This is a satisfying magical realism romp filled with action, lore, and romance. Recommended to anyone who loves YA magical realism.

Looking for a new twist on the fey? Then read this tale of faerie exploring the darker sides of what happens when you make a bargain with a faerie.

I loved this book and couldn't put it down from the characters to the prose, it was amazing.

Out of Ten: 7/10

Review at a Glance: An engaging standalone with folktale elements and an interesting take on the fae, enjoyable despite some stumbles with pacing and character.

Review: Okay so two confessions right off the bat: 1) this was one of the ARCs that I was supposed to finish and review before I had my... let's say "fit of melancholy" last year and decided to stop book blogging entirely... I've finally read and am reviewing the book... better late than never, I guess? Please bear with me as I do this review, I may be out of practice. And 2) I was initially drawn to this book because of it's cover. I'm shallow like that. I liked the premise well enough but the primary reason I went "ah yes must pick up" was because the cover is just really, really pretty and I like looking at it.

I found it interesting how this book approached the fae, as it's much more of a good/bad dichotomy than you often see in stories about the fae for YA or adult audiences. This book, I found, doesn't necessarily deviate from the framework but presents it in a very different way. There are a lot of stories where the fae exist in, at least to some degree of another, in courts with a sort of ruling body and nasty, back-stab-y court politics (which, don't get me wrong, I love), but here we don't so much get a sense of a sophisticated power structure. The goblins can lie, outright and to your face, and whether they actually have to keep their promises is... dubious. The goblins are likened to an invasive plant, creatures not native to the ecosystem of Bellwater, brought over to North America when they followed the humans they'd struck a bargain with, while "the locals" are a part of the system that grew from it, and that have been there essentially forever. There are rival factions, which the main characters brush up against, but neither the characters nor the readers are fully involved in any real character-based dynamics- they know there's a conflict, but the particulars are left vague, and the fae are generally elemental, with undefined parameters to their magic, and for the most part unbound to any particular physical form. I think essentially it's a play on the fae much closer to interpreting them as nature spirits of a kind than I generally see in modern interpretations.

While I didn't necessarily dislike the characters I did feel like there wasn't quite enough time to get to know them throughout... or just that I didn't wind up connecting to them enough? While Livy and Kit both had enough time to at least begin to feel like people, Skye and Grady really didn't, as they sort of... lost any personality they might have had when the curse kicked in... that or they just weren't all that faceted to begin with? Or it is possible that I personally just didn't jive with either of their characters for reasons I can't explain. This, combined with the whole curse-taking-away-their-ability-to-actually-make-independent-choices thing, just made both of their points of view, especially their scenes together, really uncomfortable for me to read. (Some of which was probably intentional but there rest was probably due to personal preference... I tend to find all "mating-bond" stuff kind of creepy in general so perhaps this is not a surprise. At least Livy and Kit were uncomfortable right along with me, I guess?)

Pacing-wise, I felt that the build-up took a lot longer than the actual plot, but that may have been in part because I was thinking of Livy's quest as "the plot" when it's possible that the build-up was actually... meant to be the interesting part? But the thing about me is that I am always there for a good faerie quest with weird nonsensical instructions and even more weird nonsensical rules, and somehow always getting snagged into a promise or a trade, and being weirdly proprietary about your name because that's just how things are. I REALLY LIKE THAT STUFF. So the parts where Livy gave of heroine-in-a-folktale vibes were my favourites. I did really enjoy the visuals of Livy's quest too, I would love to see it illustrated- it was where the writing really shone, too, both tightly paced and very visual, edging toward poetic in some moments. I wound up far more interested in the second half of the book,with a little blip toward the ending just because the conclusion wasn't quite as tricksie as I was hoping for (mostly, I think, because at least one subset of the fae were a good bit more benevolent than I'd gone in expecting- it was both a strength, because it was different, and a weakness, because I apparently like when the fae are a little bit terrible at the best of times, with their logic runs rather counter to human logic... there were hints in this book but I would have loved to see more).

Overall, I had a good time reading this one, and it was nice to read a stand-alone fantasy novel! The interpretation of the fae was a little different than what I was used to and interesting to explore, especially with the more nature-spirit-y fae. While this novel didn't give me everything I was hoping for, and did give me a few things that I was kind of... not hoping for... I still enjoyed reading it and really liked some aspects of the world and enjoyed the folktale-like elements that it delivered.

This was a fascinating read. The setting was very picturesque and the romance sweet abd troubling (of course). I found myself wanting to shake Skye out of her curse and taste her lover's cooking. I debated going for a kayak myself or trying my hand at carving driftwood. This author does an amazing job of really making her characters whole in spite of a curse that makes them rather flat. Love this book so much and can't wait to see more.

I loved the concept of this book: based on the poem Goblin Market, the book brought the sinister and sensual aspects of the poem to life in modern day Washington. I loved the relationships between the four central characters, and the eventual adventure to find the cure for goblin enchantment was both well paced and satisfying. The goblins themselves were sufficiently despicable in contrast to the more kindly "local" faeries. The only thing I felt could have been embellished was the romantic relationships: they felt a little flat and underdeveloped, especially in the light of the details of enchantments and goblins. In the end, it was a satisfying fantasy.

I'm sorry that this is so late--I struggled with what to say about this book for so long, that eventually it fell off the list.
I so much wanted to love this book, and so much didn't. Every time there was another element of magic, of mystery, of surprise, or even delight, it was immediately squelched and smothered with darkness, dispair,, or disappointment. There was so much potential, and so much good material to work with, but I must not be the right audience--I found the whole thing sad, upsetting, dark, and depressing.
I haven't, and won't, post any public reviews.

Thank you to the publishers for and ARC of this!
This wasn't quite the book I was expecting and perhaps that is why I had a hard time getting into it. It was a little too...strange...for me. I think the author captured the haunting, Gothic, whimsical feel of the original poem, I believe, this book is based off of: The Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti. However, I struggled to be invested in the in the multiple relationships that were going on. I can see this book working for some people really well. 3.5 stars.

I'm unable to give a review as when I got this a short while later my kindle broke and I never got the chance to read/finish the book.

Apologies for not being able to review this book.

Hopefully I'll be able to go out and buy the book at a future date!

(I've given it 3 stars so it doesn't get marked down hopefully)

The story was engaging but the characters felt a bit cliche.

This was really hard to get into and I struggled to keep reading it. I found it too predictable for my tastes.

Unfortunately I just couldn't get into this book at all. I put it down and picked it up so many times, that I finally gave up on reading this book.

I wanted to love the book the goblins of Bellwater but it fell a little short for me. It felt a bit predictable for me. The beginning started out a bit creepy with the goblins but the romance was predictable and felt rushed. It would be good for a day when you want to watch reality shows and not do much.

The Goblins of Bellwater was a light, interesting read - which might seem odd, considering the subject matter. Even though the goblins were evil, they were more cartoonishly depicted, as was the rest of the fae world. So nothing ever felt too bleak or scary. It was a diverting read for sure, but not a super deep one.

I received with thanks an ARC copy of The Goblins of Bellwater from Cemtral Avenue Publishing & Netgalley.

This is my true and honest review of The Goblins of Bellwater by Molly Ringle. This was published in October 2017

I love goblins so had a feeling that I would enjoy this very much. This a creepy fairy tale, paranormal romance that is great for urban fantasy lovers.

Give this a go if you love urban fantasy.

DNF. I had a very hard time with this book; it was very difficult to get sucked into the story, and I did not find myself invested in the characters. I wanted so badly to enjoy it, but I just had to put it down at the halfway point. Perhaps I will revisit it someday and give it another try.

I liked the fantastical premise of this book and the basing off The Goblin Market poem. At first I thought it was YA but quickly figured out it's adult or New Adult with all of the hanky-panky that happens. In one update I called it 50 Shades of Goblin. Most of the whoopie is justified though based on the premise that two of the four MCs are under a Goblin spell and have become "mated" to each other.

This book grew on me as it went. I liked Livy and how strong a female character she was. My favorite part was reading about all of the things she had to do to save her friends and family. I would recommend this book to someone who wants something different with elements of fantasy.

This was one of those books I felt forced to read as everyone was talking about it. I now however understand why. For a genre I am not a hug fan of I loved this book to bits !

A creepy, sexy book with shades of Labyrinth and The Goblin Market. I enjoyed it, but I wasn't desperate to find out what would happen. I liked the goblins and Kit's liaison job.

Clever and well written.

While I adored the close to home Puget Sound setting of this modern fantasy, I just wasn't as charmed by the characters as I wanted to be. While this wasn't quite for me, it did make me look a little differently at the woods I live among.

This title is so good!! I really enjoyed it. The cover is not my taste but it´s kind of witting for the book. Also, it was the first time I read a book about goblins. I didn´t think it would be so good and enchanting.