I was excited and nervous to jump into this book. I'm autistic and had no idea (other than knowing I was different than others) until I was a young adult. I'm also a mother raising an autistic son. When I first read about this book being written by an autistic author about an autistic main character in my very favorite genre, fantasy, I worried. I worried it would be a stereotype in a lot of ways. You'd have an overly brilliant main character with an inability to understand situations, zero empathy, or a complete inability to be understood. It's what you see in almost all representations and its not only insulting, but disheartening. This author did NOT go the stereotypical route with Seelie and I'm thankful. I'm even more thankful NetGalley gave me the opportunity to read this book before it came out into the world and gave someone like me a chance to review it honestly.
Was this the perfect book? Nope. Were the characters perfect? Another nope. Was this everything I could ever hope for in terms of representation and understanding for autistic individuals? Heck no. No book is perfect, no characters are written exactly the way you dream, and there isn't a single book, movie, etc. that will ever fully represent what it means to be autistic in a world which isn't built for you... not even a fantasy world.
Did I devour this book in 24 hours? Yes, Yes I did. Did I enjoy it? Definitely. Did I see myself in Seelie? Most certainly. Did I die a little when I got to the end and wished for another 300 pages? Heck yes. This book was slow to start and the pacing is never "fast", but it enfolds in an unhurried, natural kind of way I don't read a lot. I found myself hooked to this story and desperate to find out all the little secrets and backstories of the characters. I really enjoyed this book and sadly, I don't always enjoy the books I fall into. I have been known to rage at characters, to nit pick every plot hole until it ruins the book, and usually end the book disappointed because I never felt a moment of surprise... but this book wasn't any of those. It was a peaceful, exciting, reprieve from reality and I loved it.
Now, to talk about the actual plot of the book without giving anything away. We have a typical four person main cast of characters:
Seelie - our main character, who is autistic in a world without a diagnosis for being "different". She's right on the cusp of adulthood, but still about naïve (not ever in a way that feels like the author is condescending, but just in a naturally sheltered sort of way). Seelie is also a changeling with a strong ability for magic. Where and how she has this magic isn't really delved into, but it's because Seelie has tried to ignore her magic for as long as she's lived. You are in her head throughout the story, so you know what she knows and it isn't very much about her world, magic, or the past of the faeries of either court. She picks up information from the people she ends up around, but it is still just a tiny snippet and I'm desperate for more and I feel like by the end of the book, so is Seelie. As far as autistic representation, I am very similar to Seelie. I struggle with eye contact, I struggle with being overstimulated, I lose my ability to form words, I constantly fidget, and I crave routine and constants in my life. So, while she is far and away from a representation of all autistic lives, she was an amazing one for my own and I not only cared about her, I related to her on a soul deep level. Seelie isn't perfect, but neither am I and I enjoyed her so much more for all her imperfect bits than her magic and power.
Isolde (Sol) - the other half of Seelie and her sister. Seelie and Sol are beyond different, even though they are identical. Sol is strong and fierce and craves adventure and excitement. She can fight, handle a blade, a natural pickpocket, and an all around badass. We only get to see her through the eyes of her sister and half way through the book you can see this is a very tiny window to see someone through. We don't really every get to know what her life was like with a sister like Seelie, but we do see she's never resented Seelie for being herself. Sol, does however, want more from life than Seelie wants for her. We also find out Sol might not be exactly who she believes herself to be by the end of the novel and I can't wait to find out how she reacts to it all and who she allows herself to become in the future.
Olani - This girl is still a bit of a mystery to me. We do get a big hunk of backstory for Olani around the mid point of the book, or even a bit before, but I still feel like we barely scratched the surface. Olani is an enchanter with healing power. Her parents are healers, her brothers are healers, and she's been basically a mercenary for awhile even though her family thinks she's also a healer. Olani is funny and kind and a bit rough around the edges, but she's also fiercely loyal and seems to genuinely care about others... unless they threaten someone she cares for and then they're dead she's moving on. I wasn't as interested in Olani as I think I was supposed to be, but she felt like a side character for the entire book to me and no matter how big a role she played I just never connected with her. Hopefully, in a next book I can get a better understanding of her as a character and her reasoning beyond just wanted to have an adventure.
Raze - I liked Raze from the moment we meet him. He's an adorable red head (the odds of red heads being in so many fantasy books just doesn't seem feasible, but here is yet another handsome ginger to swoon over) with a charismatic personality and desperate desire to be loved. He has a bit of a tragic backstory. He was abused at a young age. He's a shapeshifter and his power has never been seen as enough by those who were meant to care for him and its left some deep scars. Raze is also funny which I adored. The book is a bit heavy emotionally, so it was wonderful to have him to lighten everything up. His jokes and snark also felt more natural than most characters in fantasy and he never felt like just another plot device. Raze is also the only character I even debated yelling at during my reading.... (JUST KISS HER)! I look forward to reading more about him. He reminded me of my partner in a lot of ways. He understood Seelie on a very profound level without having to constantly question her and I not only appreciated it, but I loved it.
(Honorable Mention) Birch - this little kitty was hilarious and I was so glad he was added to the book. A mischievous little brownie in the shape of a small kitten was just the cutest. I needed to know where he was at the end of the book and it made me crazy that no one seemed to be worried about him. I am worried.
Overall, I think this is an awesome book. I would recommended it to anyone who enjoys YA Fantasy, books with faeries good and bad, books with interesting female characters with powers, and anyone who wants to experience a little bit of what it is like for an autistic person in their daily life. Please, don't go into this book expecting a lot of romance (there is just a touch of romance) or even a huge heist plot because honestly the heist they originally botch is over in the first few pages, but this is a book about four characters on an adventure to find treasure, find themselves, and make a found family.
Unseelie
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars | 179 ratings
Price: 22.04
Last update: 08-26-2024
About this item
The start of a swoony, high-energy duology that Emily Lloyd-Jones, author of The Bone Houses, calls “reminiscent of classic fairytales yet brimming with a charm all its own.”
“A world of glimmering fae that sparkles with mystery, adventure, and enchantment.” —Andrew Joseph White, New York Times bestselling author of Hell Followed with Us
Iselia “Seelie” Graygrove looks just like her twin, Isolde…but as an autistic changeling left in the human world by the fae as an infant, she has always known she is different. Seelie’s unpredictable magic makes it hard for her to fit in—and draws her and Isolde into the hunt for a fabled treasure. In a heist gone wrong, the sisters make some unexpected allies and find themselves unraveling a mystery that has its roots in the history of humans and fae alike.
Both sisters soon discover that the secrets of the faeries may be more valuable than any pile of gold and jewels. But can Seelie harness her magic in time to protect her sister and herself?
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
“Housman’s stunning debut is the sort of love letter only an autistic author could write. Fae canon has been waiting for this one.” —H.E. Edgmon, author of The Witch King
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Top reviews from the United States
Kimberly Michelle5.0 out of 5 stars
Loved this book - Autistic Reader
Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2023
Mels_Booksandhooks4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Autistic FMC!
Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2024
Unseelie is the story of twin sisters, Iselia and Isolde who end up on an adventure when Iselia (Seelie) steals an enchanted wagon after killing a toothsayer who tries to poison her on her birthday.
It is a well written book that moves quickly and keeps the reader engaged. I enjoyed the magic elements and felt the world building was well done. The relationship between the sisters is well done, I enjoyed seeing their roles change as they Seelie came in to her magic. My favorite aspect of the book was the portrayal of Seelie as an autistic FMC, an interesting twist on the changeling myth. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy books about Fae kingdoms.
It is a well written book that moves quickly and keeps the reader engaged. I enjoyed the magic elements and felt the world building was well done. The relationship between the sisters is well done, I enjoyed seeing their roles change as they Seelie came in to her magic. My favorite aspect of the book was the portrayal of Seelie as an autistic FMC, an interesting twist on the changeling myth. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy books about Fae kingdoms.
Stephanie McCall3.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating World, But Where and What is the Plot?
Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2023
Unseelie intrigued me, such that I had to read it. In a way, that makes it the best kind of book, and one I regret giving such a low rating. Because of that, I'm going to spend extra time on the good stuff.
First off, Ivelisse Housman knows how to build a world. From the first Revelnox scene, I was sucked in. I completely believed humans and faeries coexisted in this world, that faeries were both dangerous and worthy of being seen as equal citizens, that changelings had their own battles to fight and their own rightful places in that world. The colors, the names, the magic, the currency, food, and drink...no detail was spared. And yet within the world building, I never felt overwhelmed. I actually struggled with detachment at times (I'll get to that). But mostly, I loved being with Isolde and Iselia and experiencing their world. My mind's ear often "heard" some Renaissance-faire, traditional-Roma, ancient-Medieval type music while I was reading.
I also loved the character of Iselia (like Raze, I prefer her real name, especially since Seelie is the name of a realm, and Iselia just sings on the tongue). I love how it's made clear Iselia is autistic, but the word "autistic" and the tropes and trappings surrounding "modern autism" as it were, are never used. Their absence, in fact, sometimes made her autism real to me as a fellow spectrum-dweller. I remember thinking, "I love that I'm finally reading an autism novel, a disability novel, and not hearing about therapies and IEPs and social skills all the dang time."
And yet, those things are there, in a way that fits into Iselia's world and experience, and they work great. During the flashback scene with Cassius Redbrook, I almost came off the couch. I physically had to look away from my Kindle. I don't know if I was feeling empathy overload or anger or heartbreak or what, but...thank you, Iverlisse, for making me feel it. Thank you, for helping me see Iselia's autism and more importantly her selfhood (with it, not in spite of it) through her magic. Iselia and I are not the same person. We don't experience the spectrum the same way. But I have felt the way she has a lot--as in, I don't want this, I don't know how to cope, everything I do is wrong, help me out here, but don't because I'm not useless, darn it. It's complex and...Iverlisse got it.
I also enjoyed the sisterly relationship between Iselia and Isolde. It's a real sibling relationship, which I think most writers struggle with, myself included. These girls are twins, and yet they're neither best friends nor "completely different." They're not the "Odd Couple" stereotype, nor the "Parent Trap" stereotype. There's so much love between Iselia and Isolde, and yet so much tension. This book may be aimed at teens and young adults, but I was impressed at how grown up these girls often seemed--while still maintaining the immaturity, the high emotion, that is teenage girlhood.
Okay, so what's the problem? Well, the problem is...everything else. As I alluded to in my title, Unseelie has some incredible characters and an incredible setup with Iselia being autistic and magic, and learning to live with that, not live a good life "in spite of it." And both she and Isolde allude to the goal of getting back together with Mami and Papa, rebuilding their lives. But...that's not what happens, and there's not a plot built from it.
Instead, what we get is a very weird story where plots seem to come out of nowhere, stopping and starting as if Iverlisse forgot what she was writing. For instance, Isolde and Iselia encounter Olani and Raze, and they have to team up for the sake of survival and because the Destiny is stolen. Okay, I can go with that. But then we never really find out who Olani and Raze are, what they're doing, why they're together, why they're in danger, or why they picked the sisters to team up with. They tell us some, like Olani is kind of a misfit healer but not really because she can still heal, and Raze has a legacy, but not really, and all four of them want this Mortal's Keep treasure, but for different purposes, and the sisters don't exactly want it, but maybe they need it... Ugh. See why I'm lost?
Then there's the whole thread with Iselia's magic and how she learns to use and control it. Again, at first blush I was totally behind it. But the way Isolde, Raze, and Olani expect her to use that magic didn't work for me. For example, they all harp that they want her to control it, and make her practice controlling it until she's exhausted and upset. But then, when Iselia succeeds in controlling her magic, they all act disappointed and want "more" from her because, "Seelie, we're gonna be in a battle soon." Oh, really? With whom? Oh, right, the people chasing you--but I also don't understand why they're chasing you, so why do I care? And also, you're all talking out of both sides of your mouth right now. Do you want controlled or uncontrolled magic? And by the way, what *is* Iselia's magic other than fire and lightning? Was there something else? Does her magic represent autism, or is she also autistic? Or is she autistic because she's a changeling, and the magic just comes along with that? Lost again.
Finally, even though I loved a lot of the autism representation here, I struggled with the way Isolde, Raze, Olani, and other characters interacted with Iselia, or more to the point, expected her to interact with them. It's a classic example of, neurotypical or able-bodied characters only showing respect or kindness to an autistic/disabled person, or giving autonomy to them, if they toe the line.
Now, sometimes that almost makes sense, like when Iselia uses Raze's shapeshifting against him and legit has to be told, "Not cool. Apologize." But at the same time, there is almost no acknowledgment, throughout the entire book, that Iselia is usually the one struggling. Yet she is the one who is told what to do, who is placed in the subordinate position, who is assumed to be on the verge of a magical meltdown. Speaking of which, she's never allowed to be angry or upset. Which again, yeah, I get it because Iselia literally shoots fire when she's upset. But she's also the same age and maturity level as the other characters. It shouldn't be that, when the others are upset, it's legitimate, and when Iselia's upset, she gets a time-out. This happens too often to real autistics and disabled people (I'm physically disabled, too). And while that can belong in books like this, it didn't work for me on top of everything else.
Unseelie slows way down, especially in the second half, and as I noted, we never really find out what these characters are doing and why. There's never a real antagonistic force, although the Wildfalls were a good attempt. I'm still a fan of this genre/type of book, so I'm keeping my eyes peeled for more, especially with characters like Isolde and Iselia in them. If you're also a fan, you might like Unseelie, especially if you're a target audience member. But I will say, know what you're getting into. Unseelie can be a great story...but it's kinda light on the story part.
First off, Ivelisse Housman knows how to build a world. From the first Revelnox scene, I was sucked in. I completely believed humans and faeries coexisted in this world, that faeries were both dangerous and worthy of being seen as equal citizens, that changelings had their own battles to fight and their own rightful places in that world. The colors, the names, the magic, the currency, food, and drink...no detail was spared. And yet within the world building, I never felt overwhelmed. I actually struggled with detachment at times (I'll get to that). But mostly, I loved being with Isolde and Iselia and experiencing their world. My mind's ear often "heard" some Renaissance-faire, traditional-Roma, ancient-Medieval type music while I was reading.
I also loved the character of Iselia (like Raze, I prefer her real name, especially since Seelie is the name of a realm, and Iselia just sings on the tongue). I love how it's made clear Iselia is autistic, but the word "autistic" and the tropes and trappings surrounding "modern autism" as it were, are never used. Their absence, in fact, sometimes made her autism real to me as a fellow spectrum-dweller. I remember thinking, "I love that I'm finally reading an autism novel, a disability novel, and not hearing about therapies and IEPs and social skills all the dang time."
And yet, those things are there, in a way that fits into Iselia's world and experience, and they work great. During the flashback scene with Cassius Redbrook, I almost came off the couch. I physically had to look away from my Kindle. I don't know if I was feeling empathy overload or anger or heartbreak or what, but...thank you, Iverlisse, for making me feel it. Thank you, for helping me see Iselia's autism and more importantly her selfhood (with it, not in spite of it) through her magic. Iselia and I are not the same person. We don't experience the spectrum the same way. But I have felt the way she has a lot--as in, I don't want this, I don't know how to cope, everything I do is wrong, help me out here, but don't because I'm not useless, darn it. It's complex and...Iverlisse got it.
I also enjoyed the sisterly relationship between Iselia and Isolde. It's a real sibling relationship, which I think most writers struggle with, myself included. These girls are twins, and yet they're neither best friends nor "completely different." They're not the "Odd Couple" stereotype, nor the "Parent Trap" stereotype. There's so much love between Iselia and Isolde, and yet so much tension. This book may be aimed at teens and young adults, but I was impressed at how grown up these girls often seemed--while still maintaining the immaturity, the high emotion, that is teenage girlhood.
Okay, so what's the problem? Well, the problem is...everything else. As I alluded to in my title, Unseelie has some incredible characters and an incredible setup with Iselia being autistic and magic, and learning to live with that, not live a good life "in spite of it." And both she and Isolde allude to the goal of getting back together with Mami and Papa, rebuilding their lives. But...that's not what happens, and there's not a plot built from it.
Instead, what we get is a very weird story where plots seem to come out of nowhere, stopping and starting as if Iverlisse forgot what she was writing. For instance, Isolde and Iselia encounter Olani and Raze, and they have to team up for the sake of survival and because the Destiny is stolen. Okay, I can go with that. But then we never really find out who Olani and Raze are, what they're doing, why they're together, why they're in danger, or why they picked the sisters to team up with. They tell us some, like Olani is kind of a misfit healer but not really because she can still heal, and Raze has a legacy, but not really, and all four of them want this Mortal's Keep treasure, but for different purposes, and the sisters don't exactly want it, but maybe they need it... Ugh. See why I'm lost?
Then there's the whole thread with Iselia's magic and how she learns to use and control it. Again, at first blush I was totally behind it. But the way Isolde, Raze, and Olani expect her to use that magic didn't work for me. For example, they all harp that they want her to control it, and make her practice controlling it until she's exhausted and upset. But then, when Iselia succeeds in controlling her magic, they all act disappointed and want "more" from her because, "Seelie, we're gonna be in a battle soon." Oh, really? With whom? Oh, right, the people chasing you--but I also don't understand why they're chasing you, so why do I care? And also, you're all talking out of both sides of your mouth right now. Do you want controlled or uncontrolled magic? And by the way, what *is* Iselia's magic other than fire and lightning? Was there something else? Does her magic represent autism, or is she also autistic? Or is she autistic because she's a changeling, and the magic just comes along with that? Lost again.
Finally, even though I loved a lot of the autism representation here, I struggled with the way Isolde, Raze, Olani, and other characters interacted with Iselia, or more to the point, expected her to interact with them. It's a classic example of, neurotypical or able-bodied characters only showing respect or kindness to an autistic/disabled person, or giving autonomy to them, if they toe the line.
Now, sometimes that almost makes sense, like when Iselia uses Raze's shapeshifting against him and legit has to be told, "Not cool. Apologize." But at the same time, there is almost no acknowledgment, throughout the entire book, that Iselia is usually the one struggling. Yet she is the one who is told what to do, who is placed in the subordinate position, who is assumed to be on the verge of a magical meltdown. Speaking of which, she's never allowed to be angry or upset. Which again, yeah, I get it because Iselia literally shoots fire when she's upset. But she's also the same age and maturity level as the other characters. It shouldn't be that, when the others are upset, it's legitimate, and when Iselia's upset, she gets a time-out. This happens too often to real autistics and disabled people (I'm physically disabled, too). And while that can belong in books like this, it didn't work for me on top of everything else.
Unseelie slows way down, especially in the second half, and as I noted, we never really find out what these characters are doing and why. There's never a real antagonistic force, although the Wildfalls were a good attempt. I'm still a fan of this genre/type of book, so I'm keeping my eyes peeled for more, especially with characters like Isolde and Iselia in them. If you're also a fan, you might like Unseelie, especially if you're a target audience member. But I will say, know what you're getting into. Unseelie can be a great story...but it's kinda light on the story part.