The Girl Who Never Was by Skylar Dorset

Title: The Girl Who Never Was
Author: Skylar Dorset
Series: Otherworld (Book 1)
Read Type: eARC from SOURCEBOOKS fire
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In Selkie's family, you don't celebrate birthdays. You don't talk about birthdays. And you never, ever reveal your birth date.

On her seventeenth birthday, Selkie finally understands why. All she wanted was a simple "Happy Birthday" from her secret crush, Ben. But the instant she blurts out the truth to him in the middle of Boston Common, her whole world shatters. Because the Boston that Selkie knows is only an elaborate enchantment constructed to conceal the truth: Selkie is a half-faerie princess. And her mother wants her dead. The faerie court believes Selkie is a child of prophecy-fated to destroy the court's powerful grip on the supernatural world. And the only way for Selkie to survive...is to prove them right. 


 A link for my review of the prequel, along with links for purchasing can be found here.

Strong language: None
Drugs: None
Violence: None
Sexual content: None

I received a copy of this via NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS fire for free in return for an unbiased review

With a note. A note etched into a snowflake, sighed into a gust of wind, rustled through the trees of autumn, rippled over a summer pond

This is the first novel in the Otherworld series, although there is also a prologue available. Having already read the prologue, as well as the blurb for this novel, I felt this one started very slowly, with nothing much changing from the prologue's status. It left me feeling on the wrong foot plot-wise, until I started to see clues coming in. once the plot got going, in a museum slash library, I felt it hit a nice clip, not too slow, but easy enough that aspects, such as that lovely fairytale language from the prologue carried over.

The destiny, as most destiny's in fantasy books are wont to do, was complex, ut I was impressed with how it was handed out, a piece at a time so we didn't have to sit through long discussions, but instead went running off to adventure and get in trouble most likely!

In several situations I felt the secondary characters were actually superior and bigger players than Selkie, the main character. Some of this was due to her being essentially under a spell, but I feel she often relied on others and almost faded into the background. Her two friends Kelsey and Ben were particularly strong characters. I really liked them both and the essence they added to the story, I hope to see them in future instalments.

Ben sighs and says, “I hate England.”

Why, Ben, why? I'm sure England will love you if you just give it a chance!

I felt the middle of the novel was left to languish and not keep up the pace a little. This was particularly apparent where Selkie was alone, following along in the sae vein as my previous statement of her being a slightly weaker character. However, I felt the ending was emotional, dramatic, and a nice cliff hanger as to what happens next.

A lovely thread of will-they, won't-they romance threaded through the book, sealing the deal for me. Fantastic.