This book has a lot of my literary buzz words: sibling relationships, faerie lore, romance, fantasy. It also features an autistic main character, and though I can't speak to the authenticity of the rep, it did seem well done to me.

I thought this was a really fun YA fantasy. I liked the way faerie lore was explored, and I enjoyed the sister relationship portrayed in the story. There is a cliffhanger at the end, which I was not expecting, but I will certainly be picking up the sequel to see how the story ends! I would recommend this book to lovers of YA fantasy, anyone who enjoys faerie lore, or readers looking for autistic representation.

Thank you to Inkyard Press and Netgalley for granting me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a solid 3.0 star read for me. While there were definitely elements I liked, the story overall was a bit confusing especially as I got toward the end.

I really liked Seelie and Isolde’s relationship as sisters. Their fights felt believable and their love for one another was definitely shown throughout the book.

I thought the representation of an autistic female character was really well written. Seelie’s personality and her reactions were definitely indicative of someone on the spectrum, while not being an over generalization.

As someone who loves fantasy, but could definitely not make it in a fantasy novel I enjoyed Seelie’s honest reactions to adversity and her desire to just give up some times. I very much related to her desire to just go home and give up the adventure.

The other characters in this novel were a bit forgettable. I love enemies to friends to lovers and I felt that the relationship between Seelie and Raze was a bit rushed. I think that in the second book their relationship may feel a little more natural as they get to know one another better.

I also felt that we didn’t get a good sense of why the villain was villainous. I understood that how she treated her nephew and others who were loyal to her wasn’t good, but I didn’t really understand her motivations other than just surface level being ~evil~.

The end of the book is where I really got lost, after Seelie goes to the fairy realm and opens the portal back I basically had to reread those chapters twice and was still confused…?

All in all, I thought this was a slightly average fantasy but with a really vital example of representation in novels especially aimed at young adults. I will definitely read the next book in the series, but I will have higher hopes that the plot line gets a little more streamlined.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced reader copy of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Inkyard Press for this eARC to review.

5/5 stars!!!

Ohmygoddddd I cannot wait for the sequel! I absolutely love anything related to classical faerie realm storytelling, and this was such a fun new twist on those tales. I absolutely loved Seelie as a main character, and I got way too attached to both Burch and the Destiny (like also if we don't get Burch back in book 2?? Also I was MOURNING when I thought the Destiny was legit gone??). I really loved the rag-tag group on a wild roadtrip dynamic, and there was always so so much going on! I also greatly appreciated the MC, Seelie, showed us that autism is not one dimensional and will look vastly different from person to person, but that does not invalidate their lived experiences. I loved being able to see myself in parts of her, and to get such a deep experience of how she felt throughout the book. Also deeply in love with Ginger-Himbo Raze and our BFF Olani! I really wasnt expecting the twist at the end, and when a certain item was *destroyed* I started crying. I will be waiting on baited breath for this sequel!

Thank you to Inkyard Press and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I will not be posting my review until the Harpercollins Union has a fair contract, in order to not cross the picket line. Please help support the union in anyway you can whether that be spreading awareness or donating.

A great sisters tale that infused awareness of autism and I am so here for this. When important topics of awareness are infused into a fantasy or science fiction it entices students to learn empathy for the MC and this will carry over hopefully into their everyday life. I will definitely be recommending Unseelie.

I was so excited for this book I can barely explain it. A story about sisterhood with an autistic protagonist? And fae? In my favorite genre of YA fantasy? Sign me up.

That is why it pains me so much to say this book was a flop. I left it languishing in my currently reading pile for around a month at 50% because I just didn’t want to read it anymore, and now I’ve finally pushed through and it was even worse than I expected. I want to be clear that this rating is not at all reflective of Seelie’s autistic traits being annoying; it’s the craft of this book that is poor.

The opening scene in this novel is very compelling. Seelie’s experience of the Revelnox festival is richly described, the sounds and sights clearly filtered through her autistic perspective in a way that was very relatable to an autistic person such as myself. I particularly enjoyed the moment when Isolde asked Seelie if it was too loud, and she said no, that the loudness was actually soothing. Unfortunately, this attention to detail and description, the experience of the world from a truly autistic lens… kind of peters out. It is remembered in some moments like Seelie’s aversion to touch or struggling with the change of her sister wanting to go adventuring, but the immersion doesn’t remain.

The other aspect of autism that is portrayed is meltdowns. However, it is not really Seelie that has meltdowns, but her magic. The magic is part of her, sure, but we are told Seelie accepts herself as autistic, when she absolutely does not accept her magic. She even narrates that most changelings go back to the fae realm, but she isn’t called to. So are all fae autistic? Or is it because she is autistic and not because she is fae/a changeling? The reveal about the origin of changelings muddies this metaphor even further, and kind of ruins the whole theory about autism and the changeling myth and its use in this book. Back to meltdowns and magic, though, Seelie acts irrationally about it, trying to shove it away and ignore it as if that will protect her (this tracks with meltdowns) and it lashes out when she doesn’t want it to (which is how meltdowns often go when you try to mask them for too long). Does this only affect her this way because she has too much magic? Do all changelings even have magic? The whole thing is convoluted and doesn’t make sense. There is also the missed opportunity for her to connect with other changelings instead of being forced to integrate into the neurotypical world.

Outside of the autism rep, though, this book still isn’t good. We start our ignorant of a lot of information that is being kept from us for no real reason (like why Seelie and Isolde left their family). The plot is formed by a bunch of coincidences that follow very little logic. There’s a lot of deus ex machina, and the middle drags with endless sniping between the characters who rightfully dislike each other. This is not a story of sisterhood; it’s kind of a story about how sisterhood falls apart when given the lightest pressure, but by the end retcons the sister’s legitimate issues and says they’ll work together and always love each other. The whole group also becomes friends somehow? I guess just uniting against a common enemy and forced proximity. It didn’t feel real. And the plot is not really resolved at all when the book ends, so there isn’t a satisfying conclusion to book 1 unless… you’re here for the romance.

And let’s talk about that romance. Because of course we cannot have a story of sisterhood and autism and adventure without some boy becoming an issue. From the beginning Raze is awful to Seelie, but we’re still given tidbits that don’t track with her identity/personality that this will be a standard heteronormative romance plot, and he’s the only male character. The friendship development between Isolde and Olani is much more compelling and believable. It is only when Raze and Seelie are stuck alone together that he finally starts calling her by her chosen name, which means she suddenly thinks he’s dreamy. The bar is in hell. She has to kiss him at one point to break a fairy curse and it’s kind of gross, but that doesn’t deter the narrative. At the end of the book, Seelie is clearly half in love with him and set up to have a full romance arc in the second book. The thing that won her over? He gives her a whole speech about how HE DIDN’T THINK OF HER OR TREAT HER AS HUMAN, but don’t worry, he thinks she’s a person now. This is the full manic pixie dream girl treatment going forward and I hate it. Disgusting. Girls, don’t settle for boys like this.

I gave this a four out of five stars. I really enjoyed this book, the friendships and relationships. I plan on getting a physical copy of this and I totally recommend this book. I will be impatiently waiting for book two to come out. This is a story where the main character is autistic in a fantasy setting but its not surrounding just that, and it’s not about their care taker.

I like that this has an autistic protagonist. Though, I felt like I had a hard time connecting due to the constant freak outs I felt they were experiencing. I've read other autistic protagonists before and usually felt connected to them so that was a little harder for me. I really loved the bond between Isolde and Seelie though. Their relationship felt real and reminded me much of my own sister.

The world building needed some work. While the story was well done, I was still a little confused with the pacing and the setting. This was the third cliffhanger book I read in a row so it's not the series fault that I was annoyed by that but, it was a big one... or at least too big of one for me to assume anything else.

Hopefully the worldbuilding picks up a little in the next book otherwise I recommend this.

Unseelie is a YA fantasy about identical twin sisters, one of whom is a changeling and can do magic. I was interested in this book because it seemed like a cool world and the main character is described as having autism, so I was very excited to read it!

I thought this book was okay! I had no idea what unseelie was or that it was a larger part of a genre until I searched this book to write this review, so I think I'm a little out of step. YA fantasy can be hit or miss for me, and this one leaned a little more on the miss. I liked the setup, especially with the main characters being twin sisters. I liked the side characters fine and thought the found family aspect was nice. The plot and the world weren't super interesting to me (I honestly can't really remember the plot), so I hope that they are fleshed out more in the next books if this is a series!

While I am not autistic, I'm a psychologist who works with a lot of teens with autism and I was wondering how it would be portrayed in this book in a magical setting. I'm not sure that I would have picked up that Seelie has autism if I hadn't been looking for it, but I really liked the subtle (for me) representation and the support from the other characters. I noticed more with parallels to changelings in general than with Seelie individually. I was really happy to see an autistic main character in a fantasy story, and particularly a girl!

Overall, I'm glad that this book exists and I think that YA fantasy lovers would really enjoy it! 3 stars from me. Thank you to Inkyard Press and NetGalley for the electronic advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Thanks to NetGalley & Inkyard Press for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

Man, this was disappointing. I didn't like any of the characters and the magic system was really confusing. I appreciate the autistic rep, though. I just really could not connect with any of the characters or the plot.

A book about autism but told in the way of fae.
Be prepared for a cliffhanger.
I felt as if I missed a plot line in the middle of the book.
Nothing that different of the villain.

What a fun fantasy to start the year! This was one of my most anticipated reads for 2023, and I’m so glad I got to read this one. Seelie is I think my favorite lead in recent memory, and I identified with her so much. The magic system in this world made sense, and I think Raze might be my favorite side character ever. I greatly enjoyed reading an Actually Autistic novel, and I can’t wait to read more from Houseman!

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC. At first I tried to get into this and I set it down as a did not finish but I tried to give it another chance. This time I actually finished it! But how I felt from the first time didn't really change that much. I don't really care about originality all that much because I believe that what matters is that authors have a unique and different take on the story they are trying to tell but I still believe that this book could've been executed better and it lacked excitement. I am thankful that there was autistic representation for readers though. I just feel that the story left much to be desired when it came to the writing and the storytelling.

Long ago and far away fairies and humans shared a world. The fairies caused all sorts of trouble for the humans, casting spells, using magic and creating changelings. This did not mean humans had no magic. Some families had quite a lot of magic. Some families had some magic, but most humans didn't have any.
Isolde and Iselia Graygrove are twins of a sort. Fairies made Iselia and tried to swap her for Isolde, but their mother pot a stop to that. She kept both girls and raised them together, even in the face of community discouragement. People were afraid of Iselia and her magic. As a changeling, Iselia (Seelie) had wild magic. She tried, as much as she was able, to hide her magic. When the girls were 14, they ran away from home so their parents would be safe.
Isolde was a pickpocket. Seelie was her protector. On a carnival night, Isolde planned an audacious burglary of a rich house. The crime went sideways and the girls had to run. They were chased by another pair who had planned a robbery at the same house and by the householder. The chase took them through ancient history and current fairy lands. The ending was a perfect place for volume 2 to begin.
I liked the girls. They might be twins, but they are not the same. Seelie wants to find a place where she is safe. Isolde want adventure. Seelie wants to forget she has powers. Isolde want to hunt treasure.
I like fantasy that follows its internal rules. The world created for this story made lots of sense. I especially liked the moving house. I'd like to have one, only it couldn't run on magic.

One of my resolutions in the new year is to get back to reading...to find my joy in it again. Keeping that in mind, I've gone back to an old favorite genre: fantasy. I decided to check Net Galley to see if anything piqued my interest, and I wound up finding this read! I have to say, this was a pretty great read! I liked the fact that it was written by an author that had personal experience with Autism, and they relayed that experience into their characters, particularly Iselia! I was really drawn to her, and her story. The plot was engaging, and kept me interested throughout the book. I didn't like that it ended on a cliffhanger, so am eagerly awaiting the next book!

I love the idea of a changeling being thought of as autistic! I could really relate to the chRcters, they seemed to be people like me and my family.

I look forward to discussing this book more once the HC strike comes to some kind of conclusion. When that happens, I'll be sure to give my full thoughts on my channel.

As the mother of an autistic female, I’m constantly searching out books that include representation similar to how my daughter presents. It’s not common that I find such in the fantasy genre, so when I stumbled across UNSEELIE I knew I had to read it immediately! This book includes wonderful commentary on what it’s like to feel like an outsider, even amongst the people you care about most. A touch of mystery adds a nice thread to the plot, and I wasn’t aware going in that this was the start of a series (?), but if so, I’m ready for book 2!

Seelie is a changeling who has been living on the roads with her twin human sister Isolde for the past 3 years. Seelie always struggled to fit in and interact with the humans around her, enhancing the unease of the villagers in her hometown, and even making them sacred of her. That is why she decided to leave with her sister, in the hopes of finding a way to get rich and have the means to start a new life with their parents in a place where nobody would be afraid of Seelie and judge her family for accepting her and caring for her. After a heist goes wrong, the two girls end up being on the run and forced to collaborate with two strangers to survive and escape the enchanter who’s after them. They might even be able to find a treasure if they are clever and quick enough to survive.

Seelie and Isolde ran away because of Seelie’s changeling nature. Seelie was placed in Isolde’s home as a baby, and Isolde was taken to Faerie, but Isolde’s mother managed to travel to Faerie, get Isolde back, and decided to keep Seelie too as her adoptive daughter. While Seelie’s family loves her and understands that there is nothing to fear from her, the villagers are afraid of Seelie and her magic, and her family becomes outcast because of that. It gets even worse when Seelie’s magic starts to act out and Seelie struggles to control it, making people even more afraid of her.

I understood from the wonderful and very touching author’s note at the beginning of the book that she wanted to write a book where neurodivergent people would be represented in a way that didn’t make them appear as a different category of people or like they are struggling to live a “normal” life. I am not neurodivergent myself, so I am in no way able to tell if the author did a good job or not in that aspect (although seeing as the author is neurodivergent, I would assume that she knows what she’s talking about). Maybe the official diagnosis would be different, but I will go on a limb and say that she is an autistic character, although this diagnosis does not exist in the world she lives in. We could see through Seelie’s eyes and thoughts that her reactions to certain stimuli were different from what is usually expected from someone, and she struggled with decoding inferred ideas and second meanings, but we could also see how human she was, and how her differences only meant that she had to deal differently with certain situations, and process data in a different way, nothing more. It is also enlightening to see things from Seelie’s point of view and to understand how things that seem minor to others can have a huge impact on her.

The characters are well-developed and relatable. They are flawed and it leads to some heated arguments and fights between them. I like that they were forced to work together because they had similar goals, but they didn’t like each other at all at first, they grew on each other with time because they had to rely on each other to survive. The sisterly bond between Seelie and Isolde was also heartwarming and so strong. Having a younger sister myself, I have a soft spot for stories with sisters that are close to each other and have each other’s back, and Isolde and Seelie were a perfect example of sisters that would go through hell for each other.

The world-building resembles many of the fantasy settings I’ve seen in the past, but there is also the presence of other Faerie realms that reminded me more of the Cruel Prince setting, with ruthless faes that take pleasure in tormenting and taking advantage of humans. It was a nice mix, and while it could have been more detailed, it was well-developed enough to keep me interested and immersed in the book until the end.

There were some of the usual YA fantasy tropes in this book, but the fact that it was told from Seelie’s point of view, with her particular interpretation gave those tropes a different twist. What would usually have been a hate-to-love is instead a hate-to-trust-to-I-kinda-enjoy-your-presence-even-if-I-don’t-know-how-to-deal-with-those-new-feelings, which was great because while I am a sucker for a good hate-to-love romance, it’s also become something that is almost to be expected in any fantasy YA book, and it’s just so predictable most of the time, almost overused.

Overall, this was a very nice adventure with a good pace, an intriguing plot and world-building and just enough answers to keep us hooked, and just enough questions left to make us want to read the sequel when it comes out. It is not the best YA fantasy I’ve read, but it is a solid debut, and I definitely recommend it to any fantasy lover looking for changelings tales with ruthless faes, a ragtag group thrown together and forced to cooperate, and a quest to find a treasure with magical fights along the way.

The theory that the legend of changelings grew out of autism fascinates me to no end. I wish that could have been explored more deeply in this story, but I also understand that within the context of Seelie’s world, that’s just not possible. The depiction of autism was much more subtle than I anticipated, which may indicate that my understanding of autism is too rooted in stereotypes. I’ll be eager to see reactions from folks on the spectrum, to learn how Seelie’s story resonates for those who share her way of experiencing the world.