A Tale of Seashells & Shenanigans

by Alex Nonymous

Working retail's hard enough even when there aren't lives on the line.

Nico's been working at Interthrifter the realm's biggest and only chain thrift store catering to all species simultaneously--since they were sixteen. After three years on the job, they've seen every kind of magical shopping disaster imaginable. Until a selkie accidentally leaves her sealskin in their donation pile and gets them caught up in a quest to get it back.

As a series of mishaps turn what should have been a slight inconvenience into over a month long expedition, Nico's forced to get close to the girl who ruined their life. But, the closer they get to getting her sealskin back, the more Nico starts to hope that she won't leave.

A Tale of Seashells and Shenanigans is a cozy fantasy love story following two queer, disabled teenagers learning how to navigate themselves, their trauma, and their ways back home.

Genres: Fantasy, LGBT, Cozy, Asexual, Romance, Fiction, Disability

263 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2023

About the author

Alex is trying to publish 22 sapphic YA books before she turns 22. The only flaw in the plan so far is that they only finished 1 before turning 20...

He uses any pronouns so its incredibly easy to talk about Alex behind her back (just please stop adding me to 'women writers' lists oh my god) and they're still trying to figure out how to present themself as a professional a full year into publishing.

If you want to join their email list for updates on book release dates, early reader copies, and to vote on genre polls to control the next book they write, email them at alexnonymouswrites@gmail.com to let her know!

Alex also writes books for queer teenagers and recognizes that a lot of the people who need those kinds of stories the most can't safely be purchasing them, fill out this form for free discrete ecopies of anything he's written! https://forms.gle/ZSAoMh59oLVjz97F8

Reviews

[aspeccharactersoftheday]

https://aspeccharactersoftheday.tumbl...

Nico from A Tale of Seashells & Shenanigans is asexual!
Tillie from A Tale of Seashells & Shenanigans is aromantic asexual!

[El · Rating 5 out of 5]

Something Alex is incredibly skilled at, and this is something I’ve noticed across many of his books, is that she takes two characters whose initial opinions of each other are so terrible (and often for very good reasons) that I’m left wondering how on earth they could possibly get to a point where they can tolerate each other, let alone love each other, and then they show me the progression of the characters’ relationship, and does it so well that I’m left just completely convinced of it. Enemies-to-lovers (and variations thereupon) are so, SO hard to get right, and it’s so easy for the characters to go from A to B in what seems like an instant to the reader, but Alex Never Does This. The relationships in Alex’s books always, always feel earned, and this one is no exception.

Especially as the initial dislike Nico has for Tillie partly stems from totally justified outrage at being dragged on a quest and partly from them being Deeply Uncomfortable at the mirror Tillie is turning out to be. Watching Nico having to come to terms with the latter part of this while very gradually forgiving the former part of this was so fun!

I did not go into this expecting there to be a queer and/or disabled pirate crew captained by someone whose ex captains a rival pirate crew which occasionally gets into skirmishes with his own, but I was delighted by everything about that subplot.

As a genderqueer person who goes by a shortened version of their og name among friends and online but still uses their longer og name in professional settings and with coworkers, Yeah. I think this is the first time I’ve come across a non-binary character with this relationship to their og name. Some people have deadnames, and some people have Formal names, and it was neat to see a depiction of the latter!

I cannot emphasise enough how healing the core relationship of this book was to read about. As Nico grows to like Tillie and enjoy spending time with her, they develop a crush on Tillie. Tillie, as it turns out, is aroace, and so cannot reciprocate Nico’s romantic feelings. Since I started reviewing books I have read two separate books in which the main character falls for someone who’s aro, gets cruelly rejected as a result, and it’s this big deal that hugely impacts the book and even becomes the tragic-backstory emotional crux of the story, because how dare the aro person be aro??? Alex looked at that situation and went: No thanks! If you care about someone, you’re not gonna be cruel when telling them you don’t reciprocate their feelings, whether you're aro or not. If you care about someone, you’re not gonna act like them not reciprocating your feelings is some great tragedy, whether they’re aro or not. Nico and Tillie care about each other. Maybe it’s the arospec in me, but even if you do feel romantically attracted to someone, it’s seriously not the end of the world if you never do anything about it. You can still enjoy having those feelings while also getting to have that person in your life as your friend! Speaking from experience here, I promise it’ll be okay! This book is a love story, but not a romantic one, and while Nico says at one point they think they might have bit of a crush on Tillie forever, the relationship between Nico and Tillie is not a romantic one because Tillie is aroace and that is respected and guess what!!! The world didn’t end!!!!!

The sea having a concept of the economy and refusing to do anything to disrupt it is very funny to me for some reason kjdhsfkg

Also Alex if you ever do want to write a follow up about the other members of The House, 👀


Rep: disabled (chronic pain, cane user) ace non-binary main character, autistic aroace love interest, queer side characters, disabled (amputee) achillean side character

CW (listed in back of book): ableism, negative self talk about queerness, negative self talk about disability, non-malicious mispronouning, very brief mention of suicidal ideation, discussed transphobia, lashing out, autistic meltdown, gender dysphoria, discussed unsafe binding, swearing

[slaying girly · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was actually SO SO good. i am absolutely obsessed with hurt/comfort and majority of the book included that which was already so yum and i love the dynamic between nico and tillie and how they both love each other even if it isn't in a romantic way (from tillies side!!) and it was just written so well like i loved all of the characters and the idea of an all queer and/or disabled pirate ship was so good omg AND i actually was really surprised when tillie wasnt a sealskin i loved it and how she described how she felt but overall this book was just PERFECT and possibly one of my new favs. def a comfort read

[Gavriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved the story! Aromantic, asexual, and autistic representation set in a fantasy world, what more could I want? The character development was wonderful and realistic. I felt seen by the depictions of autism and the way fears of being left that both characters have. As someone finding out they are disabled and trying to cometo terms with that later in life, this book addresses a lot of fears I have for what my future and relationships might look like.

(Also Milo is my favorite boy. I don't even know why, I just love him)

The only thing stopping me from putting 5 stars is the amount of spelling and grammar mistakes. Or just confusing sentences. Normally that would be a complete deal breaker for me. However, since I liked the story so much, I stuck around. I would strongly suggest getting some extra eyes to help with proofreading if not an editor.

Keep writing Alex Nonymous. You've got a lot of talent.

[Alex Nonymous · Rating 5 out of 5]

it's outttt!

[Firebrand · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is genuinely my new favourite book I just finished reading and I want to pick it right back up wow... I completely forgot that I was reading at some points bc of how immersive it felt and the characters are so wonderfully flawed! I love the way that these are real people, they don't just magically get over all their issues and they hurt the people they care about but make up for it and genuinely are sorry and its... God this book is incredible! It came out in just the right place in my life and so much of it resonated with me...

I love the side characters and the little subplots so much and the casual queer rep (I may be a bit biased bc I love selkies and have for years) and I don't think the authors writing style will ever stop taking me aback with how seamlessly the flow of the book/plot goes and how you can feel that you know these characters so well but then have little moments that just remind you how complex they are!

Nico can do no wrong ever in my eyes and they are the eptimone of perfection and aaaaa tillie I love her I hikey relate to her in alot of ways :))

So yeah! If you're on the fence about reading this book I'd say please 100 percent go for it, you won't regret it!

[Robin Fairbrother]

Even if I haven’t quite finished this book yet, already I’m in love. I haven’t declared myself a reader, that much is obvious, so I think it goes without saying that a book like this is what I needed. I can relate so heavily with the characters’ interactions, like Mathilda’s understanding of herself and Nico’s strong behaviour. They both represent parts of myself that I see, and it’s almost heartwarming to see which parts of myself I can relate to, especially in the high tension moments. You rock, Alex. Keep writing great things.

[Phoebe Monsour · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've never felt more seen, in the way the author shows anger, in the way xe shows love. Both of the main characters are incredibly autistic in very different ways, and it's wonderful watching them connect despite very rocky beginnings.

There are times I genuinely hated Nico, just to warn yall. But ultimately, I understood them. And I loved them and Tillie.

This was not a romance, but this may very well be my favorite love story. And the last sentence?

Now *I* wish I could never leave.

[LaRae Chesney · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been a long time since a book made me cry, honestly, I don't know if a book has ever made me cry like this. At first I was confused about where the story was going but by the end I was totally invested in both Nico and Tillie's stories. I related to both of them so much in so many ways despite not being aro or ace. I powered through this book in an evening and I'm glad I did. Thank you for writing this, Alex. I've never read a book like this ever in my life, and I loved it.

[Anne S · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, not my book. I really wanted to love it. Magic, a bit of folklore, lgbtq+ and disability? right up my alley. Unfortunately I found the dialogue, especially the recurring arguments and apologising repetetive and boring. Lots of half worded sentences to be broken off, or words repeated multiple times which kept removing the flow. The storyline: love it, truly do. But I had higher hopes for the execution of it

[Lara H · Rating 5 out of 5]

The emotions and character dynamics in this book were written so well! Nico's development throughout the book was amazing, the way they went from being angry most of the time to being super sweet at the end was so good! I love this book and it is now one of my favourites!

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing book and I’ll definitely be reading again. It has representation for physical disability, autism, asexual, and aroace. As someone that is aroace and self dx autistic I related a lot to Tillie.

[Nat Burgess · Rating 4 out of 5]

As is often true with Alex’s books, this absolutely sucked me in. Nico and Tillie are both such well-written characters and the way their relationship develops is so lovely.

Also I am obsessed with Radclyffe and would read a million spinoffs about him and his crew.

[Liz Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐⭐

TROPES
🃏 Found Family

This is a cozy fantasy that has such a fun premise. From the first page, I was hooked. The main character works at a thrift store and then gets challenged to a duel that ends up taking them across seas and into unknown places, and the reader gets to be along for the ride.

Nico is a great character to follow. At times, you really question who they are as a person and why they are acting out at times, but as time goes along and we get more insight, Nico’s reactions to situations make sense. You can’t help but empathize with them and what they’ve been through. And while you initially might agree with their reactions to Tillie, their traveling partner, that changes too.

While a cozy fantasy, there are times when things get incredibly real for the pair and you wonder if they’ll complete their quest or even make it back home. Watching Nico and Tillie try to work through their differences while achieving the same end goal is wonderful to watch, mostly because of how much they both change and open up to each other by the end. Even when their plans fail, they somehow manage to find the better side of the coin, and it’s nice to see how they do it.