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Iselia (“Seelie”) and Isolde may not be twin sisters by blood, but they are definitely bound as family by choice. While Isolde is content to live on the run as a professional rogue searching for fabled treasures, Isolde travels with her searching for the truth behind her origins. She’s desperate to find her place in the space between the fae who made her and the humans who shun her.
When they are caught up in a heist gone wrong, Seelie and Isolde find themselves unraveling a larger mystery tangled in the roots of both human and fae history. It will take both of them working together, along with some unexpected allies, to uncover the secrets of the faeries — secrets that may be more valuable than any pile of gold and jewels. However, their only chance of success lies in Seelie’s ability to navigate her unpredictable magic.
In the world of Celtic myths, there are two common kinds of fairies: the Seelie and Unseelie (often viewed as good and evil). As a lover of Celtic mythology, I was really excited to dive into a story that featured this concept surrounding the fae courts. What I didn’t expect was Ivelisse Housman’s new take on the legend. Unseelie explores the theory that the changeling myth was inspired by neurodivergent children. She clearly portrays autism (without openly using the word), and it was definitely intriguing to see this included in a medieval-era fantasy world when readers tend to only think of these as modern-day diagnoses.
Overall, this was a nice adventure with a good pace, an intriguing plot, and just enough questions left unanswered to make me want to reach for the sequel. While I would have liked to get a clearer picture of the world along the journey, Unseelie is a solid debut. It will likely be a hit for fans of Holly Black’s The Cruel Prince for its ruthless fae, but I’d also recommend it to any fantasy lovers interested in a cozy, simpler read with a classic fantasy quest.
(For another book set in a medieval-era fantasy world that features a character with a disability/ neurodivergence, check out The Good Hawk.)
Rated: Mild, for 2 uses of mild langauge. Characters use the word “hexes” as a fantasy curse. Violence includes injury, blood and death. A character sees an illusion of a room being filled with blood, the bodies of murdered people and a dying girl. Characters drink at a revelry.
