A review by laureenreads
Greta and the Goblin King by Chloe Jacobs

4.0

Greta and the Goblin King is the debut novel by Chloe Jacobs, and the first in the Mylena series. This is the story of Greta, a human girl who fell through a portal into Mylea. In this world full of monsters, Greta finds that she is considered evil. She hides her humanity and finds work as a bounty hunter.

Greta was an interesting character. She was lovely, and fierce, and very human. She had her doubts about herself and the people around her but she did what she needed to do to survive. On the other hand, she used a lot of slang and at first I was confused because the slang she uses is modern (Craptastic, and freaking, for example). It isn't until later that we learn that she came through the portal during modern times and was thrown into this fantasy world where people are relying on fire for cooking and warmth and using bows and swords as weapons. I would have loved to read about the culture shock and how much she had to adjust in order to survive in this strange world, but that would have been a different book.

I liked the relationship between Isaac, the Goblin King, and Greta. He obviously cared about her from the very start and while Greta kept rejecting him it seemed to come more from a place of hiding her identity than a lack of attraction. In fact in some of their shared dreams it was made very apparent that she wanted to kiss him. The sexual tension between the two is just that--tense and highly erotic, but never trashy. I found myself holding my breath in a few places because of it.

On the other hand, the relationship between Wyatt and Greta is... Well. Carly Rae Jepson could probably sum this one up, "Hey I just met you, and this is crazy, but I think I love you so who was that other guy?" Yeah, that sums it up. if you know me, you'll know that I prefer the slow and steady fall to the first sight infatuation. it's not that this is a bad character, the opposite really, it's that the relationship feels like it was forced just do there would be a love triangle. And really, like Greta pointed out, she's the first female Wyatt has seen in years so can we really trust his feelings for her?

So while I've enjoyed this book, I found that the language was off putting. So much slang was used and it just disturbed me. Greta shifted from this really awesome, kick-ass character into a mothering Wendy type when she was surrounded by children and I just can't see her adapting like that quite so fast. And the relationship between Wyatt and Greta was lackluster. But... It was an interesting concept, and had a great relationship between Greta and Isaac. I'd love to read the next in the series, and I think Chloe Jacobs is definitely a writer to watch.