Review: The Girl Who Never Was by Skylar Dorset

The Girl Who Never Was
by Skylar Dorset
Received: Signed paperback from BEA
Release Date: Already Out 

Summary:

"Today is my birthday."

In Selkie's family, you don't celebrate birthdays. You don't talk about birthdays. And you never, ever reveal your birth date."

Until now.

The instant Selkie blurts out the truth to Ben in the middle of Boston Common, her whole world shatters.

Because her life has been nothing but a lie—an elaborate enchantment meant to conceal the truth: Selkie is a half-faerie princess.

And her mother wants her dead.

Review: After reading the summary, meeting the author, and seeing this spectacular cover I really wanted to love this book. Sadly The Girl Who Never Was, was not for me. 

Usually I love everything about faerie books because they have a mysterious air surrounding them. Faerie's are usually tricky and fun characters to read about. Yet, with The Girl Who Never Was I was just bored reading about this world. Mostly because the author was telling the reader what was happening instead of showing. There was no mystery, the reader almost always knows what is happening. 

Another problem I had with this book was how fast it moved. I think I would have liked the story so much more if the plot had been drawn out a bit more. It seemed like every page was a new scene. Nothing was really explained it just happened. Selkie's feelings and emotions are never fleshed out more than a sentence. It's hard to like a character that you can't truly understand. 

The book did have some redeeming qualities. For example Selkie's relationship with Ben, the faerie who creates the enchantment to conceal her, was adorable. That was the only thing that kept me reading the book until the end. 

Over-all I think it was the writing style that I didn't like. It was short and to the point. I prefer longer descriptions and more emotions. Yet because of those few redeeming scenes I would give this book three stars. Without them it would have been 2. I also don't think I will be picking up the sequel to this one when it comes out.  

You can check out more reviews of The Girl Who Never Was on Goodreads. There were actually a few people who seemed to really love the book. As always, you should always read a few reviews before deciding whether or not to pick up a book. 

--Danielle