A review by farronk
When the Tides Held the Moon by Venessa Vida Kelley

adventurous hopeful informative inspiring medium-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

5.0

 <i>When the Tides Held the Moon</i> is a fairy tale. I loved the choice of setting and time period, and the large cast of characters, but, much like any other fairy tale, you have a pretty good idea how things will play out, and the book is more about how the characters will achieve the ending you hope for. Kelley has clearly done their research about the setting, rendering it vividly. 


As someone who’s read a bit of literature from the book’s time period, I did think there were occasionally moments where the identity-forward language used placed the writing squarely in the 2020s. It is not that I found it unbelievable that characters would have the conversations they did, just that some of the terminology that might have been seen as neutral or even progressive at the time would not fall the same way to modern readers. I believe this was more out of care for the modern readership than a total ignorance of how these conversations have evolved, as some words that held great weight at the time were still used, probably because they are not well-known by many readers or not considered offensive in the same way. It was a fine line to tread, and I think it came to a decent solution by doing this. Many of the best fairy tales bend a little of the reality around them to suit the sensibilities of its audience. 


I keep saying I don’t like to compare books to other properties, but I’ll do it here again: the straightforward storyline, the beautiful setting and charming cast, the illustrations and fairy tale feeling of this book give me ‘cult classic summer fairytale movie’ in the best ways. If you liked Big Fish, Edward Scissorhands, and Ever After, I think this book will charm you. It has a similar social commentary to The Shape of Water, though it is more action than horror. 


I’m a sucker for anything with a mer creature, I’d been wildly anticipating this book for awhile, so it gets a 5/5 for me. 
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