A review by atthelibrarywithmegan
Unseelie by Ivelisse Housman

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!
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