This book was a little weird. It had a great premise, but I don't think it was carried out to its full potential. The strange punctuation and capitalization throughout also made it hard to concentrate on exactly what was trying to be told. I had high hopes, but this one just didn't do it for me.

The synopsis sounded amazing and I was delighted when I was accepted to receive a digital copy in exchange for an honest review. I was looking forward to a dark and gritty character...and that is what I got. However, I found myself feeling uncomfortable every time the main character self-harmed herself. I have a friend who used to self-harm and perhaps that is why I feel more sensitive about it. It was well done and presented as close to the truth as possible. The description almost made it feel as if it was happening to the reader as well in some parts of the story. Everything went fine in the story. Iseult believes her mother lives inside her and speaks to her constantly. Iseult is known for being odd. She talks to her mother, but people believe she is talking to herself. Her father, who is cold and distant towards his only child, has been trying for years to marry her off so he never has to see her again. No one wants a bride such as Iseult, despite his attempts at various types of men he invites over in hopes that one will want his daughter. One day, an odd but seemingly kind, gentleman and his family comes over for dinner and a match is finally made. With the wedding looming ahead, Iseult suffers from conflicting emotions. Her mother is louder than ever in her mind. What will Iseult in order to keep herself happy and somewhat sane? Between her mother in her head, a wedding she does not want, and a cold father who wants her gone, things are looking grim for her.
Something that did not work for me was the style of writing used during dialogue between Iseult and her mother. I understand that her thoughts are not exactly clear and organized, but it was difficult at first to understand the difference between Iseult and her mother when they were talking to each other. All lowercase, hardly any punctuation, and the only difference was the mother's words were italicized where as Iseult was not.

This book was very surprising. I liked the storyline, loved the ending, twists turns and other things.
I did not expect this book to be THAT GOOD!
I loved it.

This was such a fascinatingly dark tale and I freakin loved it!

This book follows the life of Iseault as her father tries to marry her off. The problem is, Iseault's dead mother lives in the scar on her neck. This aspect was so interesting as you read the commentary between Iseault and her mother in her head. Iseaults life is not easy and having her mother constatly trying to control her from within while her father tries to control every other aspect of her life, leads Iseault to some pretty dark and gruesome self harming. 

Iseault does however meet a man who is also not suitable for most of society and they start to get along quite well... Until mother gets ever more uncontrolable.

This is not a long story so I won't spoil it for you, but if you love the dark and disturbing, you will probably enjoy this read. I will definitely be looking forward to any other works from this author in the future.

Most of our mothers would be proud to think that their voices remain in our heads long after we leave the nest, providing us with guidance as we ponder how best to handle tough life situations. Such an arrangement is most productive in the figurative sense, with our mothers’ wisdom only being employed on demand, and when necessary. Iseult, the haunted heroine of Molly Pohlig’s gothic Victorian novel, “The Unsuitable,” has no choice in the matter. The voice of her mother is ever-present in her head and very, very literal.

Iseult Wince, as drab and pinched as her name suggests, is knocking on spinsterhood’s door at 28 years old. She routinely chases off suitors chosen by her cold and distant father when she blurts out the fact that she has regular contact with her long-dead mother. More than that, she believes her mother’s ghost resides in the large and painful scar on her neck. As the story goes, the midwife delivering Iseult made a critical error, causing a bone to protrude from the child’s neck during birth, and, as a result, her mother hemorrhaged.

As such, Iseult never met her mother, Beatrice; she knows her only through the nagging, often contradictory conversations that they’ve had inside her head for as long as she can remember. The voice began in her childhood, providing companionship in a lonely early life, but grew to become the chief reason behind her isolation from others. Iseult doesn’t just hear her mother, she responds aloud to her. We can guess, especially given the Victorian setting, this would be seen as clear evidence of madness to anyone within hearing range. Our main character’s father isn’t the only one keeping her at arm’s length.

The reader, however, can hear Beatrice’s voice as clearly as Iseult does. Her chatterings to her daughter are stylized in italics and drop punctuation as they become more and more manic. Beatrice is frequently nurturing and speaks kindly to her child, while at other times, she makes inflexible demands and even threats. It is in these latter moments that Iseult turns to inflicting harm upon herself, simply to drown out the noise in her head with the distraction of pain. Between her relentless pessimism and her willingness to dip a toe into the waters of her dark impulses, there is a hovering sensation that Iseult is a danger to herself.

Absent one parent, one would hope that the other would step in and fill the void, but Mr. Wince has precious little interest in his daughter. He wants her off his hands as soon as possible. When countless would-be suitors lose interest in Iseult upon hearing of her relationship with a ghostly maternal figure, one man has a special glint in his eye. Or, rather, a tint to his eye.

Jacob Vince is silver. His skin and eyes carry the hue as a result of a needed medication containing the metal, dyeing his body permanently. It is a rare skin condition now known as argyria and has caused him to feel like an outcast for the majority of his life, much like our heroine. Their uniqueness draws them together, but as talks of a wedding gain volume, so too does Beatrice’s voice. Her confusing demands about the courtship usher in an uncomfortable question: Is the ghost of Beatrice truly concerned for her daughter’s welfare, or, as is true in any parasite-to-host relationship, is she only concerned that her vessel remains viable? Asking such a question, however, assumes that the reader believes her mother’s ghost is indeed real, as opposed to a personification of Iseult’s frantic and tortured inner voice.

Although it houses an oddness that makes it compulsively readable, “The Unsuitable” has far more premise than plot. The tension of Iseult’s plight could have continuously twisted and writhed, but instead, it unsatisfyingly eases as the book’s events become increasingly repetitive. The gray-tinted claustrophobia that is strongly solidified at the start of the novel fails to maintain the reader’s interest as the dreariness of Iseult’s daily life drags on; even her physically self-destructive habits start to lose their shock factor as they, too, seem to become routine. By the book’s end, many psychological avenues have been left unexplored, and a general sense of missed opportunity becomes apparent. In her debut, Ms. Pohlig paints an outline of an intriguingly dark picture that, without sufficient detail, remains cloudy.

This book was lovely! Despite the time this story is set, the story was rather easy to follow, which was a plus.
I liked the plot, and the ending had me reeling. However, I didn't quite like the way the relationship between the main character and her mother was carried out. I feel like this could be done better. I felt myself skim over these passages a lot of the time, which was a shame.

This book was amazing - it had a most interesting and unconventional storytelling style - through the narrator herself and also her discussions with her mother (who had passed away at her birth but she felt lived inside of her.) However, there is a trigger warning, if you have a hard time reading things that have to do with self-harm, eating disorders, or suicide, do not read this.
The story was very uneventful in some ways - she was a woman who was living in the Victorian era, but she also experienced a lot of inner turmoil which was displayed by the fact that she was having these discussions with her mother. The relationship between herself and her father was very interesting because he was resentful that her birth had caused the death of her mother and thus he treated her as though she was a burden. This was an interesting thing that caused the story to take different twists and turns.
I enjoyed the story and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys gothic horror.

This was a weird book. I couldn't really get into it. The premise excited me (a gory blend of Gothic fiction and a Victorian novel of manners, yes please), which is why I said yes when I was approached to review it, but I was ultimately disappointed by it. The characters were very underdeveloped and the story felt stretched. This could probably have been a really interesting novella, but as a novel, it was just way too long as nothing much actually happened. This is pretty much just the story of a woman that self-harms a lot (described in gory details) and believes that her mother lives in the scar on her neck. Nothing is ever really explained, there is no delving into the psychological aspects of Iseult's problems, and I have no idea what was actually going on throughout this story. The ending (and the slight twist) didn't surprise me and actually annoyed me a little bit. The writing was pretty good, though. Fans of horror stories might enjoy this book for what it is, but it wasn't really for me in the end.

Iseult believes that her dead mother speaks to her through a scar on her neck. This causes Iseult to continually harm herself to silence her mother's voice. At his wits end, Iseult's father finally finds a suitor to marry his spinster daughter. Jacob, the suitor, has problems of his own; his skin turns silver due to a malfunctioned medical treatment. As Jacob and Iseult get to know each other better, Iseult comes more manic and increases her attempts to silence her mother once and for all. Will Jacob and Iseult live a happily ever after (for them) or will Iseult's madness drive them apart?

I found The Unsuitable to be a dark and interesting Gothic Victorian read. The book was disturbing at times, but I loved how real Ms. Pohlig made the characters feel. Ms. Pohlig brings attention how women were viewed and treated in the Victorian Era. I felt bad for Iseult and what she has been going through/feeling her life. The Unsuitable is not for everyone. If you love a good dark Victorian story, then this is for you. Just remember that not everything ends with roses and sunshine, but sometimes it's the darkness and thorns that makes us grow stronger.

The Unsuitable is a character driven dark tale. I think the time frame, being in Victorian times, was absolutely perfect for this novel! Iseult struggles with the guilt of killing her mother during childbirth in the form of hearing her mother's voice in her head, and often having conversations with her. Her life has been dark, lonely and awkward in her room with a father who despises her. Very well written, and still has me thinking about it.

I struggled connecting with this one a bit as it is more character-based and less plot-driven. There are odd punctuation and capitalization features that also kept distracting me and made it a little difficult to read - even though I get what was trying to be accomplished. Then throw in that it has the gothic/Victorian horror elements which require a certain mindset and way to connect to the book and I just felt that I hovered around only grasping a portion of what the book was trying to tell me.

The plot intrigued me enough and then the self-harm and thoughts that our protagonist endures are haunting and disturbing. But I could not help but feel nothing is really explained as much and the characters are not totally developed enough for me. The ending was a little too predictable to me and I still found myself a little perturbed.

2.5 stars - just not for me but I see several 5-star reviews so you may need to check it out for yourself, too!

What a great book! I really, really enjoyed the Victorian setting. The relationship between the main character and her dead mother was fascinating to read. The idea of her being a spinster back then compared to newer, feminist ideals now is something that seemed especially poignant. The author's writing was very clear, and I felt like I was right in there with Iseult living every day with her. Overall, this book is a bit different than what I would normally pick, and I'm glad I finished it. I would recommend this book and author to anyone who is looking for a different, sometimes sinister read.

The Unsuitable was one of those books that sort of came out of nowhere and ended up being an incredibly surprising and pleasant delight. The book itself is something that I would consider to be rather dark, depressing, and disturbing, while also managing to be oddly quirky and even--dare I say--funny--always a winning combination, in my opinion! This book deals with some heavy topics ranging from possible mental health issues to graphic self harm and self-mutilation, so please be aware of that going into this if those are issues you may not want to read about.

The Unsuitable follows the life and mind of Iseult Wince as her father attempts to find a man suitable enough to marry her off to so that he can wash his hands of dealing with her as his daughter and move on with his life. Iseult is twenty-eight years old and still unmarried, a predicament at her age that means she is starting to enter territory where it becomes harder and harder to marry her off since she is so much "older" than the average marrying age. She has been predominantly raised by her housekeeper, Mrs. Pennington, since Iseult's mother died shortly after her birth and only her abusive father was left. The reason that Iseult is still unmarried at this age is due to her rather difficult disposition that has a lot to due with the fact that she believes the spirit of her dead mothers lives within her and speaks to her regularly, a problem that Iseult has found is lessened whenever she physically harms herself, which as you might imagine, poses some problems.

One of things that I enjoyed most about following Iseult's first person POV throughout the entire story was that it was never really possible to discern whether Iseult suffered from severe mental illness that prompted her to hear her mother and harm herself, or whether there really was an element of the supernatural at play. This led to an unreliable narrator situation that I think really added some overlaying intrigue to the entire story.

Iseult herself was a fascinating character to follow. She wavered between seeming incredibly astute and logical to struggle to think rationally whenever she heard her mother's 'thoughts' in her own head and would have conversations with her. Pohlig's wrote Iseult's POV and inner dialogue and ocnveyed her thoughts so well that I couldn't help but become so strongly invested in and connected to her character. I felt much more deeply for Iseult than I could have expected, and I felt like I was feeling all of the same ups and downs that she did. Along with Iseult is Mrs. Pennington, Mr. Wince, Jacob, and of course Iseult's mother that act as the most prominent supporting characters. Pohlig described all of these character so well and their personalities were so sharp and distinct that I really felt like I knew them myself. I became as overwhelmed and annoyed by Iseult's mother as Iseult did, I was disgusted with her father, I felt warmth towards Mrs. Pennington, and Jacob was someone that I genuinely liked and enjoyed all of the scenes with him. He was such a breath of logic and fresh air in a book that is otherwise full of difficult, dark, and irrational thoughts and plot movements.

The atmosphere of The Unsuitable has a notably creepy and dark overtone that can often be found in similar Victorian settings in books (and which I love), and no matter what happened plot-wise, there was always this eeriness lingering in the background that left me feeling distinctly unsettled whenever I picked this book up. In contrast, however, I found a darkly comedic note at play within Iseult's dry thoughts and the dialogue and interactions between Iseult and a potential suitor, Jacob. I'm not sure if I was supposed to be as amused by various parts of this book as I was, but I found such an ironic tone was present at different times that it just came across that way for me.

Overall, I'm giving The Unsuitable 4.75! I didn't expect to give it such a high rating (for no real reason, I just didn't know what to expect!), but I really couldn't put it down and I felt so strongly connected to the characters that I couldn't help but become immensely invested in everything that happened.

The below review will be posted on my Instagram account (https://www.instagram.com/somethingofthebook/) on May 19, 2020.

I did not finish this book. But, this was very much a case of it’s me, not the book. I love creepy, gets under your skin and leaves you thinking about it for days style horror...but not when that comes from body horror. I am literally the most squeamish person in the world and this dark, dark, dark story turned out to not be for me.

But I think for those less squeamish than me, there is a really good novel here. Pohlig can craft one heck of an atmosphere and her prose is divine. If you like darker than dark Victorian horror stories or body horror, this is the one for you, my friend.

I am giving it a 3 star rating due to the quality of writing I experienced during the parts that I read.

This book was a wild ride! It was a slow burn up until about 75%, but I really enjoyed it anyway. For me, a slow burn is down well if it's leading up to something big and this book accomplished that.

Poor Iseult. This girl has obvious mental illnesses that were overlooked and even frowned upon by pretty much everyone around her. But alas, this was the Victorian era ands he was lucky not to have been sent to an asylum for the remainder of her years. Her dead mother "lives" in a scar on her neck and she hears her voice almost constantly. It hinders her relationships with others and with herself. She sometimes can't even hear the world around her over her mother's voice. On top of that, her father is an awful human being who is desparately searching for a husband to taker her off his hands. All he wants is to be rid of her.

This book really brings to light some of the struggles of the mentally ill. The way Iseult rationalized things and her outlook on the world are very much influenced by her mother's words. This was a well-written, fascinating story that tugged at the heart strings.

Quick Take: I would essentially describe this book as if Jane Austen wrote a horror novel. It’s as much about Iseult finding a husband as it is about her mental health struggles, particular her belief that her mother is alive and well in a growth on her neck. When her father promises her to a man whose skin genetically composed to be silver things get dark and quick.

What I Loved: There is so much body horror in this book and I adored it. I was not expecting it to get so violent or to end the way that it did but definitely kept me entertained as I tried to figure out whether Iseult was going completely crazy through the entire novel. Iseult goes to extremes to keep her mother (and at times her father) in line.

What I Didn’t Love: While I found Iseult’s trysts with numerous potential husband’s throughout the novel intriguing and, at times, darkly comedic, I was not expecting it to be as slow as it was. I really would have loved some more development between Iseult and silver skinned betrothed.

Mother's Day seemed fitting to put this review out. Last month I read The Unsuitable. A very unique tale where the main character believes her deceased mother lives on within in her, literally.
Thank you to @henryholtbooks and @netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
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Set in Victorian times, this gothic ghost story is a macabre journey for the reader as the main character is forced to deal with unwanted suitors, a resentful father, and the mother whom she believes lives inside her and has some very strong opinions of her own. Too strong...
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The pacing of this one is excellent, the prose intriguing and I really found myself drawn in. I'd say it's akin to my experience with Iain Banks' The Wasp Factory. Certainly out of the ordinary, but so hard to put down.
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If you're looking for something completely different than what's out there, this is for you.

The Unsuitable is a historical ghost story. When Iseult Wince became age to marry her start looking for someone to marry her. Finally, Iseult's father found a young man to marry her, and his name is Jacob. However, Iseult was not happy with this arrangement. The readers of The Unsuitable will continue to follow Iseult Wince to find out what happens. Also, The readers of The Unsuitable will be surprised by the end of this book.

The Unsuitable is the first book I read of Molly Pohlig, and I enjoyed it. The Unsuitable has an exciting plot with a twist. I love the portrayal of the characters and the way they intertwine with each other throughout this book. The Unsuitable is well written and researched by Molly Pohlig. The description of the settings of this book excellently done by Molly Pohlig. I like the way Molly Pohlig's writing style that allows me to engage with this book.

The readers of The Unsuitable will learn about what happens to unmarried women during the Victorian era. Also, the readers of The Unsuitable will start to understand the consequences of undiagnosed mental illness.

I recommend this book.

WHEW! Where to start? Well, this book is a wild ride. The writing style is similar to Ted’s narration in the hit TV show How I Met Your Mother, with over-description and exaggeration that is a little tedious but ultimately informative and funny. But this is not a funny novel, although there are many funny situations within it. It’s a sad tale of a neglected and emotionally abused young woman suffering from a madness since childhood. Her constant companion is the voice of her mother, who she believes lives in the scar on her neck. She harms herself to silence her mother’s voice, and when she might have a reprieve through an unwanted, but slowly welcomed, marriage to a young man with his own deformity (silver skin), her father reveals that what she’s known all her life about her mother’s death wasn’t true. Ultimately, Iseult ends her life to escape the madness of her mother constantly in her head. What I like most about Iseult’s story is that it shows that even in madness and depression, there are moments of happiness and peace and beauty and hope. Even if they are destroyed, they existed.

This review is a tough one....I didn't particularly dislike this book, but I am also left with a lot of uncertain thoughts and feelings now that I've finished it.

First- how do we pronounce Iseult's name? I think I have pronounced it ten different ways in my head and never actually settled on one correct pronunciation.

The plot of this book was rather slow and stagnant at times, but it was interesting none-the-less. The Unsuitable tells the story of Iseult, a woman of spinster age in a Victorian Gothic society. Her father wants to marry her off and be rid of her, but that is proving difficult since she's a little "odd." Iseult's mother died in childbirth, but is now living in the scar on Iseult's neck. Iseult has regular conversations with her mother, Beatrice (aka. the scar). People talk; and people are unkind to Iseult due to her perceived strangeness. Her father eventually finds a suitor willing to marry her, a man with silver skin (so, someone who is also a little strange). Throughout all of this, Iseult seems to be driven more and more mad from the barrage of insults from Beatrice within the scar and the unrelenting verbal abuse from her father. There are several (actually there are A LOT) of scenes depicting self-harm as Iseult tries to deal with her increasing madness.

This book truly reads more like a character study, with much more of a focus on the development of Iseult, while the plot takes a backseat. Iseult is such a tragic, sad character, and my heart truly went out to her as her father treated her like nothing more than rubbish that needed taken out. I know this was supposed to be a suspenseful/spooky Gothic tale, but I think it really lacked much of the atmospheric Gothic feel that I had hoped for. I also felt that the conversations between Isuelt and her mother, riddled with run on sentences and repeated phrases, were very difficult to read at times. I never got used to those, even though I know they were deliberately written in that style to depict the utter chaos and madness going on inside Isuelt's mind.

Ultimately, I was left wondering...was this a story about a haunting? a story about mental illness? a story about a possession? I am still unsure, but I'm okay with that. I do quite like stories that don't fit into a neat little box topped with a bow.

For me, this one was 3.5/5 stars rounded up to 4 for Goodreads. Molly Pohlig got my attention with this one, and I will gladly read more of her works in the future.

**Thank you to Henry Holt and Co for providing me with this book in exchange for an honest review.**