Riona has lost everyone that mattered in her life, save Conor, the son of a knight and an irritating little cabbage that follows her everywhere and makes her feel things she would rather not. Like Love. As children Conor was always there for her when the Lord of Death took another from her and as adults, they now have a beautiful daughter of their own, Haisley, the one being in the world that Riona would do anything for even kill Death himself.
In terms of just a wonderful romance this was excellent. I truly enjoyed that no matter how much Conor and Riona cared about each other a happily ever after was never in the cards for them. Or at least not in the traditional fashion. I love an HEA as much as the next person, but I also love seeing a story that recognizes that happily ever after doesn't look the same for all characters.
Riona is an interesting character as she is such so straightforward. There is nothing complicated in her actions, she makes a decision and right, wrong, or indifferent she sticks by it. She has no regrets and that can make her seem uncaring, especially if that decision hurt someone else. I related so much to her, especially in the few scenes where she, Conor, and their daughter are together. Conor is hurt by things that while I can understand it watching the scene, I also understand where Riona is coming from when she doesn't act in the manner expected of a mother, especially by the father of the child. Quite frankly I think a lot of working moms will relate to her.
Conor is a cabbage. He loves her don't get me wrong, but there are times when you can tell he definitely wishes she was less reckless, when she put him ahead of everything else and while he does bury that pretty deeply down it does come across when we get into his chapters. He is, however, truly dedicated to supporting her even when he says he isn't and that was beautiful to see. Riona would be considered "hard to love" and he takes on the job with very little complaint. Their relationship is extremely lopsided and he knows it.
In terms of this idea of Riona sacrificing all and everything for her daughter, I felt like this was an afterthought. Yes, i know she says it a lot but that never really felt like it was the case. As the story goes on, we learn the Lord of Death is not who we think he is and he is a selfish, evil, egotistical spoiled brat. We also found out that Riona knew this the whole time and once she enters his realm, we see just how bad he truly is. There is a scene where he tortures a soul for example that sits not just with us but Riona for the rest of the story. Knowing what we know at the end of the book I think whatever motivation Riona had when she first started this quest changed to what it always should have been from the minute she learns the truth about the Lord of Death. It most likely wasn't a conscious change but saving her daughter is simply the excuse she needs to do the hard thing. And I loved that. We can call it whatever we want but at the end of the day, Riona knew things needed to be set right and thanks to her reckless attitude she was the perfect person for the job.
The Lord of Death is an interesting character until he isn't. And that's not Healy's fault, it's just that once we find out the truth of who he is and what his plans are he goes from a mystery to a fairly predictable slimeball. He is one of those bad guys who thinks he's the smartest person in the room long after it's been proven that he isn't. Oddly enough I think if he had been any less pathetic than he was and the ending simply wouldn't have been satisfying. He needed to be the shadow that turns out to just be a pile of clothes in the corner instead of the monster he and Riona had believed him to be.
I enjoyed the back and forth between past and present in this as well, learning what lead up to the point we find ourselves at through flashbacks was a fun way to not just introduce us to the characters but to show character growth. Especially in Riona, she is still the same reckless child we grow to love through these flashbacks, but we are able to see that she has learned to use that recklessness to her advantage as an adult. Plus, I think given how this opens Healy has to establish pretty early on that Riona isn't your traditional female MC and the best way to see that is to go through the story of her childhood.
The world relies heavily on Irish/Celtic folklore and mythology and while I don't believe it is necessary to know it to read this it would certainly be helpful to at least have a working knowledge of some of the references. However, there is a glossary in the back of the book, which is helpful. I also don't believe that reading The Blood, The Crow, and the Snow is necessary either. The story for the most part is told throughout the book, but I did read it myself after I realized that this was based (loosely) on this tale, it didn't add or detract anything from Unseen overall though, it was just nice to read where the inspiration came from.
I truly enjoyed this far more than I thought I would when I first started reading it, had it ended in any other way I probably wouldn't have. Riona was an interesting character because she wasn't overly complicated and her motivation whether it's to save her child or not is understandable. The connection to Irish mythology and folklore allows this to sit happily as a modern-day fairy tale.
As always thanks to NetGalley and Pen and Paper LLC for the eArc!
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