Review: The Lure of Shapinsay by Krista Holle

Ever since Kait Swanney could remember, the old crones of the village have been warning her to stay away from the selkies. They claim that like sirens of old, the seal men creep from the inky waters, shed their skins, and entice women to their deaths beneath the North Sea. But avoiding an encounter becomes impossible when Kait is spotted at the water’s edge, moments after the murder of a half-selkie infant. 

Unexpectedly, Kait is awoken by a beautiful, selkie man seeking revenge. After she declares her innocence, the intruder darts into the night, but not before inadvertently bewitching her with an overpowering lure. 

Kait obsesses over a reunion deep beneath the bay and risks her own life to be reunited with her selkie. But when she lands the dangerous lover, the chaos that follows leaves Kait little time to wonder—is it love setting her on fire or has she simply been lured?

I was kind of unsure about this read because I'd never heard of Selkie creatures. However, I was too intrigued to pass up the opportunity to learn more about the lore. Krista Holle creates a completely different world than we're used to seeing with an old town Scotland setting.

Eamon is a Selkie, a seal type of creature that can turn into a human when on land, who falls in love with a human girl named Kait. I enjoyed both of the character because they both seemed to have fairly strong personalities that fought to understand one another. Kait is lovable in that stubborn girl for her time kind of way, while Eamon has a very mysterious lure ye want to know more about! Side characters were also well written, but I tended to prefer reading about the main relationship. Though cute, their relationship does have a slight insta-love quality that wasn't the most believable. I think their relationship geared more towards going for something that was forbidden than it was love. However, their relationship was still an enjoyable read to root for. There are a few mature scenes regarding the relationship, but they're all handled with light detail so it's something that could still be YA appropriate.

Though thoroughly interesting, I hoped to have more of a background on Selkie creatures because I knew nothing about them. Even after finishing, I'm a bit hazy on truly understanding how they work. I think elaborating a bit on this aspect would've rounded the story out a bit more for me.

Overall, The Lure of Shapinsay was a really creative story that seemed to be very well researched. This is one of those stories I could definitely see more books on because there's so much uncovered territory to the story and this book just scratches the surface. Take your chances on this book if ye looking for a unique and different read. (I'm unsure if I used that right, but I'm trying here.)

Soundtrack: 

I was thinking a lot of LOTR type of Middle Earth music while I read this, so here we go:

Concerning Hobbits - LOTR Soundtrack

Into the Wild - Enya

Another Dance - Jean-Yves Thibaudet