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hales_1243's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Car accident, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Child abuse, and Medical content
Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Gore, Classism, Alcohol, and Violence
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
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
4.0
Any book which depicts changelings in the traditional sense, with children stolen from the cradle and a faerie put in their place, leaving behind a child who speaks too well, and knows too much, but has trouble adjusting to the human world... such stories must grapple with the striking similarity that this basic description has to an allistic parent seeing their autistic child and misunderstanding them or being disturbed by their existence. Rather than merely acknowledging this fantastical descriptor of what are most likely real autistic children through history, UNSEELIE embraces it, centering on an autistic, changeling protagonist. Iselia, "Seelie", is loved by her family, knows who she is, and finds herself on an adventure with her human sister after the prejudice of their neighbors forced them to leave their parents behind and start a new life.
The story opens with a heist gone wrong forcing them to team up with a couple of people who want Seelie to help them accomplish their goals. Seelie is trying to deal with more magic than she's ever had in her life while staying focused on her goal of fixing things and getting back to their parents. Unfortunately it seems like everyone else has a different goal in mind, and eventually things come to a head. As the first book of a duology, UNSEELIE resolve several of its major plot threads and establishes a new paradigm for the sequel to resolve. I like the main characters and I'm excited to see where the sequel goes.
The story opens with a heist gone wrong forcing them to team up with a couple of people who want Seelie to help them accomplish their goals. Seelie is trying to deal with more magic than she's ever had in her life while staying focused on her goal of fixing things and getting back to their parents. Unfortunately it seems like everyone else has a different goal in mind, and eventually things come to a head. As the first book of a duology, UNSEELIE resolve several of its major plot threads and establishes a new paradigm for the sequel to resolve. I like the main characters and I'm excited to see where the sequel goes.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Body horror, Violence, Murder, Medical content, and Death
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Kidnapping, and Child death
madamenovelist's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Blood, Medical content, Violence, and Self harm
sophiesmallhands's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Violence, Ableism, Death, and Child abuse
atthelibrarywithmegan's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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? Yes
3.75
First off, I absolutely LOVED that not only is the main character an autistic girl, the author is also autistic. Ivelisse Housman states in her author’s note that you can write autistic characters without explicitly stating that they’re autistic. She did a really great job with the representation here. I do think that it takes a reader’s own knowledge of what autism looks like though for you to really understand how Seelie is feeling and how she holds her relationships with fellow characters. If you are autistic, Seelie’s own meltdowns and frustrations can be a little overwhelming to read, but also made me feel super seen.
At times the flow of the story felt a wee bit off, but I was able to infer what was going on and still enjoyed the story a lot. It does end on a cliffhanger and I’m pretty sure I said “What?!” out loud when I realized the book had ended.
Unseelie is full of adventure, found family vibes, and maybe the start of slow burn enemies to lovers. I wish book two was available, but Unseelie just came out in January. 😂 I will definitely be keeping my eye out for book two!
At times the flow of the story felt a wee bit off, but I was able to infer what was going on and still enjoyed the story a lot. It does end on a cliffhanger and I’m pretty sure I said “What?!” out loud when I realized the book had ended.
Unseelie is full of adventure, found family vibes, and maybe the start of slow burn enemies to lovers. I wish book two was available, but Unseelie just came out in January. 😂 I will definitely be keeping my eye out for book two!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, and Violence
starrysteph's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The start to the Unseelie Duology was fresh, magical, and engaging.
We’re following adventurer sisters Iselia (Seelie) and Isolde. They’re twins - sort of. Seelie is an autistic changeling, struggling to control her wild magic, feeling out of place among humans, and wishing for a peaceful family life.
After a disastrous incident in their hometown, the girls are on the run. Isolde is a skilled thief and Seelie supports her sister and helps power their magical wagon. But when a heist goes wrong, they find themselves paired up with unlikely allies as they hunt for a mysterious (and valuable) treasure.
While the plot is entertaining and the slow-burn romance is sweet, it’s the autistic representation (and the switch-up of changeling lore) that makes Unseelie shine. We get to hear Seelie’s story entirely from Seelie’s perspective and with Seelie’s voice. She is centered.
I found all four of our main treasure-hunters engaging and charming. The story and many of the tropes felt familiar, but Seelie’s perspective was so fresh that it kept me interested in the world. I’d love to see more development for the other three in book 2 (and wish we had gotten a bit more in depth characterization here), but I thought they were all likable.
I was hungering for a faster pace & will be looking forward to the second half of the duology to explode right into action. The writing overall was simple yet well done. It’s generic in some ways - but absolutely stellar in others.
I’ll be recommending this to YA readers far and wide. :)
CW: death, violence, blood, fire, drowning, injury, ableism & eugenics, hate crime, vomiting, panic attacks, kidnapping, child abuse (mentioned), confinement
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(I received a free copy of this book; this is my honest review.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Ableism, Vomit, Child abuse, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, and Confinement
andloveistoolong's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Hate crime, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Bullying, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent and Alcohol
shelvesofivy's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
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? Yes
5.0
I'll likely have to come back to this review later simply because I can't possibly compact all of my thoughts about this book right now. But I had so much fun all throughout this story, and can't wait for the next one!
I love that Seelie isn't written with a spotlight on her autism as if to say "look at me, I'm representation!" Rather, it's written as a natural part of her person, like any other character traits would be. They're also consistent, because it's just a part of who she is. I seem to remember seeing someone write that this book is like a love letter that only an autistic author could write, and I fully agree ♡
Beyond the representation, I just fell in love with the main cast. Every one of them was distinct and lovable, even when they were at each other's throats.
And the story itself!! It reminded me of how much fun I had reading fantasy adventures as a child, always itching to pick up the book and see where it took us next. I loved that we had to question everything and not trust what we saw 100% of the time.
I laughed and cried ♡ I'll definitely need to reread whenever the next installment comes out
I love that Seelie isn't written with a spotlight on her autism as if to say "look at me, I'm representation!" Rather, it's written as a natural part of her person, like any other character traits would be. They're also consistent, because it's just a part of who she is. I seem to remember seeing someone write that this book is like a love letter that only an autistic author could write, and I fully agree ♡
Beyond the representation, I just fell in love with the main cast. Every one of them was distinct and lovable, even when they were at each other's throats.
And the story itself!! It reminded me of how much fun I had reading fantasy adventures as a child, always itching to pick up the book and see where it took us next. I loved that we had to question everything and not trust what we saw 100% of the time.
I laughed and cried ♡ I'll definitely need to reread whenever the next installment comes out
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, and Death
chronicacademia's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and Ableism
Moderate: Blood, Death, Violence, Gore, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
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