A review by the_evergrowing_library
Not Good for Maidens by Tori Bovalino
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.