The Girl Who Kissed a Lie

Otherworld #0.5

by Skylar Dorset

Before the enchantment breaks, Selkie thinks she's just an average teenage girl...

It's the beginning of summer vacation, and everyone at Selkie Stewart's Boston high school is excited. Except for Selkie, who sees herself standing at the edge of an abyss of Nothing To Do. Selkie doesn't want to spend her summer scouring the kitchen for gnomes with her crazy aunts or mooning over the enigmatic boy on Boston Common. So instead Selkie goes in search of a job. What she finds is a new best friend, a cute boy who might be more than he seems, and even more question about her mother and her past — and a sense that Selkie's adventures are just beginning.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Novella, Ebooks, Paranormal, Fiction

95 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 6, 2014

About the author

Skylar’s first story was a tale of romantic intrigue involving two feuding factions of squirrels. Think “Romeo & Juliet” but with bushy tails and added espionage. She was seven.

Since that time, Skylar’s head has been filled with lots of characters and lots of drama. She is delighted to be able to share some of it with all of you now, because, honestly, it was getting pretty loud and crowded in there.

Skylar is a born-and-bred New Englander, which is why Boston was a natural setting for her debut novel, THE GIRL WHO NEVER WAS. Skylar shares her home with a cardboard cutout of the Tenth Doctor, lots of Mardi Gras beads from the time she spent living in New Orleans, and a harp she’s supposed to be teaching herself to play. She’d like to get a dog.

Reviews

[Kayla Silverss]

A quick easy fun novella was what I needed.

[Sarah Elizabeth]

(Source: Downloaded for free from amazon.co.uk.)
Well, there was one interesting event, but for the most part I was bored.
5 out of 10.

[Stephanie]

There were some humorous moments with the aunts and Ben, but there really wasn't anything that happened in this book. Perhaps if you read it before you read the first book in the series, you might find it more interesting, but I don't think it will make you understand the first book any better. But it was a quick read and good to get reacquainted with the series before I read book 2.

[Azbaqiyah]

Plot - 3/5
Character - 3/5
World Building - 3/5
Writing Style - 3/5
Cover - 3/5

Rating - 3 / 5

[Jenny]

I love this series so much! This was a really good prequel.

[Mehsi]

I have had the first book on my shelves here for some time, now after reading this prequel, I am not sure if I want to read it. Frankly the story was confusing, boring and just didn't flow right.

Out of all the characters, I liked Kelsey the most, and she is not even the main character. She was fun and awesome and I loved how she just took Selkie under her wing and became her friend.

I didn't like Selkie. She was awkward, I couldn't relate to her at all, and how she talked or did things, just no. She was conflicting about things. I didn't like her, and since she is the main character, I am not sure if I can stand a full book with her. So I will probably get the book off my shelves.

The aunts were just weird, and not much is explained why they are like that. Why are they warning Selkie about stuff? Why are they so confused about the time? What is up with all the gnomes?

Selkie's conversations with Ben just seemed painful, like they are both at the same place but talking about different subjects. I also have no clue why they are friends (or more?). They totally don't seem to match and Ben's awkward replies to Selkie's awkward questions or conversations just made me cringe.
Also she is friends with Ben, meets him like daily, yet she doesn't know his last name???? Wait, what? How can you not know that.

The premise sounded interesting. Mysterious creatures? Witches? Gnomes? Strange Aunts? A girl who is not what she thought she is? But in this prequel it just seems strange and like I missed something.

Then near the end of this novella we get a few pages about sewing? And lace? What and why?

All in all, a really strange and awkward story. I am won't be reading this series. (unless Kelsey becomes the main girl)

Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/

[Perla The IB Teen Book Blogger]

Much like my experience reading Girl Who Never Was, I have huge chunks of this novella highlighted. Skylar Dorset is a dream with the turn of phrase.

[Gisbelle]

A nice and intriguing novella, with a great introduction to the series. The humor was just the kind I liked; sarcastic and no hint of trying way too hard to be funny.

[Ada Nitu]

I wasn't expecting to like this so much. A great, entertaining start to a series that U can't wait to dive into.

[Heather]

It's the beginning of summer vacation, and everyone at Selkie Stewart's Boston high school is excited. Except for Selkie, who sees herself standing at the edge of an abyss of Nothing To Do. Selkie doesn't want to spend her summer scouring the kitchen for gnomes with her crazy aunts or mooning over the enigmatic boy on Boston Common. So instead Selkie goes in search of a job. What she finds is a new best friend, a cute boy who might be more than he seems, and even more question about her mother and her past — and a sense that Selkie's adventures are just beginning.

Heather's Notes
This book, while enjoyable, makes the beginning of "Girl Who Never Was" confusing. I am glad I read it second. None of the information in this book makes sense when you know the story. What happen to the boy her friend liked? How did her and Ben make up? It only gives you questions that the first book does not answer.

[Rachel]

The Girl Who Kissed a Lie is the prequel to The Girl Who Never Was. This novella is a good introduction to Selkie's strange and mysterious world and if the actual book is anything close to this novella it gonna be weird. I will be reading the novel soon and I do have the other books in the series.

[Alana]

I found this novella slow to start and difficult to get into as there was no clear hook until well into it. The ending did redeem the novella with some interesting, fast-paced action that had me wanting to know more.

[Heather McMahan]

Intriguing book

An intriguing prequel to start this series. Looking forward to learning more. Getting to know Selkie and her story and what lies ahead.

[Michelle clark]

One of the amazing books ever in the hole entire world

It is about a girl who went walking and saw a boy and kissed he but then told a lie

[Brooke Slater]

I loved this little extra on the story, it made it even better.

[Ema]

Half the reason I read this so quickly was because it's very short. The other half was because I loved it.

I found myself falling in love the little snippets of the world instantly, though I don't know what half of it means. I love the MC, Selkie, who spends a lot of time thinking about what's normal and what's not, and has very appropriate reactions to things like a popular girl from school talking to her. I relate to Selkie.

The writing style, which is rather straightforward, might be annoying to some, but I like it. It's refreshing, after months of reading complicated sentences and over-the-top descriptions.

I love this. But I don't have money for the rest of the series. Ugh.

[Laura of Lurking]

Originally posted on LauraofLurking

Strong language: None
Drugs: None
Violence: Vague / negligible
Sexual content: Negligible

This novella has a conversational style to the first person narrative, instantly making you like the girl and feel a part of her rather bizarre world. Generally I liked how this felt, it read very naturally, but at times it made the protagonist sound considerably younger than she was supposed to be, almost as if she was talking down to you. This is something I can overlook though, in light of the positives.

The characters are slightly offbeat, almost making the "normal" characters, if you can consider them that, feel out of place! All the characters are colourful, filling their roles as awkward youths or crazy old ladies with few words but good coverage.

The plot follows a girl, Selkie, as she gets her first real summer break, due to having been previously home-schooled by her aunts and all the trouble she can get herself in in a quiet town.

I read this is one sitting, it's an easy read with short chapters, ideal for commuting. Take a few minutes out of your day to enjoy the simple pleasures of a fairy tale for children and adults alike.

[Ze Peng]

4.25 stars

A very interesting novella, makes me feel excited for the first book. Would give it a 5 star if it has more wow-factor or plot twist.

[zapkode]

{My Thoughts} – Selkie wants to be normal. She tries to tell herself that she can be normal if she tries hard enough. She wants to believe that she can do normal things, go out with her friends, date, have a job etc… Selkie is anything but normal though and sooner or later she will realize it.

The best thing about this series is that it’s about a teenage girl that thinks she has to be just like everyone else. That she has to conform to what is considered the norn of everyone around her. She was home schooled and now attends High School. She has no friends and her Aunts are incredibly strange.

She is a pocketer, in other words she collects random things and keeps them in her pockets in case she may need them another time in her life. It’s interesting that she gets a job working for someone that does nearly the same thing. Has shelves full of discarded unwanted items in her store.

She gets her job through the help of another girl from school. This is where we get to know more about Kelsey. I have to admit I love her character as much as I love Selkie and Ben’s.

This was a really nice short story that helped to give more insight on the storyline. I can’t wait to read book number two. This series is definitely one that I find enjoyable and entertaining!

[Claudia]

This short prequel is a fast, exciting read that introduces the main characters and the strange new world in Ms Dorset's novel "The Girl Who Never Was". The laid-pacing of the first part of the novella lulls the reader into the tranquility of a Boston summer that doesn't offer the heroine Selkie much to do. She tries hard to be normal and fit in with the crowd, and what could be an ordinary coming-of-age high school drama develops into something entirely different. instead of struggling to make friends, Selkie is befriended by a group of kids, and before she knows it, the summer is anything but boring.

What I really like is the fact that the awkward making-friends process is shortened in favour of the far more interesting part of the story. Skylar Dorset's stroke of genius is that she establishes a mystery that, I suspect, will feature heavily in the novel proper, only to floor me with a completely unexpected turn of events.

I can't wait to get to know Selkie and her mysterious friend Ben better.

[Lauren (TheBookishTwins)]

My aunts are convinced that our house is infested with gnomes. I've never seen any, but I can't remember a time in my life when my aunts weren't engaged in an all-out war with them. They see evidence of them everywhere. They insist the creatures move our furniture around when we're not looking and then replace it, but always off by an inch or so. They do the same thing with the paintings on the walls. I have never noticed any of this, but I've learned to go along with it.

The Girl Who Kissed a Lie is prequel to The Girl Who Never Was. I was excited to read this, but I think it was just an OK read and has lessened my excitement to read the main series. It started off promising, but got boring real quick. I still have hope for The Girl Who Never Was though, so I guess we'll see. It was free on Kindle, so I haven't really lost anything.

[Jennifer]

A prequel? Well, in the sense that the action takes place before the novel, yes. But so much of the text is later found in the novel -- whole scenes, Selkie's thoughts, interactions between characters, descriptions, etc. -- that my guess is this was Dorset's aborted first attempt at telling the story. A prequel written after the fact would not have repeated almost verbatim so much information. In addition, there is the occasional conflict with what we're told in the novel, and so many, many, many problems of omission. (For example: Why, when all the fairy stuff was happening in the novel, did Kelsey not reference the beast from the novella? And given that, why did Selkie find Kelsey's immediate acceptance of the fairy business so surprising?)

Mildly entertaining, but ultimately unnecessary and forgettable.

[Jenni Mac]

I'm being a bit generous with my rating. I'd give it between a 3.5-4. It started out very interesting, then got really dull, then it got interesting again, then it ended. Suffice to say, I want to read the book that follows it (which I own). Selkie is striving toward some type of normalcy. That's all she wants is to be normal. So she gets a summer job, a friend and even goes out on a date with a boy. But things make a turn for the worst! I won't spoil it, but I'd definitely check this free novella out. It prompted me to get the two novel length books. Definitely interested to see where this goes.

[Emily D]

I think this is one of those novellas that you really need to read after you’ve read the first book. I know, I know, it says #0.5 on Goodreads! But I spent much of this novella just a little confused and not really sure what was going on or what point it served.

Actually, reading this novella made me less excited to read the first book in the Otherworld series The Boy Who Kissed A Lie…I have a confession to make. I still haven’t read the first book. I will be rectifying that soon though so keep your eyes on the blog because maybe all of my feelings will change!

[Dana Burkey]

This was weird to read. Not because it was hard or bad or anything. It just felt like I was reading through cement. It was slow in the weird way, and boring while still being something I kind of wanted to read. It did not make me want to keep reading in the series though, and I believe that was it's whole purpose for being written. Overall okay...but not something I care for enough to look more into the story and to what will come next...

[Mysterious]

When I discovered my favorite fic writer wrote real books too, I was like, "YAY! I need to read this RIGHT NOW." So I started with this prequel and, well... I didn't love it.

YA isn't really my genre, and I particularly don't like first person POV in YA. None of the characters really came alive for me and I'm not sure I really understand the rules of this world.

So now I feel a little trepidation, but I'm still going to read the first full book. Fingers crossed.

[Ashley Finnegan]

Let me say that I have read The Girl Who Never Was and I LOVED it. It was FANTASTIC! Now as for this prequel, it fell a little flat for me but please, please, if you have not yet read The Girl Who Never Was, please don't let this novella discourage you away from it because it is absolutely ENCHANTING and if your a y/a, paranormal/fantasy fan it is a book you will not want to miss!

[Amaya]

This novel, I first read 8 chapters of it on wattpad and I automatically knew her "hidden secret that she had no idea about" no spoilers but I knew she was alittle otherworldly. She spoke as if she were of the Far court. Those chapters were utterly amazing and hopefully if my mom lets me walk there, I'm buying this book at B&N

[Jenn]

I wished I knew/read this before the first book (The Girl Who Never Was), but I didn't know about it until I already started the book. If I read this first, I would have been better prepared for the story. This novella is a good introduction to the series. It gives some insight of what to expect and who some of the characters are.

[Lucy Qhuay]

This is an interesting enough read to those who plan to read the series, since we get to know Selkie, the protagonist, and all the weirdness going on around her, which is a clear foreshadowing for the revelations made in the first book, The Girl Who Never Was.