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shrimpflavor 's review for:
When the Tides Held the Moon
by Venessa Vida Kelley
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It was cute enough, but not really for me. I found myself quite bored through most of it, skipping 60, 90 seconds ahead and not missing anything.
The audiobook narrators were excellent, no complaints. You will get more out of the story if you already know/understand Spanish, some of the dialogue is not translated. Which is fine, I have enough situational spanish to get the gist, but it threw me a bit off guard at first.
There is passionate kissing and some mind-melding/soul bonding but no explicit sex, so I was a bit disappointed there. I would put it in the "older teen" demographic.
I found Benny a bit frustrating, immediately following the aforementioned soul bonding he basically straight up betrays Rio and expects him to go along. I was struggling with why he didn't just carry Rio to the beach, out of the tank? I feel like the family would have happily helped him, if he had just told them from the beginning what was going on. And anyways, if My soul mate was trapped in a cage I would have stopped at nothing to get him out, regardless of the consequences. We're talking about a person basically being forced to a life of slavery and torture in a room that is physically killing him. I wouldn'tve waited.
I guess that's why I consider it more ya that it claims- Benny makes stupid decisions that he doesn't think through, much like a teenager. That's fine, I just wish I knew it was ya before reading. Nothing on the book description points to that. He may be an adult, but he doesn't act like one.
So, if you like mind melding, and you like gay mermaids, and you like to read YA, this one's for you. Otherwise, not worth it.
The audiobook narrators were excellent, no complaints. You will get more out of the story if you already know/understand Spanish, some of the dialogue is not translated. Which is fine, I have enough situational spanish to get the gist, but it threw me a bit off guard at first.
There is passionate kissing and some mind-melding/soul bonding but no explicit sex, so I was a bit disappointed there. I would put it in the "older teen" demographic.
I found Benny a bit frustrating, immediately following the aforementioned soul bonding he basically straight up betrays Rio and expects him to go along. I was struggling with why he didn't just carry Rio to the beach, out of the tank? I feel like the family would have happily helped him, if he had just told them from the beginning what was going on. And anyways, if My soul mate was trapped in a cage I would have stopped at nothing to get him out, regardless of the consequences. We're talking about a person basically being forced to a life of slavery and torture in a room that is physically killing him. I wouldn'tve waited.
I guess that's why I consider it more ya that it claims- Benny makes stupid decisions that he doesn't think through, much like a teenager. That's fine, I just wish I knew it was ya before reading. Nothing on the book description points to that. He may be an adult, but he doesn't act like one.
So, if you like mind melding, and you like gay mermaids, and you like to read YA, this one's for you. Otherwise, not worth it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Slavery, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Classism