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A review by litwithlesia
When the Tides Held the Moon by Venessa Vida Kelley
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
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.
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.