Review: Goblin King by Kara Barbieri

 I'd read the first book in the YA fantasy last year and thoroughly enjoyed the mix of Norse mythology, fantasy and action pure. Oh, and don't forget a darker tale, too. (You can see my review of White Stag here) So, I was excited to pick up the second in the series and see how the adventure continued. 

GOBLIN KING

Permafrost, #2

by Kara Barbieri

YA Fantasy

The Hunt is over but the War has just begun.

Against all odds, Janneke has survived the Hunt for the Stag--but all good things come with a cost. Lydian might be dead, but he took the Stag with him. Janneke now holds the mantle, while Soren, now her equal in every way, has become the new Erlking. Janneke's powers as the new Stag bring along haunting visions of a world thrown into chaos and the ghost of Lydian taunts her with the riddles he spoke of when he was alive.

When Janneke discovers the truth of Lydian and his madness, she's forced to see her tormentor in a different light for the first time. The world they know is dying and Lydian may hold the key to saving it.

Torn between her feelings and her duty as the Stag, Janneke must bring her tormentor back to life if she has hopes of keeping her world alive. But the journey is long and hard and this time she won't have Soren for company.

Lydian might be able to stop the worlds from crumbling, but reviving him may cost Janneke the life with Soren she's tried to hard to build. After all, there can only be one King....

      

BOOK DEPOSITORY

MY TIDBITS

Norse mythology meets a darker, psychological tale and is packed with tons of action in this exciting read.

After surviving the Hunt and receiving the Stag's powers, Janneke is having trouble sliding into her new role as The Stag. No matter how she tries, she can't even begin to touch upon the powers she received. And it's frustrating. Especially since the evil she defeated, Lydian has joined the nightmare visions in her head and speaks to her constantly. Now, she must take on the next stage of her life and live up to the position of The Stag, which means doing everything in her power to stop the end of the world...the very end she's supposedly going to cause.

I enjoyed the first book in this series quite a bit, and I'll admit, after reading it in 2019 (a year ago), it took me a bit to figure out where everything had left off when I dove into this book. This is by no means a stand-alone, and I would have appreciated a little backstory to help trigger my brain. But that's neither here nor there. This story starts not only where the last one left off, but introduces an entirely new stage in the heroine, Janneke's, life. She's gotten past the first horrible experiences of book one, is with her heart's desire, the Erlking, and now, has to take a leading role and save everything and everyone. It really feels like a next step, and that I definitely appreciate.

This tale is more psychological in nature than the first. Janneke is battling with tons of inner problems—her powers, nightmares, doubts, and Lydian. I'd say that makes this one a little slower paced, but that's not quite true since she does meet battle after battle and monster after monster in gruesome and deadly situations. Still, there isn't as much progress plot wise in this novel, which did make it fall a little flatter than book one. But don't underestimate the monster end because the author does pull all stops and lets those action scenes thrive. So, kudos on that end.

I did love the world building. It's so rich and wonderful, packed with fantasy and draws in. There's darkness, details and wonders, which make it so easy to get lost in the pages. The characters are also intriguing and many carry quite a bit of depth. Obviously Janneke gets a ton of insight thanks to all of the head time and Lydian shines in this book. Even if he's pure evil, he gains a special place and makes him so wonderful and enjoyable to dislike (at the same time.) I was pretty disappointed with the Erlking. This is Janneke's heart-throb and yet, he's so...dull. I honestly wondered why she was with him since he offers little personality or much of anything. It gets so bad that I almost started hoping Lydian would slide into the hero position simply because he's definitely more interesting...unfortunately, too evil though. And old. Going from a nephew to an uncle would be strange.

There's a ton of Norse mythology and this comes in a landslide as the book gets going. Either readers will love this or feel bogged down. For me, it was interesting and grabbing, however. 

While there are a lot of good things in this book (and I'd still recommend it after book one), it'd didn't quite grab me as much as the first in the series. 

Review: Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones

WINTERSONG

by S. Jae-Jones

St. Martin's Griffin

YA Fantasy

448 pages

Coming. . .

February 7th, 2017!!!

Beware the goblin men and the wares they sell.

All her life, nineteen-year-old Liesl has heard tales of the beautiful, mysterious Goblin King. He is the Lord of Mischief, the Ruler Underground, and the muse around which her music is composed. Yet, as Liesl helps shoulder the burden of running her family’s inn, her dreams of composition and childish fancies about the Goblin King must be set aside in favor of more practical concerns.

But when her sister Käthe is taken by the goblins, Liesl journeys to their realm to rescue her sister and return her to the world above. The Goblin King agrees to let Käthe go—for a price. The life of a maiden must be given to the land, in accordance with the old laws. A life for a life, he says. Without sacrifice, nothing good can grow. Without death, there can be no rebirth. In exchange for her sister’s freedom, Liesl offers her hand in marriage to the Goblin King. He accepts.

Down in the Underground, Liesl discovers that the Goblin King still inspires her—musically, physically, emotionally. Yet even as her talent blossoms, Liesl’s life is slowly fading away, the price she paid for becoming the Goblin King’s bride. As the two of them grow closer, they must learn just what it is they are each willing to sacrifice: her life, her music, or the end of the world.

MY TIDBITS

There are amazingly wonderful things in these pages--extremely amazing, but there was one larger element that left me feeling a little short. Since I read this in one sitting (and wasn't intending to), I'm hitting the 5-stars. Anything that can grab my undivided attention, and leave me reading long after bedtime, deserves it.

This story rubs elbows with several other tales: Der Earlkoenig (a German poem from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe), the Labyrinth, and Hades/Persephone. What I appreciated--and was not expecting--was the poetic, dark beauty in the writing. The descriptions are simply a treat. The author brings a cruel, lovely, sinister and alluring world to life through elegant depictions and writing. Not only the familiar human world comes to life, but the Underworld with all of its quirks and oddities gains clarity and lures in. In other words, it's not the lightest read.

The story has depth, not action. The pacing is steady and tense due to character depth, decisions, self-discovery and emotions. The main character, Liesl, does run into danger a few times, and although these do create angst, this is not the style which dominates the story. I believe this is a book readers will love or dislike, and much of that is based on whether the reader connects to Liesl or not. She is the center of the plot--how she comes to terms with the task, the world, the Goblin King and, mainly, herself. Everything rotates around her relationship/attitude to the Goblin King. So if she, as a character, falls flat for the reader, than the plot doesn't have much of a chance.

That's my biggest problem with this book as well. I did find Liesl intriguing and thoroughly enjoyed the masks and layers of the Goblin King. But there weren't as many layers to the plot. The first half of the book promises more intrigue as the Goblin King lays his trap. The side characters are present and have a stronger interaction in the tale, offering various possibilities and angles. The second half, however, switches to a concentration on Liesl and the Goblin King with only shadows of other players involved. Liesl has only one direction she can basically head toward, and this narrows the possibilities for surprising layers or unknown twists down, making the second half a little deeper and slower than the first.

One thing that also stuck out to me (and I enjoyed this tremendously) was the very real, historical background at the beginning of the story. The atmosphere of Vienna, musicians, Mozart, the king's musical court...all of this is brought to life like a gentle fog. Although the book never visits these places completely, the roots are clear and give the story a nice, real base. The setting in Bavarian forests is also very realistic. And this glance at a true, historical reality adds a nice touch.

I received this book as a Fantasy for young adults (YA), but it does not come across as a YA read. Not only is Liesl slightly over the border age wise, but her sights are set on goals more associated with new adults (NA). The topics, themes and her desires lean toward an older audience and don't fall into the main YA stream.

Summed up, this was a read which pulls into a creepily poetic, beautiful world. The Goblin King is as dark, layered and mysterious as promised, and his realm comes to life with all sorts of horrible creatures and details. It's eerie, alluring and tempting. Fans of fairy tale re-tellings, the Labyrinth and dark, mythological undertones should definitely pick this one up and dive in.