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Selkie Moon
We are all surrounded by darkness. And we are all drawn to the light.
The Orkney Islands north of Scotland are steeped in stories of selkies, seal folk who swim in cold ocean waters and shed their skins to sing and dance on land. One young girl named Isla uses legends of selkie brides to understand her parents’ troubled marriage and navigate her strained relationship with her mother. As Isla comes of age, she confronts the sacred points of transformation found between sea and land, nature and civilization, and past and present, uncovering the key to her identity.
Selkie Moon is a novella for all those who believe stories can illuminate the deepest and darkest waters of the human soul.
The Orkney Islands north of Scotland are steeped in stories of selkies, seal folk who swim in cold ocean waters and shed their skins to sing and dance on land. One young girl named Isla uses legends of selkie brides to understand her parents’ troubled marriage and navigate her strained relationship with her mother. As Isla comes of age, she confronts the sacred points of transformation found between sea and land, nature and civilization, and past and present, uncovering the key to her identity.
Selkie Moon is a novella for all those who believe stories can illuminate the deepest and darkest waters of the human soul.
- GenresFantasyFairy Tales
97 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 17, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
March 30, 2026
Read for SFINCS3, Round 2 (semifinals).
Note: The following review contains only my personal thoughts as a judge and does not reflect the views of the team as a whole.
(3.5 stars rounded up)
Selkie Moon is an interesting, contemporary take on the basic selkie story, a favorite of fantasy re-tellings. If you’re not familiar with selkies, they’re basically shapeshifters: they live in the ocean as seals, but when they come to land, they can take off their seal skin and walk around as human beings. In most of the traditional tales I’m familiar with, the selkie is usually a woman in a romantic relationship with a man who has cunningly hidden her sealskin to keep her from running back to the sea. Selkie Moon is a little different. Rather than a simple retelling, this novella brings the selkie story into the complicated play of modern relationships. For the most part, I think it pulls this off quite well, with a deep focus on character and a more literary air that plays on the darkness of the traditional tales. The ending didn’t quite come off for me, but overall, this was a contemplative story I enjoyed reading.
Isla is a child of the Orkney Islands, the daughter of an ordinary fisherman and a rather strange mother who grows increasingly wild and unhappy when fettered in by too much civilization. Her strange mother also speaks in clicks and gives birth to a baby boy, Isla's brother, covered in down, with webbing between his fingers. In the general way of things, Isla doesn't really know that her mother is strange, or that her parents’ tumultuous relationship isn’t normal, until she begins to take her place in the town on the main island where her father’s family lives—to go to school, to see the lives of other people. Selkie Moon is as much about mothers and daughters and the attempted taming of the feminine as it is about selkies, and it's Isla's relationship with her mother, her growing and changing perception of her parents' marriage and her mother's role in it, that really drives the story.
The writing in Selkie Moon is impressive. I was especially surprised to learn that the author had never been to the Orkneys, because the setting feels so detailed and real. The wild isolation of the islands almost becomes another character, holding all the human characters in a sort of liminal space where they can come and go between wilderness and town, magic and the mundane, as they choose. Isla's mother swims in the rough, dangerous seas and is sometimes gone for days, but then she's back in their kitchen at home, just a mother cooking eggs for her family's breakfast.
There are some disturbing scenes in this novella involving what felt to me like borderline instances of abuse. These scenes were raw and visceral and packed an emotional punch that I felt like was glossed over and even diminished somewhat by the ending. I have to admit, this left me feeling a little dissatisfied, like there was unfinished business that hadn’t been dealt with. (Possibly this is also because Jarvis’s character work is excellent and by the ending, I was quite attached to Isla’s mother!) The ending seemed to come together very abruptly, and I wasn't sure that what we'd seen of all the relationships leading up to that point supported the conclusion we were told to draw about them. I felt like there was a lot of telling in the ending and I ended up feeling a little knocked over the head by that, almost like we'd shifted from fiction to literary analysis.
But overall, this book was a quiet little emotional gem. Definitely recommended for readers who like selkies, fairy tale and mythological re-imaginings rather than straight retellings, stories about mothers and daughters, and fantasy with a literary twist!
Note: The following review contains only my personal thoughts as a judge and does not reflect the views of the team as a whole.
(3.5 stars rounded up)
Selkie Moon is an interesting, contemporary take on the basic selkie story, a favorite of fantasy re-tellings. If you’re not familiar with selkies, they’re basically shapeshifters: they live in the ocean as seals, but when they come to land, they can take off their seal skin and walk around as human beings. In most of the traditional tales I’m familiar with, the selkie is usually a woman in a romantic relationship with a man who has cunningly hidden her sealskin to keep her from running back to the sea. Selkie Moon is a little different. Rather than a simple retelling, this novella brings the selkie story into the complicated play of modern relationships. For the most part, I think it pulls this off quite well, with a deep focus on character and a more literary air that plays on the darkness of the traditional tales. The ending didn’t quite come off for me, but overall, this was a contemplative story I enjoyed reading.
Isla is a child of the Orkney Islands, the daughter of an ordinary fisherman and a rather strange mother who grows increasingly wild and unhappy when fettered in by too much civilization. Her strange mother also speaks in clicks and gives birth to a baby boy, Isla's brother, covered in down, with webbing between his fingers. In the general way of things, Isla doesn't really know that her mother is strange, or that her parents’ tumultuous relationship isn’t normal, until she begins to take her place in the town on the main island where her father’s family lives—to go to school, to see the lives of other people. Selkie Moon is as much about mothers and daughters and the attempted taming of the feminine as it is about selkies, and it's Isla's relationship with her mother, her growing and changing perception of her parents' marriage and her mother's role in it, that really drives the story.
The writing in Selkie Moon is impressive. I was especially surprised to learn that the author had never been to the Orkneys, because the setting feels so detailed and real. The wild isolation of the islands almost becomes another character, holding all the human characters in a sort of liminal space where they can come and go between wilderness and town, magic and the mundane, as they choose. Isla's mother swims in the rough, dangerous seas and is sometimes gone for days, but then she's back in their kitchen at home, just a mother cooking eggs for her family's breakfast.
There are some disturbing scenes in this novella involving what felt to me like borderline instances of abuse. These scenes were raw and visceral and packed an emotional punch that I felt like was glossed over and even diminished somewhat by the ending. I have to admit, this left me feeling a little dissatisfied, like there was unfinished business that hadn’t been dealt with. (Possibly this is also because Jarvis’s character work is excellent and by the ending, I was quite attached to Isla’s mother!) The ending seemed to come together very abruptly, and I wasn't sure that what we'd seen of all the relationships leading up to that point supported the conclusion we were told to draw about them. I felt like there was a lot of telling in the ending and I ended up feeling a little knocked over the head by that, almost like we'd shifted from fiction to literary analysis.
But overall, this book was a quiet little emotional gem. Definitely recommended for readers who like selkies, fairy tale and mythological re-imaginings rather than straight retellings, stories about mothers and daughters, and fantasy with a literary twist!
Read
January 27, 2026I read this novella for the indie novella competition, SFINCS. The following review is my own personal opinion as a judge and does not reflect the views of the team as a whole.
Selkie Moon by Kelly Jarvis is a poetically written, folk/fairy tale-y fantasy novella about love, family, and heritage. It explores the early life of its main character, Isla, living on the wind-swept shores of Orkney, coming to terms with the strangeness and messiness of her family life.
As long as Isla can remember, her fisherman father told her stories of the sea, how he met her mother, and how Isla was born: mystery and wonder-filled tales that helped her fall asleep, while her mother, taciturn, her life riddled with strange habits but always loving, left her small gifts of pebbles and shells to communicate her emotions in her own way. Isla’s parents fought often, their relationship tense and seemingly full of pain and disagreements, while they were clearly also unwilling to let go of each other. It isn’t until Isla’s little brother, Callan, is born, and then when Isla feels the urge to learn and make friends and travel, that she starts having real questions and doubts. Could it be possible that her mother has something to do with selkies, the seal-skinned shapeshifters of the stormy northern seas? If she is a selkie’s daughter, does that mean that she is so different from her peers that she could never be loved? And would her mother then leave her eventually, like every selkie wife from the stories does?
I really enjoyed the intimate style of the novella, and the descriptions of the natural environment, the wild, exciting, dangerous northern shores, the fields, feral sheep, and the little towns of the islands, and the way people live there. So much so that I definitely want to go and visit now! Isla’s voice and story were relatable, because even though her situation is fantastical, her struggles with her turbulent family situation, her opposing urges to leave and live her own life but also be connected to the place, the people she grew up with, are, I think, universal in a way and touched me deeply. I was also really thankful for the twist on the selkie wife tale which, on a first glance, I often find a bit uncomfortable—I appreciated this look on it from a different point of view. The characterisation was all done through young Isla, of course, but I got a good sense of the complex personalities and relationships of her parents and larger family which made it harder to harshly judge or favour anyone. The writing itself was also lovely, very easy to follow and get immersed in with beautiful, moody descriptions. If there was anything I wished for, it was maybe a bit more interactions between Isla and her mother, and between the two parents. The way the initial relationship between the father and the mother was shown got violent and cruel at times, and I felt like I needed more reconciliation by the end. I would have loved to hear more from the mother regarding this, but I also got the sense that she, although playing a very central part, stayed purposefully far and mysterious from both us the readers and Isla most of the time, while still a constant and loveable fixture in her life. Although I did feel her lack in the emotional arc of the story, this characterization actually harmonized well with the POV we receive the story from: an offspring of this mythical creature, trying to navigate her life divided between mother and father, the sea and the soil, folklore and reality, and the pulls of different life paths and wishes.
Selkie Moon ended up to be a great experience and will remain a memorable read for me. I whole-heartedly recommend it to everyone enjoying mythology, folklore tale retellings and re-interpretations, and themes of divided families and mother-daughter (and father) relationships.
Selkie Moon by Kelly Jarvis is a poetically written, folk/fairy tale-y fantasy novella about love, family, and heritage. It explores the early life of its main character, Isla, living on the wind-swept shores of Orkney, coming to terms with the strangeness and messiness of her family life.
As long as Isla can remember, her fisherman father told her stories of the sea, how he met her mother, and how Isla was born: mystery and wonder-filled tales that helped her fall asleep, while her mother, taciturn, her life riddled with strange habits but always loving, left her small gifts of pebbles and shells to communicate her emotions in her own way. Isla’s parents fought often, their relationship tense and seemingly full of pain and disagreements, while they were clearly also unwilling to let go of each other. It isn’t until Isla’s little brother, Callan, is born, and then when Isla feels the urge to learn and make friends and travel, that she starts having real questions and doubts. Could it be possible that her mother has something to do with selkies, the seal-skinned shapeshifters of the stormy northern seas? If she is a selkie’s daughter, does that mean that she is so different from her peers that she could never be loved? And would her mother then leave her eventually, like every selkie wife from the stories does?
I really enjoyed the intimate style of the novella, and the descriptions of the natural environment, the wild, exciting, dangerous northern shores, the fields, feral sheep, and the little towns of the islands, and the way people live there. So much so that I definitely want to go and visit now! Isla’s voice and story were relatable, because even though her situation is fantastical, her struggles with her turbulent family situation, her opposing urges to leave and live her own life but also be connected to the place, the people she grew up with, are, I think, universal in a way and touched me deeply. I was also really thankful for the twist on the selkie wife tale which, on a first glance, I often find a bit uncomfortable—I appreciated this look on it from a different point of view. The characterisation was all done through young Isla, of course, but I got a good sense of the complex personalities and relationships of her parents and larger family which made it harder to harshly judge or favour anyone. The writing itself was also lovely, very easy to follow and get immersed in with beautiful, moody descriptions. If there was anything I wished for, it was maybe a bit more interactions between Isla and her mother, and between the two parents. The way the initial relationship between the father and the mother was shown got violent and cruel at times, and I felt like I needed more reconciliation by the end. I would have loved to hear more from the mother regarding this, but I also got the sense that she, although playing a very central part, stayed purposefully far and mysterious from both us the readers and Isla most of the time, while still a constant and loveable fixture in her life. Although I did feel her lack in the emotional arc of the story, this characterization actually harmonized well with the POV we receive the story from: an offspring of this mythical creature, trying to navigate her life divided between mother and father, the sea and the soil, folklore and reality, and the pulls of different life paths and wishes.
Selkie Moon ended up to be a great experience and will remain a memorable read for me. I whole-heartedly recommend it to everyone enjoying mythology, folklore tale retellings and re-interpretations, and themes of divided families and mother-daughter (and father) relationships.
Read
February 2, 2026rtc sfincs
July 21, 2025
Selkie Moon is an utterly enchanting novel that seamlessly blends fairytale and folklore. It's difficult to believe this is Jarvis' debut novella! She writes with such captivating prose and vivid details that you feel a part of the story. If you wanted to be a mermaid as a child, this is for you.
March 21, 2026
An unforgettable fantasy tale!
Selkie Moon takes us into the legendary world of fishermen and Selkies. If you know the legend, Selkies are seal women that shed their skin and take human husbands. Hiding a Selkie skin can keep her bound to land and her human mate. In this story we get to see the point of view of a Selkie’s daughter Isla as she discovers the many hidden secrets about her parents, her brother and her mother’s hidden culture. The language of the book has a strong poetic quality, and I felt transported into this fictional world. The colors, sounds and textures came to life! The story touches upon the joys, dysfunction and challenges of this peculiar family. Isla gradually peels back the layers of her heritage and the conclusion is truly a surprise. The book touches upon the challenges of a marriage between a human and a Selkie. Isla’s mother is torn between her dedication her family and her natural instincts that call her back to the sea. Family bonds can be joyful, loving and painful. The overall arc of the story is the Selkie‘s daughter having an emotional journey of self discovery while navigating the expectations of everyone she knows from the human world. This is the first time I’ve read about Selkie lore and the author brings her own style of magic to the story. I would highly recommend this book!
Selkie Moon takes us into the legendary world of fishermen and Selkies. If you know the legend, Selkies are seal women that shed their skin and take human husbands. Hiding a Selkie skin can keep her bound to land and her human mate. In this story we get to see the point of view of a Selkie’s daughter Isla as she discovers the many hidden secrets about her parents, her brother and her mother’s hidden culture. The language of the book has a strong poetic quality, and I felt transported into this fictional world. The colors, sounds and textures came to life! The story touches upon the joys, dysfunction and challenges of this peculiar family. Isla gradually peels back the layers of her heritage and the conclusion is truly a surprise. The book touches upon the challenges of a marriage between a human and a Selkie. Isla’s mother is torn between her dedication her family and her natural instincts that call her back to the sea. Family bonds can be joyful, loving and painful. The overall arc of the story is the Selkie‘s daughter having an emotional journey of self discovery while navigating the expectations of everyone she knows from the human world. This is the first time I’ve read about Selkie lore and the author brings her own style of magic to the story. I would highly recommend this book!
April 12, 2026
Selkie Moon is a wonderful folkloric novella, set in the Orkney Isles, off Scotland.
Isla is born on one of the more remote isles where her mother encourages in her a love of the ocean and nature. When her brother is born he has webbing between his fingers and toes - a not uncommon phenomenon in those parts, but her father is unhappy about him fitting in with other people. The relationship between Isla’s parents becomes strained over his solution and also over her father’s desire to move to Mainland where his family lives.
Her mother is resistant to such change. She needs to be close to the ocean. Isla’s father has always told her stories and fostered in her a love of reading. She is a smart girl and he wants her to go to school on Mainland.
Isla discovers secrets about her family as she learns to fit in with more ‘normal’ children at her school. She is considered wild and untamed - just like her mother.
The descriptions of nature and the weather in this stormy part of the world were vivid and I was really captivated by Isla’s story right from the beginning.
June 24, 2025
Such a lovely selkie tale ❤️A magnificent debut novel
July 6, 2025
Such a beautifully written story that captivates readers from the very first page. I loved the writing and especially the cute selkies on the chapters 🦭
July 10, 2026
Absolutely loved this - so beautifully written!!
May 19, 2025
An astonishing story! Poetically beautiful writing; compulsively readable- I could not put it down. I love how the themes of family are explored in this novella and how love endures- it was really unexpected to me- and of course the magical weaving of the selkie lore. So unlike anything I’ve ever read; a true gem!! It’s unusual to find writing so deeply moving anymore and I will read this again and again.
“The selkies come from miles away to bathe their seal skins in the full moon’s magic”… enchanting!!
And the setting of the Orkney Islands, truly unforgettable. Highly recommend!
“The selkies come from miles away to bathe their seal skins in the full moon’s magic”… enchanting!!
And the setting of the Orkney Islands, truly unforgettable. Highly recommend!
September 9, 2025
Selkie Moon is a haunting and poetic tale that blends Orkney folklore with the tender struggles of family and identity. Through Isla’s eyes, the selkie legends become a mirror of love, loss, and transformation. A beautifully written novella that lingers long after the last page.
June 24, 2025
A Modern Take of the Selkie Legend
***Triggers include violent domestic scenes and abusive scenarios***
First of all, this book has such a gorgeous cover, and when paired with the fact it is about selkies I couldn't resist.
Selkie Moon is the exploration of the selkie bride concept told from the skewered view of the daughter who thinks she knows the whole story. Instead, she has to learn how to come of age in a world that doesn't fit just right, dealing with parents whose relationship is just as wild as the spirit that her grandmother wants to beat out of her and a mother that grounds her as never going to be normal even as she fights to be so.
And that is why, as much as I love selkies, the book gets two stars from me. The narration is flat, the emotions bereft and the story up until the end is a copy of almost every other selkie bride but just a different perspective. Even in the case where her cousins break the limpet shell, which is possibly the only thing she has left of the mother, they "abandoned", the broken shell is dismissed as well as the fact this child has gone through so much trauma all leading up to the point.
I also wanted to know more about Callan and whether he returned to the sea, seemingly the more feral of the children. But there is also the fact that the story was one-sided to begin with and stays that way to the reader up until the end by removing such a large but seemingly important portion of the tale.
All in all, it was a decent retelling but not too much of a creative one in my opinion.
***Triggers include violent domestic scenes and abusive scenarios***
First of all, this book has such a gorgeous cover, and when paired with the fact it is about selkies I couldn't resist.
Selkie Moon is the exploration of the selkie bride concept told from the skewered view of the daughter who thinks she knows the whole story. Instead, she has to learn how to come of age in a world that doesn't fit just right, dealing with parents whose relationship is just as wild as the spirit that her grandmother wants to beat out of her and a mother that grounds her as never going to be normal even as she fights to be so.
And that is why, as much as I love selkies, the book gets two stars from me. The narration is flat, the emotions bereft and the story up until the end is a copy of almost every other selkie bride but just a different perspective. Even in the case where her cousins break the limpet shell, which is possibly the only thing she has left of the mother, they "abandoned", the broken shell is dismissed as well as the fact this child has gone through so much trauma all leading up to the point.
I also wanted to know more about Callan and whether he returned to the sea, seemingly the more feral of the children. But there is also the fact that the story was one-sided to begin with and stays that way to the reader up until the end by removing such a large but seemingly important portion of the tale.
All in all, it was a decent retelling but not too much of a creative one in my opinion.
June 14, 2026
I have to admit I am a little conflicted over Selkie Moon. On one hand, I adored this little gem of a book. Jarvis absolutely nailed the feeling of a folklore tale, and it was so easy in to imagine sitting around a bonfire on the beach and hearing Isla or even her mother sitting there and telling the tale to us, especially with the emotional depth of the book. The writing was beautiful, absolutely capturing so much of what I love about Scotland and the wildness of the sea and coast – and quite honestly, I would have been happy with a book of just them at the beach and in the waves; and I like that the writing felt a little more pared down when it came to the everyday modern life of the family, not completely, but it generated that feeling of magic losing a little bit of its spark as it crossed the boundary of reality.
I’m also always on board for a selkie tale that weaves traditional elements of that folklore with something new and different, and recently we have been blessed with a few. In Selkie Moon it is a wonderful blending of the traditional, old folklore with the realities of modern life and relationships, the wilderness of the ocean and the wild coast is within reach, but so to are the demands and expectations of modern life and civilisation. And I love that we get to see the battle between the two through Isla and a slightly lesser extent Callan, just because we spend less time with him; and that very much blurred the lines of nature and nurture. Two children raised by the same family, with the same divides and pulls, and yet the one that pulled away the most towards the modern was the one who found the wild again.
The character work was interesting. Isla as our POV is the one we get to know most intimately, a child of two worlds trying to bridge them both. Jarvis, I felt captured perfectly the push and pull of a child trying to keep her family together without fully understanding all the forces pulling them apart and together, and the jagged edges that come from that, as well as the strain on relationships – as well as the impact of modern life, and teenager wants and pushing of boundaries. I did feel a little like the restlessness at the end felt a little like it was disconnected from the middle of her story, albeit coming full circle to the Isla of the beginning; but I did like how Jarvis dealt with her relationship with her mother and that she was guided to the answers rather than shoved.
Her parents were different… and I think Jarvis does something very clever with them and again playing into that role of Isla as the island in the middle. We have the father, who there were several occasions when I would like to have pushed him into the deep, the storyteller, the anchor refusing to let them drift out to sea, but also a man who loves his family albeit not always in the best way. But we also see a man who thinks that he has his hand on the tiller of the family and relationship; only for that to be turned into a wonderful twist later in the story. The mother is a fascinating character, she has the least amount of lines, communicating in other ways – which was such a lovely way of depicting a selkie and that wild connection, and was such a gentle, subtle rebellion against the pull of modernity. Again that same twist that unravels some of the father’s beliefs, makes you sit and go back through the mother’s role and actions and see them in a different light; and is just such a nice twist on the traditional tale.
However, it is also the parents’ relationship that gives me some hesitation, and also the father’s actions towards Callan. Now these are aspects and elements that often seem tied to selkie stories, buried in the idea of a fisherman entrapping a selkie by stealing her skin and forcing her to stay. But in Selkie Moon that takes on a physical element at times that goes too far; and unfortunately, due to the length of the book, it doesn’t feel like they get a proper resolution. Partly this is due to the fact that we are following Isla, and her path takes her on different currents; and the twist mentioned above does cast a different light on their relationship. But, it felt like there were unresolved threads, and even with the ending, and the almost retrospective angle, it didn’t offer the resolution that these characters deserved – particularly Isla’s mother; and I would love to have seen more of Callan and how his path led to where he was at the end. It felt like we took a shortcut to the ending and missed out something that would have rounded out the journey, and it just left the ending feeling a little flatter than it should.
Overall, the positive aspects of Selkie Moon absolutely win out. Jarvis has created a beautiful, emotionally charged book here, that takes the traditional selkie story and looks at it under a new lens. The writing is wonderful, and this is probably a story that I will return to again and again just because of that. I feel like with a slightly longer format, the issues I had would have resolved, and over all this was still a great novella.
I’m also always on board for a selkie tale that weaves traditional elements of that folklore with something new and different, and recently we have been blessed with a few. In Selkie Moon it is a wonderful blending of the traditional, old folklore with the realities of modern life and relationships, the wilderness of the ocean and the wild coast is within reach, but so to are the demands and expectations of modern life and civilisation. And I love that we get to see the battle between the two through Isla and a slightly lesser extent Callan, just because we spend less time with him; and that very much blurred the lines of nature and nurture. Two children raised by the same family, with the same divides and pulls, and yet the one that pulled away the most towards the modern was the one who found the wild again.
The character work was interesting. Isla as our POV is the one we get to know most intimately, a child of two worlds trying to bridge them both. Jarvis, I felt captured perfectly the push and pull of a child trying to keep her family together without fully understanding all the forces pulling them apart and together, and the jagged edges that come from that, as well as the strain on relationships – as well as the impact of modern life, and teenager wants and pushing of boundaries. I did feel a little like the restlessness at the end felt a little like it was disconnected from the middle of her story, albeit coming full circle to the Isla of the beginning; but I did like how Jarvis dealt with her relationship with her mother and that she was guided to the answers rather than shoved.
Her parents were different… and I think Jarvis does something very clever with them and again playing into that role of Isla as the island in the middle. We have the father, who there were several occasions when I would like to have pushed him into the deep, the storyteller, the anchor refusing to let them drift out to sea, but also a man who loves his family albeit not always in the best way. But we also see a man who thinks that he has his hand on the tiller of the family and relationship; only for that to be turned into a wonderful twist later in the story. The mother is a fascinating character, she has the least amount of lines, communicating in other ways – which was such a lovely way of depicting a selkie and that wild connection, and was such a gentle, subtle rebellion against the pull of modernity. Again that same twist that unravels some of the father’s beliefs, makes you sit and go back through the mother’s role and actions and see them in a different light; and is just such a nice twist on the traditional tale.
However, it is also the parents’ relationship that gives me some hesitation, and also the father’s actions towards Callan. Now these are aspects and elements that often seem tied to selkie stories, buried in the idea of a fisherman entrapping a selkie by stealing her skin and forcing her to stay. But in Selkie Moon that takes on a physical element at times that goes too far; and unfortunately, due to the length of the book, it doesn’t feel like they get a proper resolution. Partly this is due to the fact that we are following Isla, and her path takes her on different currents; and the twist mentioned above does cast a different light on their relationship. But, it felt like there were unresolved threads, and even with the ending, and the almost retrospective angle, it didn’t offer the resolution that these characters deserved – particularly Isla’s mother; and I would love to have seen more of Callan and how his path led to where he was at the end. It felt like we took a shortcut to the ending and missed out something that would have rounded out the journey, and it just left the ending feeling a little flatter than it should.
Overall, the positive aspects of Selkie Moon absolutely win out. Jarvis has created a beautiful, emotionally charged book here, that takes the traditional selkie story and looks at it under a new lens. The writing is wonderful, and this is probably a story that I will return to again and again just because of that. I feel like with a slightly longer format, the issues I had would have resolved, and over all this was still a great novella.
August 15, 2025
Selkie Moon by Kelly Jarvis is a wonderful reimagining of selkie folklore. Luscious language and rich images drip scent and color allowing the reader to fall into the world of the Orkney Islands. Isla, the protagonist, who watches her father’s and mother’s temperaments rage against each other as seemingly opposites—both tied to the sea, but one to the secrets beneath the water and the other to dominating the waves above with fishing boats and the harbor town. For Isla, home is a precarious balance between the wildness of the waves and the safety of the land. Isla finds her safety in books and knowledge but navigates growing up not belonging to either her father’s or her mother’s worlds. Isla listens to her father’s tall tales to explain his own emotions and enigmatic history. At the same time, her mother gives her silent stories with found objects that tell about her mother’s interactions with the world.
The diction and construct of the tone allows the reader to understand that they are reading in the fairytale genre. The inclusion of folkloric knowledge, and the large inclusion of facts from science and medicine, however, allows the reader to go further past suspended disbelief and into a surreal understanding of the present day. The reader is very much located at a particular time and moment and still Jarvis creates ripples of fairytale to create tension and even add plausibility to the story.
I began reading Selkie Moon in the paperback form and then because of a conflict, I began again with the audiobook. Jess Moran reads the tone of Selkie Moon beautifully and I listened to the entirety in one day. I was just as, if not more captivated by the story in audiobook form than in paperback.
Jarvis has created a memorable and unique tale that goes against many of the classic tropes and stereotypes of retellings. This reimagining of the selkie is still classic but builds into the extraordinary.
The diction and construct of the tone allows the reader to understand that they are reading in the fairytale genre. The inclusion of folkloric knowledge, and the large inclusion of facts from science and medicine, however, allows the reader to go further past suspended disbelief and into a surreal understanding of the present day. The reader is very much located at a particular time and moment and still Jarvis creates ripples of fairytale to create tension and even add plausibility to the story.
I began reading Selkie Moon in the paperback form and then because of a conflict, I began again with the audiobook. Jess Moran reads the tone of Selkie Moon beautifully and I listened to the entirety in one day. I was just as, if not more captivated by the story in audiobook form than in paperback.
Jarvis has created a memorable and unique tale that goes against many of the classic tropes and stereotypes of retellings. This reimagining of the selkie is still classic but builds into the extraordinary.
May 3, 2025
The legend of the selkie, seal women who can shed their coats and dance on the sands, has an endless fascination. Selkies are half wild, liminal creatures of both land and sea, and the stories of selkie women lured into marriage with fishermen who hide their skins so they can’t return to the water worry and attract us at the same time. In some versions, the relationship is coercive or even violent, but not in all of them. After all, the theme of the fairy bride, of which this is a version, is that of the tests a relationship will undergo when people from very different worlds form a union.
Selkie Moon is a thoughtful, powerful exploration of the effect of such a relationship not only on the man and the selkie, but also on the children of that union. The story is told from the point of view of their daughter, the one who will ultimately find the hidden selkie skin. What, asks the story, must be like for her, growing up aware there’s something different about her parents from others, aware of the tension between them but not understanding what’s going on? Her responses change subtly as she grows older: from a little girl relying totally on her mother, to an intelligent child trying to make sense of what’s going on round her, to the pre-teen who wants to be accepted by her peers, to a teenager pushing against the idea of being different, finally to a young woman who understands what it is that makes her different. In a lovely piece of symbolism, the story’s triumphant conclusion plays out, like the the opening, under the moon and on the stormy shores of Orkney, bringing it full circle – or full moon.
Selkie Moon is a thoughtful, powerful exploration of the effect of such a relationship not only on the man and the selkie, but also on the children of that union. The story is told from the point of view of their daughter, the one who will ultimately find the hidden selkie skin. What, asks the story, must be like for her, growing up aware there’s something different about her parents from others, aware of the tension between them but not understanding what’s going on? Her responses change subtly as she grows older: from a little girl relying totally on her mother, to an intelligent child trying to make sense of what’s going on round her, to the pre-teen who wants to be accepted by her peers, to a teenager pushing against the idea of being different, finally to a young woman who understands what it is that makes her different. In a lovely piece of symbolism, the story’s triumphant conclusion plays out, like the the opening, under the moon and on the stormy shores of Orkney, bringing it full circle – or full moon.
May 28, 2025
Selkie Moon is a beautifully written, lyrical novella that blends myth and reality in a way that feels both timeless and deeply personal. Set against the haunting backdrop of the Orkney Islands, it follows Isla—a young girl coming of age and trying to make sense of her world through the lens of selkie folklore.
Her father’s stories of the selkies breathe magic into her everyday life, giving her something to hold onto as she tries to understand her strained relationship with her mother and the complexities of her family. These tales are more than just bedtime stories—they become a framework through which Isla processes love, loss, and identity.
This novella is a mixture of Isla’s coming-of-age story and her parents’ tumultuous, yet love-filled relationship. Though rooted in folklore, I found it incredibly relatable, filled with quiet moments of reflection and powerful messages about transformation, belonging, and the emotional ties that bind us.
Kelly Jarvis’s prose is immersive and evocative—I could hear the waves crashing, feel the pull of the sea, and see the ache in Isla’s heart.
As a mother raising a daughter, this story touched something deep in me. The mother-daughter relationship, in particular, was layered and honest in a way that felt both personal and universal. If you grew up loving the ocean or feel drawn to stories that sit between myth and reality, Selkie Moon will speak to your soul.
It's a short but stunning read, Selkie Moon is a heartfelt meditation on stories, family, and the way myth can help us navigate even the deepest waters of the human soul.
Her father’s stories of the selkies breathe magic into her everyday life, giving her something to hold onto as she tries to understand her strained relationship with her mother and the complexities of her family. These tales are more than just bedtime stories—they become a framework through which Isla processes love, loss, and identity.
This novella is a mixture of Isla’s coming-of-age story and her parents’ tumultuous, yet love-filled relationship. Though rooted in folklore, I found it incredibly relatable, filled with quiet moments of reflection and powerful messages about transformation, belonging, and the emotional ties that bind us.
Kelly Jarvis’s prose is immersive and evocative—I could hear the waves crashing, feel the pull of the sea, and see the ache in Isla’s heart.
As a mother raising a daughter, this story touched something deep in me. The mother-daughter relationship, in particular, was layered and honest in a way that felt both personal and universal. If you grew up loving the ocean or feel drawn to stories that sit between myth and reality, Selkie Moon will speak to your soul.
It's a short but stunning read, Selkie Moon is a heartfelt meditation on stories, family, and the way myth can help us navigate even the deepest waters of the human soul.
March 28, 2025
Aptly named Isla grows up as an island between land and sea—caught between her father’s grounded calm and her mother’s passionate wildness. While she loves her secluded life with her family, learning the natural world with her mother as her only teacher, she’s excited when her father moves them to a bigger island so she and her brother can go to school. But family life, though loving, is often stormy, as her parents struggle to make a marriage of extreme opposites work, and Isla seeks to understand her own inner wildness.
In her debut novella Selkie Moon, author Kelly Jarvis dives into traditional selkie lore from the perspective of the daughter of a land man and a sea woman. Set on a timeless-feeling community in the Orkney Islands, this selkie tale sings with beauty. Jarvis writes with gorgeous, confident language that draws the reader into the depths of her tale like siren song. Her characters are flawed and complex as they fight the pull of what is traditionally a family tragedy. Their story is moving, hopeful, and above all, compelling. Selkie Moon is as breathtaking as the moon on still water and as irresistible as the tide.
In her debut novella Selkie Moon, author Kelly Jarvis dives into traditional selkie lore from the perspective of the daughter of a land man and a sea woman. Set on a timeless-feeling community in the Orkney Islands, this selkie tale sings with beauty. Jarvis writes with gorgeous, confident language that draws the reader into the depths of her tale like siren song. Her characters are flawed and complex as they fight the pull of what is traditionally a family tragedy. Their story is moving, hopeful, and above all, compelling. Selkie Moon is as breathtaking as the moon on still water and as irresistible as the tide.
December 10, 2025
Selkie Moon by Kelly Jarvis is my favorite read of this round so far. I was pulled in right from the start and stayed invested the entire way through.
The first chapter started out feeling like a fairytale but then abruptly changed to giving me an unsettling feeling. I liked that unexpected change so soon and how smoothly it was done. It never really lost that fairytale feeling though and continued to play with my emotions.
I liked how it took what felt like a black-and-white situation and added so much nuance while still retaining an age-appropriate voice. The older the narrator became, the more refined her feelings and interpretations of her surroundings were. While I might not’ve come to the same conclusion/opinion as her by the end, I still thought this was a great portrayal of an imperfect family making hard choices while still retaining their individual identities.
It almost felt like a fictional memoir. I was surprised that so much feeling could be put into such a short book when it spanned across so many years. I usually struggle to connect with a story when it moves so much in such a short page count, but this was well done.
The first chapter started out feeling like a fairytale but then abruptly changed to giving me an unsettling feeling. I liked that unexpected change so soon and how smoothly it was done. It never really lost that fairytale feeling though and continued to play with my emotions.
I liked how it took what felt like a black-and-white situation and added so much nuance while still retaining an age-appropriate voice. The older the narrator became, the more refined her feelings and interpretations of her surroundings were. While I might not’ve come to the same conclusion/opinion as her by the end, I still thought this was a great portrayal of an imperfect family making hard choices while still retaining their individual identities.
It almost felt like a fictional memoir. I was surprised that so much feeling could be put into such a short book when it spanned across so many years. I usually struggle to connect with a story when it moves so much in such a short page count, but this was well done.
April 8, 2025
I read this on a redeye while listening to Max Richter's album _In A Landscape_, and I have never had a more perfect pairing of story and music. I can't remember having a better time on a flight.
Kelly Jarvis writes with care, insight, and compassion as she explores selkie folklore in this novella.
Her story is filled with lyrical prose and such loving descriptions of the ocean that I was convinced Kelly must be a selkie herself. The passage about swimming with the humpback whales is particularly stunning. It's magic like this that had me captivated throughout her story.
I love that selkie lore became a way to explore the identities that are erased, abandoned, sacrificed or forgotten with familial roles like motherhood. That something as mysterious as a selkie's oceanic life is equated with who mothers were before their children came along is standing ovation levels of excitement for this folklore enthusiast.
I understand that this is Kelly's first novella. I can only hope that it is not her last. I was the happy recipient of an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
Kelly Jarvis writes with care, insight, and compassion as she explores selkie folklore in this novella.
Her story is filled with lyrical prose and such loving descriptions of the ocean that I was convinced Kelly must be a selkie herself. The passage about swimming with the humpback whales is particularly stunning. It's magic like this that had me captivated throughout her story.
I love that selkie lore became a way to explore the identities that are erased, abandoned, sacrificed or forgotten with familial roles like motherhood. That something as mysterious as a selkie's oceanic life is equated with who mothers were before their children came along is standing ovation levels of excitement for this folklore enthusiast.
I understand that this is Kelly's first novella. I can only hope that it is not her last. I was the happy recipient of an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
May 17, 2025
Isla grows up in the Scottish Orkneys, in a chiaroscuro of light and dark, ocean and land, secrets and hard truths. Her mother, drawn to the sea, never speaks, and her younger brother, sweet tempered Callum with the webbed fingers, speaks in a language all his own. When Isla’s mother disappears, the remaining family moves in with her father’s parents, who are far less tolerant of Isla and Callum’s peculiarities.
With her mother gone, she has to face the daunting tasks of protecting her brother, obeying her father, and understanding her own wild nature in a community where try as she might, she can’t quite fit in.
Even her mother’s return isn’t enough to bridge the gap, and like many teens, Isla struggles with a sense of love and disgust for her parents’ own story. How can she fit in as a young adult? Does she even want to?
No fear, there is wisdom and love and a happy ending in this beautifully written tale. The language is luminous, the story legendary, and the overarching truths inspiring. Keep telling your stories and writing your own!
With her mother gone, she has to face the daunting tasks of protecting her brother, obeying her father, and understanding her own wild nature in a community where try as she might, she can’t quite fit in.
Even her mother’s return isn’t enough to bridge the gap, and like many teens, Isla struggles with a sense of love and disgust for her parents’ own story. How can she fit in as a young adult? Does she even want to?
No fear, there is wisdom and love and a happy ending in this beautifully written tale. The language is luminous, the story legendary, and the overarching truths inspiring. Keep telling your stories and writing your own!
June 7, 2025
A selkie story told, so freshly and tenderly, from the daughter’s perspective, Jarvis's début novella offers a moving and memorable portrait of a family whose conflicts ignite with feral, fabulist sparks–but also speak to (and critique) the recognizable tensions of gendered expectations. It’s a lush tale that explores the way convention can threaten to dim the wild beauties of those who are different, and how compassion for each other’s story matters. Its vivid, lyrical, dreamy landscapes–the craggy coasts of the Orkney Islands, where “wet mists...purled along the shoreline,” in the “twilight of the simmer dim”–offer a gateway into dreams and tales of “oceans stained purple by rains that fell from ruby-studded skies.” And oh, the sentences! What a delight to the senses they were. I was swept up in the prose and in Isla’s world, and left thinking about the power of stories, of self-as-story–and the capacity we have, if we just learn to use it, to tell our truest selves and each other into being, into acceptance and understanding.
May 27, 2026
Discovering Yourself in Selkie Moon
The first page of this beautifully written book pulled me right in to the magical Scottish Isles and seas where fairytale and reality blur. A place where the protagonist, Ilsa, begins to discover who she truly is.
This is a story of a young girl coming of age and learning to be comfortable in her various "skins." Her task is not as easy one. She and her family live far from town, and their connection to nature is quite different than the other inhabitants of the isles.
Ilsa’s journey is a journey we all must take in life as we discover and discard many skins—as we learn that life is full of contradictions and love is not happily ever after but a choice.
I read this lyrical book in an afternoon. The story lingers with an unexplained warmth. At a time when there is so much unrest and noise, this book reminds us what truly matters. I'm sure I'll revisit it often.
I was lucky enough to buy this book from the author, Kelly Jarvis, at a book fair where we were both participants. She is as lovely and magical as her writing.
Can’t wait to read her new novel "Sea and Stars" available for preorder now.
The first page of this beautifully written book pulled me right in to the magical Scottish Isles and seas where fairytale and reality blur. A place where the protagonist, Ilsa, begins to discover who she truly is.
This is a story of a young girl coming of age and learning to be comfortable in her various "skins." Her task is not as easy one. She and her family live far from town, and their connection to nature is quite different than the other inhabitants of the isles.
Ilsa’s journey is a journey we all must take in life as we discover and discard many skins—as we learn that life is full of contradictions and love is not happily ever after but a choice.
I read this lyrical book in an afternoon. The story lingers with an unexplained warmth. At a time when there is so much unrest and noise, this book reminds us what truly matters. I'm sure I'll revisit it often.
I was lucky enough to buy this book from the author, Kelly Jarvis, at a book fair where we were both participants. She is as lovely and magical as her writing.
Can’t wait to read her new novel "Sea and Stars" available for preorder now.
May 11, 2025
I was gifted an early reading of this novella and I am truly thankful to Kelly Jarvis for reaching out to me. I truly enjoyed this novella which is based on the folklore and legends of Selkie Brides. This was a new concept for me, but going into it as a fan of fantasy and romance I was surprised by how many emotions these 100 pages elicited. This novella is a mixture of Isla’s coming of age story with the story of her parent’s tumultuous but relationship that was also based in love. Although the story was based in folklore, I found it very relatable with so many different messages to learn and reflect on. The author even adds a little twist at the end that pulls on my hopeless romantic heart. I highly recommend it even if it is not something you would typically read (which was the case for me).
June 17, 2025
This is an enchanting family story told through the lens of the selkie legend. I enjoyed how Jarvis deftly weaves folkloric inspiration into beautiful prose, and I finished this book in one day, that's how enraptured I was. The writing was so vivid, there were moments where I had a visceral reaction (the webbing, omg!), and the imagery resonated across multiple other stories I've encountered, making me think of other (occasionally toxic) relationships in folklore and fairy tales, other forms of bodily violation and consent, other ways of loving your family and yourself and not knowing how to pick between the two... there's just so much to enjoy here. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy!
July 9, 2025
The writing in this book swept me away. It felt like part of the Selkie lore it was sharing. Lyrical and immersive, the prose alone is worth the journey. Selkie Moon is a beautifully told coming-of-age novella, perfect for lovers of ocean lore and coastal living. Isla’s story is one of self-discovery, rich with emotion as she uncovers truths about herself and her family, with folklore serving as a bridge to those revelations. What makes this tale especially powerful is how grounded it feels. The raw emotional weight of family, identity, and the ache of not belonging is woven seamlessly into the story. A poignant and lyrical read from a talented new author.
April 8, 2026
The word to describe this book is dense. It is short but packed with conflict, lessons, characters to care about, and, most of all, imagery. Jarvis paints a picture of the Orkney Islands that allows the reader to not just picture it, but feel it. The story caused me, a grumpy old man, to sympathize with Isla as she struggled to come of age. Part of her struggles are due to her Selkie-ness and other parts more common. Lastly, what I enjoyed about the book is it give me the freedom to fill in certain details about the characters in my mind, particularly their physical attributes. I appreciate the opportunity to flex my imagination.
July 21, 2025
An exquisite tale of mothers and daughters, love and sacrifice, mystery and magic.
Using selkie folklore, Kelly Jarvis has crafted a beautiful and wise coming-of-age story of a girl living in the Orkney Islands. The setting is vivid and compelling, the characters flawed and complex, and the story of love and sacrifice is timeless. Isla's sense of being "other," her frustrations with her parents, and her struggles to fit in will resonate with anyone who recalls adolescence. Highly recommended!
Using selkie folklore, Kelly Jarvis has crafted a beautiful and wise coming-of-age story of a girl living in the Orkney Islands. The setting is vivid and compelling, the characters flawed and complex, and the story of love and sacrifice is timeless. Isla's sense of being "other," her frustrations with her parents, and her struggles to fit in will resonate with anyone who recalls adolescence. Highly recommended!
April 14, 2026
Selkie Moon is a lyrical and evocative novella that beautifully intertwines folklore and personal transformation. Kelly Jarvis crafts a hauntingly atmospheric story that explores identity, family, and the spaces between worlds with quiet depth and emotional resonance. Through Isla’s journey, the novel captures the enduring power of myth to illuminate the human experience. A thoughtful and enchanting read for lovers of folklore-inspired fiction.
May 21, 2025
Absolutely loved Selkie Moon. This is a short novella, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t jam packed with an amazing story. The big theme in Selkie Moon is family. It is a coming of age story mixed with the lores and magic of Selkies. Such a great read.
Thank you to Kelly Jarvis for this ARC opportunity. This is an honest and voluntary review.
Thank you to Kelly Jarvis for this ARC opportunity. This is an honest and voluntary review.
June 22, 2025
Once I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down! It is a beautiful story about love, family, and ultimate sacrifices. Kelly Jarvis used her abilities to spin a tale and make it uniquely her own. It gives a whole new meaning to Wild One!
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