{Review} The Girl Who Never Was - Skylar Dorset

The Girl Who Never Was by Skylar Dorset
Genre: YA Paranormal
Release Date: Jun 1 / 2014
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

THE GIRL WHO NEVER WAS is the story of Selkie Stewart, who thinks she’s a totally normal teenager growing up in Boston. Sure, her father is in an insane asylum, her mother left her on his doorstep—literally—when she was a baby, and she’s being raised by two ancient aunts who spend their time hunting gnomes in their Beacon Hill townhouse. But other than that her life is totally normal! She’s got an adventurous best friend who’s always got her back and an unrequited crush on an older boy named Ben. Just like any other teenager, right?

When Selkie goes in search of the mother she’s never known, she gets more than she bargained for. It turns out that her mother is faerie royalty, which would make Selkie a faerie princess—except for the part where her father is an ogre, which makes her only half of anything. Even more confusing, there’s a prophecy that Selkie is going to destroy the tyrannical Seelie Court, which is why her mother actually wants to kill her. Selkie has been kept hidden all her life by her adoring aunts, with the help of a Salem wizard named Will. And Ben. Because the boy she thinks she’s in love with turns out to be a faerie whose enchantment has kept her alive, but also kept her in the dark about her own life.

Now, with enchantments dissolved and prophecies swinging into action, Selkie finds herself on a series of mad quests to save the people she’s always loved and a life she’s learning to love. But in a supernatural world of increasingly complex alliances and distressingly complicated deceptions, it’s so hard to know who to trust. Does her mother really wish to kill her? Would Will sacrifice her for the sake of the prophecy? And does Ben really love her or is it all an elaborate ruse? In order to survive, Selkie realizes that the key is learning—and accepting—who she really is.

*A copy was provided by the publisher for review*

Thank you to Raincoast Books!

The Girl Who Never Was is a book about a girl named Selkie who is a faerie. She is a changeling (half faerie half ogre) that lived through a normal until one day she started questioning everything.

It's been a long time since I've read anything about fairies so I was really excited to pick up this book. It's filled with adventures and the romance was pretty good as well. Selkie is a determined girl that will do everything to find out the truth about herself and her family. It was really enjoyable to read about how the Seelie court is in this book. It's different from the other faerie books I've read and there's also this thing the Seelies can do called naming. It was fun to follow Selkie as she learned about herself and started to use her abilities (from both the Seelie side and ogre side of the family).

Another part to this story is the romance. It's light and it's just a side thing but I've found myself cheering for the couple. The love interest is Ben Le Fay who has protected Selkie from the Seelies her whole life. They started out with friendship and their relationship is full of trust for each other. Throughout the book, they've been in many close calls together and it strengthened their relationship. I really loved Ben. He's quirky with his allergy to water (he also hates being wet and covers himself with layers of clothes) and he has the most unusual and beautiful eyes. He's a really great guy for the love interest and I really enjoyed reading about Ben.

The Girl Who Never Was reminded of why I love books about faeries so much. Filled with action and romance, it's a book I'd recommend to people who loved the Iron Fay series. I can't wait for the next book, especially with that ending!

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