A contemporary romance inspired by Christina Rossetti’s eerie, sensual poem, “Goblin Market.” Four neighbors encounter sinister enchantments and a magical path to love in a small, modern-day Puget Sound town, where a fae realm hides in the woods and waters…
Goblins…having only a passing acquaintance with the subject I am all too aware that my view of goblins might be somewhat stereotyped. I love the Rossetti poem that inspired this, so I was excited to see this on NetGalley.
I have to say that the set-up of the world, and the details of the fae we meet is not quite as developed as I’d have liked. We see a little of the goblin world, but it is a passing focus for much of the novel.
Our story focuses on Kit Sylvain, the latest of his family to have to deal with the consequences of the deal made by one of his ancestors. Kit is given immunity form the goblins’ mischief making, as long as he provides them with a specified amount of gold each month. If he falls short, the innocent around him will suffer. it’s a hard burden to shoulder, and we see just how difficult when two sisters get caught up in the events.
The new adult element of this seemed to be because the characters are in their twenties and they have sex…maybe I’m missing something, but isn’t this a rather typical portrayal of how people at this stage of their lives might act? Focusing on four characters also made me feel I wasn’t really getting enough detail about them/what they were experiencing.
This was an interesting read, but it felt like we were glossing over part of the story that I wanted to know more about. The story was pacy, but there was a part of me that was enjoying the world so much that I wanted more to savour. I feel there could have been little more complexity through making use of the various strands mentioned, or playing with the timeframe of the story further.
Definitely one I’ll recommend to see how others respond to it. Just in case you’re interested: Rossetti’s poem can be found here: