splendornights's review against another edition
5.0
i would die for eitra. and may and laura and lou and neela. but mostly for eitra.
kayceero's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
the_bookliopile's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
emmaskies's review against another edition
ARC provided by Page Street YA for review
3.5 stars rounded up to 4 for Goodreads
Not Good for Maidens is a modern, queer retelling of Christina Rosetti's The Goblin Market that takes place within two timelines. In the present, Lou's young aunt/best friend Neela has been taken by the Market all the way across the ocean in her family's ancestral home in the UK; Eighteen years ago, Lou's aunt May was the one held by the Market while her mother went in to save her, and whatever happened back then was enough to drive them from the country and never speak of it again, to the point of hiding Lou's magical heritage from her.
What I think this book did well:
- The Goblin Market itself, to an extent. - I was pleasantly surprised by the level of body horror and gore in a YA book. The goblins themselves are an interesting bunch and the market reads just as atmospherically intense as I'd expect after Tori Bovalino's previous book, The Devil Makes Three.
- The Dual Timelines. - I think the timelines worked well against each other in pacing and there were only a couple instances where I wanted to yell at the book to "go back, go back!" when it switched over. A small amount of that I think is good, keeping me invested in waiting for it to switch back as long as the current one still engages me. (I have seen other reviews say that the timelines are difficult to differentiate at times because they're pretty similar. It seems that most of these I saw were audiobook reviews, so this might be a book where the physical is a better read than the audio.)
What didn't work quite as well for me:
- The Goblin Market itself, to an extent. - But you just said up above- I know, I know. While the horrors of the Market are well written, what the book fails to communicate to me, as the reader, is why someone would be lured in to this monstrous place not just once, but multiple times in a row. I spent a lot of my time in May's timeline not understanding why she went in the first place and why she ever went back to the horror show. This is where the book attempts to use the sapphic star-crossed romance with a goblin girl, but it's instalove and in my mind still fails to show me the why of it all. This was the biggest issue for me through the entire book. If I can't understand why a character did the thing that started the entire plot, that's going to sit with me for the whole book.
- The familial relationship between Lou and Neela. - This is a pretty nitpicky thing, but I kept waiting for it to become apparent why the author chose to make Lou and Neela same-age Niece/Aunt instead of something much easier to explain like cousins or family friends, but it never did. There's no exploration of the sisterly relationship between Neela and Lou's mom and other aunt, so it seems like an unnecessary complication that is consistently the tripping point in explaining the book to others.
So, in the end, 3.5 stars. Atmospherically good (Tori Bovalino writes a spooky atmosphere like nobody's business) but somewhat lacking in character intent.
CW for moments of intense gore/body horror
3.5 stars rounded up to 4 for Goodreads
Not Good for Maidens is a modern, queer retelling of Christina Rosetti's The Goblin Market that takes place within two timelines. In the present, Lou's young aunt/best friend Neela has been taken by the Market all the way across the ocean in her family's ancestral home in the UK; Eighteen years ago, Lou's aunt May was the one held by the Market while her mother went in to save her, and whatever happened back then was enough to drive them from the country and never speak of it again, to the point of hiding Lou's magical heritage from her.
What I think this book did well:
- The Goblin Market itself, to an extent. - I was pleasantly surprised by the level of body horror and gore in a YA book. The goblins themselves are an interesting bunch and the market reads just as atmospherically intense as I'd expect after Tori Bovalino's previous book, The Devil Makes Three.
- The Dual Timelines. - I think the timelines worked well against each other in pacing and there were only a couple instances where I wanted to yell at the book to "go back, go back!" when it switched over. A small amount of that I think is good, keeping me invested in waiting for it to switch back as long as the current one still engages me. (I have seen other reviews say that the timelines are difficult to differentiate at times because they're pretty similar. It seems that most of these I saw were audiobook reviews, so this might be a book where the physical is a better read than the audio.)
What didn't work quite as well for me:
- The Goblin Market itself, to an extent. - But you just said up above- I know, I know. While the horrors of the Market are well written, what the book fails to communicate to me, as the reader, is why someone would be lured in to this monstrous place not just once, but multiple times in a row. I spent a lot of my time in May's timeline not understanding why she went in the first place and why she ever went back to the horror show. This is where the book attempts to use the sapphic star-crossed romance with a goblin girl, but it's instalove and in my mind still fails to show me the why of it all. This was the biggest issue for me through the entire book. If I can't understand why a character did the thing that started the entire plot, that's going to sit with me for the whole book.
- The familial relationship between Lou and Neela. - This is a pretty nitpicky thing, but I kept waiting for it to become apparent why the author chose to make Lou and Neela same-age Niece/Aunt instead of something much easier to explain like cousins or family friends, but it never did. There's no exploration of the sisterly relationship between Neela and Lou's mom and other aunt, so it seems like an unnecessary complication that is consistently the tripping point in explaining the book to others.
So, in the end, 3.5 stars. Atmospherically good (Tori Bovalino writes a spooky atmosphere like nobody's business) but somewhat lacking in character intent.
CW for moments of intense gore/body horror
navardareads's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
littearacy's review against another edition
3.0
Not bad but missing something.
~
There's secrets Lou has never known about her family's history. Pasts buried back in England she has never unconvered - until her aunt and best friend Neela is kidnapped by goblins to the market. Now it's up to Lou to step up and save her from something she never knew existed.
It's an okay book and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants an easy beach read. The characters are fine enough and I wouldn't mind a second book
~
There's secrets Lou has never known about her family's history. Pasts buried back in England she has never unconvered - until her aunt and best friend Neela is kidnapped by goblins to the market. Now it's up to Lou to step up and save her from something she never knew existed.
It's an okay book and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants an easy beach read. The characters are fine enough and I wouldn't mind a second book
the_evergrowing_library's review against another edition
3.0
A dark retelling of Christina Rossetti’s ‘Goblin market’, steeped with horror and fantasy elements.
I thought the premise here was great and I really enjoyed the idea of a secret and deadly goblin market running magically adjacent the streets of York was a wonderful idea.
The execution though was a little less to my liking. I did enjoy the book and it was beautifully atmospheric throughout, with some lovely gore filled moments…..there was just a few things I struggled with.
It felt very YA at times and the pacing was weirdly all over the place, even as a dual timeline book. There was also a lot of decisions that left me with more questions: why would someone with a life of warning not to go to the market take so little convincing? With the grotesque visuals described, why were people so nonchalant when they were there? How many times can an ‘off-camera’ death happen before you just assume the plot armour is impenetrable?
Overall I enjoyed this interesting retelling, but I wouldn’t say it left the impact that I’d hoped it would.
I thought the premise here was great and I really enjoyed the idea of a secret and deadly goblin market running magically adjacent the streets of York was a wonderful idea.
The execution though was a little less to my liking. I did enjoy the book and it was beautifully atmospheric throughout, with some lovely gore filled moments…..there was just a few things I struggled with.
It felt very YA at times and the pacing was weirdly all over the place, even as a dual timeline book. There was also a lot of decisions that left me with more questions: why would someone with a life of warning not to go to the market take so little convincing? With the grotesque visuals described, why were people so nonchalant when they were there? How many times can an ‘off-camera’ death happen before you just assume the plot armour is impenetrable?
Overall I enjoyed this interesting retelling, but I wouldn’t say it left the impact that I’d hoped it would.
rwalker101's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
There's so many elements to love about this book, it's just that they all felt underdeveloped.
daria_nedelcu19's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Enjoyment 7/10
Concept 9/10
Execution 6/10
Writing 7/10
Plot & Logic 2/10
Pacing & Structure 8/10
Atmosphere 9/10
Characters 6/10
Intrigue 6/10
World Building 7/10
Audio Performance 6/10
Rating: 3.3/5
Concept 9/10
Execution 6/10
Writing 7/10
Plot & Logic 2/10
Pacing & Structure 8/10
Atmosphere 9/10
Characters 6/10
Intrigue 6/10
World Building 7/10
Audio Performance 6/10
Rating: 3.3/5
itsheyfay's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Torture, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Medical content, Confinement, and Medical trauma
Minor: Pregnancy