Unseelie

Author: Ivelisse Housman

My rating: 4.7 out of 5.

Seelie is a changeling who was able to grow up with her human counterpart, Isolde, as identical twin sisters. As much as she wishes and tries to act like a normal human, Seelie’s magic and different way of relating to others forces her and her sister to leave home as teens. When they find a magical compass that can lead them to a forgotten treasure, Isolde is excited for the adventure, but Seelie feels quite the opposite. Unwilling to work with two others who must come along, afraid of her own magical abilities, and wary of the magical compass that only works for her, and speaks in her head, Seelie is dragged along on an adventure filled with way too much danger.

When i started the book, I thought it was well written, but the characters were too immature. Seelie had all this magical potential, and she just kept hiding behind her twin sister, constantly complaining about any change or danger that came their way. She’s also on the autism spectrum, so she had a difficult time interacting with anyone other than her sister.

Seelie matured a lot throughout the book. Mostly in her own self-confidence about her abilities and her place among humans. I liked her a lot better by the end.

Her relationship with her sister was also nicely complex. Isolde and Seelie grew up looking after each other, and complimented each other’s strengths and weaknesses. But they’re growing up now and discovering that they don’t necessarily have the same vision for their future. And that, like any other change, scares Seelie. Seelie is a homebody. She just wants to return to her happy childhood, and she can’t imagine that her sister wants something different. It was nice to see how close the sisters were, and the cracks in their relationship as their lives and wants began to diverge.

The story itself was really good. Set in a world that lives alongside a faery realm, with some time spent in the faery realm, dealing with faeries and with some good and some dangerous humans, lots of magic, and friendships… This is a series I’ll be looking forward to continuing.