show. The Merman forces Benny to face some truths about himself and to make som difficult decisions. Does he save his new found family or his new found love?

This is different to other popular romantasy books at the moment but it was refreshing change. There was no big world building to get to grips with. Only the ability to accept Merpeople and some slight magic is needed to follow this story.

It's easy to develop a bond with these characters. Benny is a lost soul that finds his family in the other show acts. They don't all accept him but they all develop a love for each other and look out for one another. They are all unique with various backgrounds which are a joy to learn.

This book gives major Great Gadsby x Greatest Showman vibes and it's a joy to read.

I am at a loss to articulate how very much I loved this book. Set in the early 1900s in New York, it’s stunning in its balance of raw loneliness and poetic romance and resilient hope that’s threaded through all of the beautiful prose.

This book made me swoon and the messages of connection and found family and sheer bravery  tugged at my heart till all these characters made a home there. Specially Benigno and Rio! Benigno who we meet as a blacksmith and Rio the Merman - I absolutely loved them. They will stay with me forever.

The theme of being other, of being confined to a narrative, of your very soul being disregarded is heart wrenching. Finding solace and love and joy and belonging in the midst of that is almost miraculous, a gift of what should be a given.

It’s a beautiful story of the most unlikely of pairing meeting in the most unlikely of circumstances shouldering each others burdens together till they can be free, discovering the serendipitous turn of fate that made them ideal for each other, fighting with all their might to be together.

The writing is vivid, descriptive, immersive. Graceful and weighted in pacing , grounding. Utterly fantastic reading experience. Also the art in the book is sublime 🥹

PRetty interesting. I had a nice time reading this. Unique world building and the characters were also written well. Looking forward to reading more
3.5 Stars

This was such a beautiful book! I’ve followed Venessas art for a while and was really looking forward to their debut novel and it did not disappoint! We’ve got queer and Puerto Rican rep, found family and absolutely gorgeous illustrations. Highly recommend and looking forward to seeing what Venessa does next!

Thanks to Netgalley and Kensington Publishing/Erewhon Books for the arc!

Thank you to NetGalley, Kensington Publishing, and Erewhon Books for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Reading Venessa Vida Kelley's "When the Tides Held the Moon" was a magical experience and I really enjoyed my time with this book.
This book takes place in early 1900's New York City and follow Benny, a queer Puerto Rican immigrant as he discovers himself and finds love in the most unexpected of places. As a gifted ironworker he crafts a cage for a group of local circus performers to house their newest exhibit. Tired of his job in ironworking he joins the circus performers at Luna Park on Coney Island, and they welcome him with open arms.

Benny soon finds out that the cage he built was for capturing a merman from the sea, a mystical creature that most believe to be a mere fairytale. Benny and "Rico" the merman soon start to find comfort in one another that slowly builds into a beautiful romance.

I love the found family aspect of this book. The group of performers really hit it off with Benny and really start to care for him. This book is full of so many interesting and memorable characters. I will say that if you are not a fan of slow burns then this book may not be for you as this is one of the slowest burns I've read in a while but not in a bad way. The longing builds and builds until it bursts into a beautiful romance that was well worth the wait. There is no spice in this book but honestly it wasn't even needed and would have felt out of place to me anyway. This romance at least to me was meant to be more on the emotional side of things.

* Historical Fantasy
* Found Family
* Forbidden Love
* Slow Burn
* Queer Romance

This was a fantastic story that I'll be thinking about for a long time. Venessa Vida Kelley can really tell a wonderful story!

It needs to be said: the first chapters had me genuinely wondering if I was having a stroke. I, for one, finished the whole book and still don’t know what that prologue is about. Past that, you get to meet the MC, whose internal narration is randomly interspersed by words in Spanish. Of course, it’s quickly explained that he’s a Puerto Rican immigrant who had to learn English a few years ago to survive. But if his fluency was an issue, wouldn’t it make more sense for him to struggle with big English words during dialogue (which he barely does) rather than in his interior narration?
An example, Chapter 1: “Don’t ask how a flaquito like me wound up in here.” (note: no emphasis to differentiate both languages in the source either.)
How would he know what “wound up” means but not the translation of “flaquito”? Nonsense.

Its other fatal flaw is its pacing. The middle felt like it would never end—like being stuck in a cycle of longing between the MCs doomed to go nowhere. And when a solution is finally handed to the MC on a platter (because he’s not resourceful enough to figure something out himself), the climax and resolution take forever. This might be related, but the last “twist” (related to the MC’s asthma) took way too long to happen for how much foreshadowing there was throughout the story, even though it still ended up feeling like a huge chunk of lore was missing from this macguffin. All-in-all, I feel like the book could benefit from some trimming here and there, about 100 pages; but it also comes down to personal preferences.

What truly redeems it in my eyes is that it’s beautifully illustrated (the art is GORGEOUS, oh my!), and the sense of setting is so well done. It truly felt like being transported to early-1900s New York.

I also enjoyed learning about the side characters and their backstories—it made their sense of unity pop that much more off-page. The “villain” also has a compelling past that added a lot to his character.
On top of that, a word about the romance: the slow-burn, "enemies"-to-lovers dynamic between the two MCs delivered everything it promised. There was so much pining!

I know I complained a lot in this review, but I genuinely enjoyed the book overall. It reminded me of those 50+ chapter merfolk AUs I used to inhale back in the day. I’d definitely recommend this book it; it hit all the right buttons for me!

Loved this book! The writing is so smooth and instantly captured my attention. The illustrations were extremely well done and brought the story to an entirely different level. The connections between Rio & Benny is incredibly beautifully & filled with love. For anyone looking for a magical romantasy who loves playing mermaids when you were little, this book is for you.

The story of a blacksmith named Benny who unwittingly designs a tank to hold a merman. As the latter is held captive by a sideshow owner, Benny slowly grows closer to him.
I loved the queer love story in this, it was told in such a beautiful way and was what kept me invested.
I also really appreciated the found family in, with the performers in the sideshow all being compelling in their own ways.
The author illustrated the book, and the artwork was gorgeous, perfect for the story, and helped it come alive for me.
A delightful read that took me by surprise.