“Kiss of the Selkie” by Tessonja Odette earned a 4.9/5 stars for me. It reminded me of “Serpent and Dove” by Shelby Mahurin crossed with “The Selection” by Kiera Cass. The .1 point I took off was once in a while it felt too much like The Bachelor show. But otherwise this book was perfection. I wasn’t expecting the slight steamy scene so this is more of a new adult crossover than pure young adult, which was refreshing.
Here’s my live thoughts while reading:
A runaway princess fae (specifically a selkie), named Pearl, hides in boys clothing and works as pick-pocketer on the streets with her best friend, a crablike creature. She snatches a few too many items in one night & gets caught. Apparently her kind can’t tell a lie which will create loads of fun later.
I’m almost on the border of being overwhelmed by the world building, but it’s still going smooth so far. Pearl can disappear and enter the 12th court which is rare. Her selkie form is also rare where she has to wear actual seal skin and can’t transform in an instant like other fae. She lives in a theater house and helps fund their performances from stealing objects around town. And there’s already a boy involved who is a bit too into her since she doesn’t reciprocate. I’m unsure what her main goal is so far… just to stay away from whoever she is hiding from?
Wait… she has a deadly kiss?!? That’s amazing. I mean… it makes sense from the title, duh!
Well Pearl’s name is actually Maisie, but she’s been taking up a fake identity to hide from the Killer Queen, who wants to use Maisie/Pearl’s death magic for her own gain.
I love her agency of saving the drowning sailor just like the little mermaid. But her world is so much more complex. I like the differences how she has a bunch of older brothers instead of older sisters.
Oooh! One of my early guesses was correct!
Nimue seems to coincidentally know a lot of info about super convenient topics.
The bargain she makes is quite complicated. I noticed the author even repeated the terms in different ways probably for clarification. But I’m still slightly confused. There’s a lot of details in the offer.
Im so glad the policies are actually interesting so far. That’s rare for me.
When the plot started mirroring “The Bachelor” I started to get worried but so far I’m still pleasantly surprised.
Halfway through Im happy with the pacing. And wish we had just one point of view chapter from Dorian right in the middle.
The mini cliffhangers get me every time: “Hardening my resolve, I pull open the door and enter Club Scorpius.”
Oh my god! Chapter 43 is everything!
I loved this book so much and am glad there’s many more out there in the same world by the same author. I’m going to jump right into one of the others and hope it doesn’t matter what order I go in. I also found a trilogy set sold as one book, it’s over 800 pages but it’s got 3 full length novels inside to save the reader money.
Cassie Swindon 