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A review by brooketreads
Goblin: A Novel in Six Novellas by Josh Malerman
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I found this on a list of “If you like The Labyrinth, read this.” I went in expecting to love this. I did enjoyed the multiple novella’s making up one book. Unfortunately, the stories didn’t come together for me. I thought there would be an over arching story line like all of them have to do with whatever is in the truck - nope. All the novellas take place in a city called Goblin, but I had no sense of the setting of any of these stories. Even the story in the woods felt like just a generic forest. I felt each story started out strong but quickly fell flat. There was either: too much detail that wasn’t helpful at all; or too much back story on the character that was being talked about at that moment. At points, I kept thinking ok let’s get on with the story. The Goblin police seemed interesting, but we didn’t get much information on them other than they were horrible/terrible. Were they actually Goblins? I don’t know.
Side Notes:
I can’t claim to know the authors ethnicity, but Kamp’s novella felt a little insensitive to Indigenous people. Maybe, I was reading way too much into it.
And killing owls made me irrationally angry.
Side Notes:
I can’t claim to know the authors ethnicity, but Kamp’s novella felt a little insensitive to Indigenous people. Maybe, I was reading way too much into it.
And killing owls made me irrationally angry.
Moderate: Animal death, Violence, and War