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.