Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.44 AVERAGE
3.44 AVERAGE
It was really slow and had zero romance! Very disappointed!
I couldn't finish this--the characters are just a little too miserable throughout.
Not as good as I was hoping. Way too much romance with not enough world building and action. Main character did not have a ton of personality and the love interests were very stereotypical.
This was a book I asked for and received way back at Christmastime, but didn’t pick up until a short while ago because I wanted to savor it. I first started reading on the train in the afternoon, thinking I would just start it. About six hours later, I was glued to the book by my eyeballs, unable to tear myself away until I had finished!
The plot:
The plot was interesting, though I confess there were one or two places where I felt there was a piece of the story missing, like the book should have been longer. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the non-stop action and the quick pacing. While this does have strong themes of romance, it is very much an action flick as well with everything from sword fights to chase scenes. In other words, my kind of book.
The characters:
Greta can be a bit stubborn and there were parts where I wanted to slap her and scream “Can’t you see that Isaac loves you, you numpty?!” But her will to survive and desire to save others was admirable and I especially related to her protectiveness over her baby brother. I especially liked how Isaac didn’t have to charge in and rescue her every time she got herself into a tight fix. Greta could hold her own, but at the same time she wasn’t invincible. She was a balanced character, not too tough but certainly not helpless.
I’ve always thought of goblins as rather nasty (especially post-LOTR), but Isaac fits securely into the category of adorable love interests. His strong personality makes a good match for Greta and his persistence is absolutely required to win over a girl like her. Though she might not see it at first, I think Isaac and Greta are definitely an OTP.
I really liked Wyatt, the leader of the lost boys. He was an older brother, sometimes paternal, figure to the younger boys he’d taken under his wing. However, he has a thing for Greta and she a tiny thing for him and to that I must quote something I heard another reviewer say: “It’s Greta and the Goblin King, not Greta and the Human.”
I adored the lost boy characters, though there is one I fear will be trouble later. The villain, Agramon, is certainly evil, though he doesn’t get much page time. For most of the story the villains are the weather and other bounty hunters before we actually come face-to-face with Agramon. I very much enjoyed the characters and I look forward to seeing more of them(except the villain) in future books.
Conclusion: A fun, witty read with plenty of sarcasm, edge-of-your-seat action, and a breathtaking romance.
The plot:
The plot was interesting, though I confess there were one or two places where I felt there was a piece of the story missing, like the book should have been longer. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the non-stop action and the quick pacing. While this does have strong themes of romance, it is very much an action flick as well with everything from sword fights to chase scenes. In other words, my kind of book.
The characters:
Greta can be a bit stubborn and there were parts where I wanted to slap her and scream “Can’t you see that Isaac loves you, you numpty?!” But her will to survive and desire to save others was admirable and I especially related to her protectiveness over her baby brother. I especially liked how Isaac didn’t have to charge in and rescue her every time she got herself into a tight fix. Greta could hold her own, but at the same time she wasn’t invincible. She was a balanced character, not too tough but certainly not helpless.
I’ve always thought of goblins as rather nasty (especially post-LOTR), but Isaac fits securely into the category of adorable love interests. His strong personality makes a good match for Greta and his persistence is absolutely required to win over a girl like her. Though she might not see it at first, I think Isaac and Greta are definitely an OTP.
I really liked Wyatt, the leader of the lost boys. He was an older brother, sometimes paternal, figure to the younger boys he’d taken under his wing. However, he has a thing for Greta and she a tiny thing for him and to that I must quote something I heard another reviewer say: “It’s Greta and the Goblin King, not Greta and the Human.”
I adored the lost boy characters, though there is one I fear will be trouble later. The villain, Agramon, is certainly evil, though he doesn’t get much page time. For most of the story the villains are the weather and other bounty hunters before we actually come face-to-face with Agramon. I very much enjoyed the characters and I look forward to seeing more of them(except the villain) in future books.
Conclusion: A fun, witty read with plenty of sarcasm, edge-of-your-seat action, and a breathtaking romance.
Ahh that was so good! Greta is so BA & she had some awesome fight scenes! For the most part this book was insane, non-stop action. I loved the goblin angle, definitely not something you read often. I;m not sure about Isaac, he had his moments, but there were times he creeped me out a little. Wyatt is adorable, but I think it's weird how quickly he decided his feeling for her, they barely knew each other. At least her & Isaac knew each other longer, but his freaky possessiveness was a little off putting at times. The whole plot was really awesome & I loved the world it took place in. Can't wait to see where it goes from here. It's a unique book with a totally BA MC which I love!
I've been meaning to write a review for this book for awhile, but I've been sidetracked among other things.
My biggest problem with this book is that it started out with a bang, and I thought it would get better and better.
It didn't. In fact, I don't think I've ever read a book that slid so far down, so fast. It's my biggest pet peeves with books, which start off so good and can never redeem themselves.
This book suffered from a problem that is immensely annoying, and that there was no real character development. I mean, the two characters of Greta and Issac went around and around and AROUND with their dialogue. It got super annoying after awhile, and this book, in a lot of ways I wish was a lot more like "Nevermore" between the two opposing characters who fall in love. It wasn't, and it got to the point that I couldn't believe the romance at all.
The concept itself I thought would be a lot more like "Labyrinth." However, the the world itself might be interesting, but it didn't feel like there was any real depth too it. In a lot of ways, it felt pretty cookie cutter and the only thing that the book did satisfy is the never ending need for tension. I mean tension is important, don't get me wrong, but sometimes subtlety is needed.
I also found the the whole subplot with the "lost boys" rather irritating, and I didn't think there would be a love triangle in this book but then it came into focus. It's a shame. I don't mind love triangles, but don't just add them in for tension please. It's ridiculous.
In conclusion, I recommend "Nevermore" if you want something that is slightly different between two completely different characters because it is a much better plot, characters, and overall feeling.
My biggest problem with this book is that it started out with a bang, and I thought it would get better and better.
It didn't. In fact, I don't think I've ever read a book that slid so far down, so fast. It's my biggest pet peeves with books, which start off so good and can never redeem themselves.
This book suffered from a problem that is immensely annoying, and that there was no real character development. I mean, the two characters of Greta and Issac went around and around and AROUND with their dialogue. It got super annoying after awhile, and this book, in a lot of ways I wish was a lot more like "Nevermore" between the two opposing characters who fall in love. It wasn't, and it got to the point that I couldn't believe the romance at all.
The concept itself I thought would be a lot more like "Labyrinth." However, the the world itself might be interesting, but it didn't feel like there was any real depth too it. In a lot of ways, it felt pretty cookie cutter and the only thing that the book did satisfy is the never ending need for tension. I mean tension is important, don't get me wrong, but sometimes subtlety is needed.
I also found the the whole subplot with the "lost boys" rather irritating, and I didn't think there would be a love triangle in this book but then it came into focus. It's a shame. I don't mind love triangles, but don't just add them in for tension please. It's ridiculous.
In conclusion, I recommend "Nevermore" if you want something that is slightly different between two completely different characters because it is a much better plot, characters, and overall feeling.
“You’re mine, Greta. I would bring you back from death itself if I had to.”
Oh Good freaking Lord, I don't even know what to write! This book was sooooooo good and I'm soooo glad that it stumbled on me. It was an un-put-downable, bunking-school, quit-doing-your-homework, forget-to-eat-sleep-talk kind of book.
Frankly I wasn't sure what to think. The title "Greta and the Goblin King" sounded like a fairy tale name (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Beedle the Bard, you get the picture) and the whole "Goblin" being the hero had me thinking. But I'm GLAD that I purchased it, hell I'm ecstatic that I purchased it. I loved it. Period.
Greta
She isn't your typical heroine. Yeah, she's a smart ass, sarcastic, tough and strong. But she kills to survive. Not in a bad way. She kills the ghouls that are Lost, given in to the beast in them. The thing is Greta is human. And humans do NOT exist in the place that Greta is stuck in. Why? Because they are hunted and hated. But she keeps her secret and she pulls through and she's doing fine...until Isaac.
She's strong, but almost like every strong character, she's scared of weakness...in her case attachment, love, any thing that makes her want to stay in Mylena. She wants to go back home. To her family and with Isaac haunting her dreams and making her feel the exact things that she is hiding from she's confused. Then she has a bounty on her head, and the hunter becomes hunted. But what happens when she's running away that makes her stop and realize she does have something to lose.
Isaac
I LOVED him, he was a very well developed character and I love love LOVED him! Yumtastic! I want me some. Yes, he hides things from Greta, but everything that he does for her makes you forgive every small (teeny tiny) mistake that he's ever made. He's consuming, intimidating, controlling, controlled, loving, lovable and my new book boyfriend.
Five Stars!
Some quotes, they might be spoilery!
“You’re no walk in the park yourself,” she snapped. “Arrogant, manipulative smartass.”
“Your gracious personality?”
She gave him the look of death.
Oh Good freaking Lord, I don't even know what to write! This book was sooooooo good and I'm soooo glad that it stumbled on me. It was an un-put-downable, bunking-school, quit-doing-your-homework, forget-to-eat-sleep-talk kind of book.
Frankly I wasn't sure what to think. The title "Greta and the Goblin King" sounded like a fairy tale name (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Beedle the Bard, you get the picture) and the whole "Goblin" being the hero had me thinking. But I'm GLAD that I purchased it, hell I'm ecstatic that I purchased it. I loved it. Period.
Greta
She isn't your typical heroine. Yeah, she's a smart ass, sarcastic, tough and strong. But she kills to survive. Not in a bad way. She kills the ghouls that are Lost, given in to the beast in them. The thing is Greta is human. And humans do NOT exist in the place that Greta is stuck in. Why? Because they are hunted and hated. But she keeps her secret and she pulls through and she's doing fine...until Isaac.
She's strong, but almost like every strong character, she's scared of weakness...in her case attachment, love, any thing that makes her want to stay in Mylena. She wants to go back home. To her family and with Isaac haunting her dreams and making her feel the exact things that she is hiding from she's confused. Then she has a bounty on her head, and the hunter becomes hunted. But what happens when she's running away that makes her stop and realize she does have something to lose.
Isaac
I LOVED him, he was a very well developed character and I love love LOVED him! Yumtastic! I want me some. Yes, he hides things from Greta, but everything that he does for her makes you forgive every small (teeny tiny) mistake that he's ever made. He's consuming, intimidating, controlling, controlled, loving, lovable and my new book boyfriend.
Five Stars!
Some quotes, they might be spoilery!
Spoiler
“At least now I understand where your impertinence comes from. Humans are notoriously irritating and troublesome, are you not?”“You’re no walk in the park yourself,” she snapped. “Arrogant, manipulative smartass.”
Spoiler
"But I find I’m less interested in forcing you than I am in making you see that you can trust me.”Spoiler
“If I’m such a perfect fit for Mylena, why is everyone out to kill me?”“Your gracious personality?”
She gave him the look of death.
This was a buddy read with Janice.
So much promise...
Greta and the Goblin King follows the adventures of Greta, a 17-year old human who 4 years ago fell through a magical portal to Mylena, a world of goblins, Faeries, Giants and Witches. It's also a place where being human is a one-way ticket to an early grave, as they are blamed by the locals for, well, everything. Luckily for Greta, she was found early on by Luke, a Sprite and Bounty Hunter who became a father figure to her and taught her how to not only hide what she is, but how to fight, how to survive the harsh climate (it's constantly winter there) and how to be a Bounty Hunter, like himself.
When we meet Greta for the first time she's on a mission in her role as Bounty Hunter and I thought this was a really strong opening scene. She's a sword-wielding badass with a snarky attitude who seemed very likeable and I appreciated that she'd kept her human traits and vocabulary despite the dangers involved in doing so. Where this book fell apart for me, though, was the romance. It was pretty terrible, I'm afraid. Absolutely paper-thin characterisation of Isaac the Goblin King. And even though his name graces the title, don't think for a minute that stopped there from being a love triangle thrown in for good measure. And sadly, I preferred the second potential love interest over Isaac, which I don't think was supposed to happen.
I think perhaps the fundamental mistake and the reason I didn't connect well with the romance was that at the time we join Greta's story, she and Isaac have already known each other for two weeks. Now if only we'd been privy to that first meeting— which sounded rather good and flirtatious and would have told us much about Isaac's true nature and personality. Plus, it was only two weeks ago; it's not liked we'd have had to backtrack years! You could even just stick it on as a prologue— But no, instead we only hear about it in brief retrospect and so when he all of a sudden, out of absolutely nowhere to my eyes, starts talking about these great immense feelings they share, I was like "What now? Did I miss a something?" I just wasn't feeling it at all.
On the other hand, when we meet the second potential love interest we get a proper introduction, some nice life and death actions scenes together, some tender, quiet moments and a believable beginning to a relationship. So I found myself totally rooting for the underdog, which judging by the title, is not the author's intent.
Having said all of that, there were some really good aspects to this book; it's not all doom and gloom by any means. I thought the actual concept was good—a human surviving undercover in a world that detests humans— and Greta was a pretty decent kick-ass protagonist (although considering she was meant to be very skillful, the amount of times she needed saving somewhat belied that fact). Also, there were some nice secondary characters that were fleshed out quite well. The action scenes were really easy to visualise, the weird creatures sounded funky and the idea of the eclipse affecting everyone and turning them rabid was interesting and unnerving. So definitely not a total loss. Just such a shame about the romance angle, really.
I would possibly try this author again in the future because there's clearly a good imagination in play here, but I think I might have been a bit too underwhelmed with the characters to continue with this particular series.
3 Stars ★★★
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
So much promise...
Greta and the Goblin King follows the adventures of Greta, a 17-year old human who 4 years ago fell through a magical portal to Mylena, a world of goblins, Faeries, Giants and Witches. It's also a place where being human is a one-way ticket to an early grave, as they are blamed by the locals for, well, everything. Luckily for Greta, she was found early on by Luke, a Sprite and Bounty Hunter who became a father figure to her and taught her how to not only hide what she is, but how to fight, how to survive the harsh climate (it's constantly winter there) and how to be a Bounty Hunter, like himself.
When we meet Greta for the first time she's on a mission in her role as Bounty Hunter and I thought this was a really strong opening scene. She's a sword-wielding badass with a snarky attitude who seemed very likeable and I appreciated that she'd kept her human traits and vocabulary despite the dangers involved in doing so. Where this book fell apart for me, though, was the romance. It was pretty terrible, I'm afraid. Absolutely paper-thin characterisation of Isaac the Goblin King. And even though his name graces the title, don't think for a minute that stopped there from being a love triangle thrown in for good measure. And sadly, I preferred the second potential love interest over Isaac, which I don't think was supposed to happen.
I think perhaps the fundamental mistake and the reason I didn't connect well with the romance was that at the time we join Greta's story, she and Isaac have already known each other for two weeks. Now if only we'd been privy to that first meeting— which sounded rather good and flirtatious and would have told us much about Isaac's true nature and personality. Plus, it was only two weeks ago; it's not liked we'd have had to backtrack years! You could even just stick it on as a prologue— But no, instead we only hear about it in brief retrospect and so when he all of a sudden, out of absolutely nowhere to my eyes, starts talking about these great immense feelings they share, I was like "What now? Did I miss a something?" I just wasn't feeling it at all.
On the other hand, when we meet the second potential love interest we get a proper introduction, some nice life and death actions scenes together, some tender, quiet moments and a believable beginning to a relationship. So I found myself totally rooting for the underdog, which judging by the title, is not the author's intent.
Having said all of that, there were some really good aspects to this book; it's not all doom and gloom by any means. I thought the actual concept was good—a human surviving undercover in a world that detests humans— and Greta was a pretty decent kick-ass protagonist (although considering she was meant to be very skillful, the amount of times she needed saving somewhat belied that fact). Also, there were some nice secondary characters that were fleshed out quite well. The action scenes were really easy to visualise, the weird creatures sounded funky and the idea of the eclipse affecting everyone and turning them rabid was interesting and unnerving. So definitely not a total loss. Just such a shame about the romance angle, really.
I would possibly try this author again in the future because there's clearly a good imagination in play here, but I think I might have been a bit too underwhelmed with the characters to continue with this particular series.
3 Stars ★★★
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.