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A review by scriptrix
Kiss of the Selkie by Tessonja Odette
4.0
I've been loving this series! Odette has pulled out some wonderfully creative spins on old fairytales. The books are enjoyable reads, and I'm rating based off my level of fun while reading this, even though I do have some issues (see below).
That said, I felt like I connected to the characters in this one less than the first 2 books in the series. I love the idea to make the Little Mermaid character a thief (hoard of treasures and a finders keepers mentality - it tracks) but Maisie's untrustworthy behavior kinda annoyed me in parts. Also, the Bachelor plot was a fun idea, but in execution it felt out of place. I felt like it actually impeded the characters from getting to know each other well.
Finally, my ex-religious trauma brain did NOT enjoy the fact that the whole thing was a PR plot to get people to come to an actively anti-Fae church. The ending, in which the MMC just accepted that he was now forced to be the face of the church forever and "they're less radical now so it's fine" mildly infuriated me. It was like the fantasy equivalent of a bi girl dating a boy from a historically homophobic church that grudgingly pretends to be fine with her identity, and he does absolutely no work to deconstruct, and she just accepts that. Yikes.
Still planning to read on in the series, but very much hoping to avoid any more weird bigoted church redemption arcs 😬
That said, I felt like I connected to the characters in this one less than the first 2 books in the series. I love the idea to make the Little Mermaid character a thief (hoard of treasures and a finders keepers mentality - it tracks) but Maisie's untrustworthy behavior kinda annoyed me in parts. Also, the Bachelor plot was a fun idea, but in execution it felt out of place. I felt like it actually impeded the characters from getting to know each other well.
Finally, my ex-religious trauma brain did NOT enjoy the fact that the whole thing was a PR plot to get people to come to an actively anti-Fae church. The ending, in which the MMC just accepted that he was now forced to be the face of the church forever and "they're less radical now so it's fine" mildly infuriated me. It was like the fantasy equivalent of a bi girl dating a boy from a historically homophobic church that grudgingly pretends to be fine with her identity, and he does absolutely no work to deconstruct, and she just accepts that. Yikes.
Still planning to read on in the series, but very much hoping to avoid any more weird bigoted church redemption arcs 😬
Content Warnings
Moderate: Religious bigotry