We need more selkie stories, but we didn’t need this. The main character feels a shiver down her spine 59 times throughout the story and the rest of the book is just as repetitive - it feels like a very rushed, very haphazard first draft that needs a lot more editing as there are huge chunks of plot and character development missing (one moment the historian isn’t to be trusted, the next he’s so familiar the main character has memorised his facial expressions). There’s also a lot of poorly researched points which were irksome - for example the fishermen in Inverness (which is a city, not a quaint fishing town) saying how strange it is for the seals to be close to the coast… seals naturally spend a good chunk of time on beaches, it’s natural and normal and no fisherman would think twice about seeing a seal close to land. Also a teenage girl always keeps a knife on her and manages to get that on a plane from the US to the UK? I'm willing to suspend so much disbelief for a fantasy novel but this was just too much.

I feel like this had promise, but it was woefully disappointing in every aspect from character, to plot, to the writing itself.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

Rating-
1/5 stars

Genre-
Fantasy

Age Rating For It-
12 or 13+ because there wasn’t anything bad in this book at all really the people in it are just older so it's more ya and thus the age rating is 12 or 13+ (note thought there is no romance which is kind of sad not going to lie)

Tropes-
Unknown past/heritage
Lost royal
Quest/destiny calling

Thoughts/Would I Recommend This?-
I felt the whole time I was reading this that the whole thing just seemed rushed in a way, and that really annoyed me. Each thing that happened instantly lead to something else, it was like I had no time to process anything that was happening or what was to come. I also did not like the sister, on multiple occasions it seemed like she did not even understand the fmc her own fricken sister and how she was. Like, the fmc when she got nervous or stressed or there was awkward silence she would make a joke to try to help relive that which is something a lot of people do so that is totally fine. Then, though the sister would always tell her that this was the “wrong time” for a joke and that she should stop, acting like this wasn’t what the fmc did to help with her stress or something she just did. Like jeez rude much it’s almost like she’s not your sister and that she hasn’t done this so much, and you are just rude to her about that like she is just doing this to help shut up. So all in all this book kind of just bugged me, and I was surprised I didn’t dnf it, and so I would honestly not recommend this book as one to read.

Stars: 3
Review Release: 04/03/25
Review Platform: GR
Review: As much as I wanted to love this book, I just couldn’t get sucked into it. The concept was promising and the mythology surrounding Selkies is beautiful, I just wish the story had the ability to garner more of my attention.

Whispers of the Selkie by Lisa A. Moore is so so good that I couldn't put it down for a second. So so good. I totally recommend everyone to read this book as fast as they can because it's really good and and characters are fantastic.