A review by tej_reads
The Rainfall Market by You Yeong-Gwang

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

3.75

 The Rainfall Goblin Market appears during the rainy season and allows guests to exchange lives for better ones. Serin a young girl, who hopes for a better life receives a golden ticket to the market. 

I liked the social commentary throughout that no one is ever happy with what they have, and that even someone who had that ‘ideal life’, was still at the Market wanting a better life. Serin also wishes in, I suppose the ‘right’ order for the social commentary to progress, from something small like a place at her dream university (so is she older?) to freedom to money. At each instance seeing why having that kind of life might not make her happy. The subplot with the Goblins was confusing mainly as it all came to play in the later chapters, but it does play into the social commentary aspect of the novel. 

The premise was great although I think the execution was a bit confusing, in the being you find that Serin is reeling from the loss of her sister and yet, Yerin is younger despite Serin readings as though she is twelve? I’m not sure if Serin is then older towards the late teens. Serins choices and mentality throughout the novel scream young. Also, I’m not sure if the premise or the cover said anything about Goblins? 

I'm not entirely sure who the target demographic is for this book, I think it's marketed as a General Fiction (Adult) but I do think it's primarily Teens & YA and that's solely because of the writing style and the lack of in depth social commentary which makes this more suited to a younger audience, so because of that I've reviewed this as if The Rainfall Market was a YA book. 

Thank you to Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House, You Yeong-Gwang and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.