*thank you to Netgalley and Central Avenue Publishing for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review*

4 stars.

Not since The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald have I enjoyed a novel about Goblins so much. This fantasy story was brilliant! I love the cover! It's stunning! I also really liked that the characters were in their 20s. It was a nice change from most fantasy stories I've read were the characters were in their teens. Though, I really could have done without the sex parts. The really didn't need to be in there at all and I probably would have given this an extra half star if that had been taken out. Still, this was enjoyable and the ideas the author came up with were really good. I liked the relationship between Skye and Livy, the sisters. Definitely recommend if your in the mood for a good fantasy with older characters.

This book was just not my cup of tea and I was not able to finish it. Thank you for this opportunity, though!

I cannot force myself to finish this. The characters are not particularly unique: they aren't exactly dislikeable, but they don't stand out from random 20-year-olds on the street. The paranormal element isn't strongly tied in: there is not history presented in the town, no references to established outside folklore. The writing is choppy: the narration is a little melodramatic, and the boy-girl scenes are, I think, trying to be frank but come off as crude.

I heard quite a bit of chatter about this because it's set in a local-ish made-up place; the descriptions and incorporation of the scenery is the smoothest and most accurate part of the writing, but cannot stand by itself as a reason to read a whole book.

I honestly could tell by the writing of the first 2 chapters that it wouldn't be a good fit for our box and had to put it down. I may read it again in the future!

This story surprised me in a good way!I loved the concept and the settings and it was so atmospheric that I couldn't put it down! The writing is quick and easy!My only complain is about the ending!It felt so rushed that it was disappointed!Overall if you are looking for a unique read this is perfect!

Wonderful YA title! Very fast moving, lots of quirky characters, a main character that can't stay out of trouble and the boy she never knows what will happen with. Loved the ending! It's always refreshing to not have it end with the usual rainbows and unicorns!!

I picked up this book because someone compared it to Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones. While there are goblins in both books, the two stories present the fair folk in clearly separate ways. Molly Ringle presents the goblins well, just as devious as they are usually known in literature, and she even says one of her main influences was “The Goblin Market” poem by Christina Rosetti. It’s a good light read with a slightly dark story.

I've read a few goblin/fae books lately, so I wasn't sure how I would feel about this one. I ended up really enjoying it! Ringle's goblins are nasty and evil little beings that you definitely wouldn't want to meet in the woods. This was an interesting change from the "beautiful fae creature everyone falls in love with" type that are prevalent in YA fiction. I also enjoyed how the goblins were an invasive species at odds with the local fae groups who wanted the goblins out.

One of my favorite aspects of this novel is the setting. Ringle's description of western Washington and the Puget Sound region made me want to visit so I could enjoy the beautiful forest and beaches in person (while avoiding any goblin paths, of course).

Overall I would consider recommending this book to fans of paranormal romance and anyone who wants an atmospheric read set in the Pacific Northwest.

I really wanted to like this book; what's not to like about Goblins?

It just didn't pull me in. The story fell flat for me. I tried holding onto and trying at different periods where I was reading several genres to determine if I was in a book funk. This one just didn't do it for me.

A beautiful cover, a story inspired by Rossetti’s Goblin Market, and set in the PNW, I was all about The Goblins of Bellwater by Molly Ringle. Yet, I don’t really know how I feel about it now that I’ve finished it, other than saying it’s a true and solid three start book. The story was solid, but the pacing a little odd. Character development was good, but then weird. And the resolution we received at the end fell flat for me.

The setting and descriptions were fairly spot on. Having been to the PNW and hiking in Oregon, it felt real and authentic. I could almost smell the crisp air and feel the river and ocean mist. Ringle excelled at making this feel like a real place, but simultaneously feeling other. Perhaps it’s because these places, these peaceful out of the way woodland areas already lend themselves to your imagination, but either way, Ringle really brought out the excitement and wonder of running into fae creatures in your backyard as it were.

Character development was a bit odd. I say that only because it makes sense that it would be odd. When you have half of the 4 main characters under a spell, it’s hard to see much of a change in them. The change we see almost fades into the background with them. They exist, things happen, we’re supposed to care, but in the end, don’t really. However, when we get to the non-glamoured half, they really take off. We see how Kit is a good guy in a bad situation. We see him grow from being a loner to making all of these connections and wanting more out of life. With Livy, we see the same. From her devotion to her sister, to finally focusing on her own life, her own future. It was really great and those two were really strong characters that I would have loved to have seen more about.

Which leads me to my biggest issue with The Goblins of Bellwater: the pacing. It just didn’t click for me. There is this huge build-up at a slow and steady pace. Things are happening, slowly growing in intensity, but then suddenly, poof! Everything is fixed in a quick fifteen minute read. It felt like the set-up was more than half the story, and then the journey and resolution combined made only a quarter. I would have preferred the journey to resolving the problem to be as long as the set-up. But instead, we get a journey that happens in the blink of an eye, a resolution that happens even quicker, and then a nicely wrapped up ending. It should have taken longer.

Finally, for mentioned Rossetti’s Goblin Market, I’d feel like there’d be more to it other than hey, we’re goblins and we force people to eat fruit. I expected the tie-in to be greater or more significant. Possibly for the story to go deeper into the symbolism of the poem. For all my complaints though, The Goblins of Bellwater by Molly Ringle was an enjoyable story. I enjoyed the premise, the setting, and characters and really, only wish it was longer to more fully delve into everything.

The premise of this story was awesome and I enjoyed it. I just wasn't completely sold on the execution of it.

I needed more worldbuilding. So much more building. I found holes all over the place and they drove me crazy. I need to know more about the goblins and why and about their magic.

I had issues with the romance. The way Kit and Livy act, they should be older. I got bored with the sex scenes. The romance between Livy and Kit was good but I didn't like Skye and Grady's at all. It was really insta love and their romance was not developed at all for me. And not dealing with what actually happened is not a good thing at all.

I did like the goblins and Kit's job. I just need more about why. I liked Flowerwatch.

So overall I just needed more. The ideas were good but it just didn't live up to its potential. I needed way more goblins and less contemporary romance and bad sex.

Goblins, fae, and gold - oh my! Plus, new adult contemporary. So if you like these genres like I do, you're in for an awesome read. I really, really enjoyed The Goblins of Bellwater. Like, 4.5/5 stars enjoyed it. From the very beginning I was swept up in the story and because the writing is so easy to read, and all of the characters are interesting, and its told from alternating POV's, I was engaged throughout the entire book.

The story goes like this: Kit's family is cursed. For generations now, one member of their family must bring the goblins of the forest a tribute of gold each month or else the goblins will attack a member or members of the local town. Kit is the current liason. Now, he's a good guy and he hates stealing from people to give to the goblins but he hates having people attacked more. Lately Kit has been coming up a little short. The goblins aren't always honest and well-behaved either. Enter: the Darwen sisters.

Livy Darwen is a local environmental scientist and Skye is a barista. They both love the forests and have grown up believing in "teeny tinies" living in the woods. Well, to shorten the synopsis, there is a goblin curse on one of the sisters. The curse must be broken. Kit's cousin, Grady, who is a chef, steps in to help. Relationships blossom. The curse gets worse before it gets better. There is adventure, there is an alliance with local fae (the good guys), there's a battle, there's minor drama, there's an ending. Ta-daaa!!

So put this one on your Christmas lists, folks! I really liked this one! It started off maybe a little slow but everything else was just perfect for me. The perfect mix of a bit of paranormal, twenty-something adults, romance, adventure/action, and not mind-numbingly difficult to read. Great book!

I was originally drawn to this book firstly by the cover and secondly the book description.
I wanted to love this book so much that I have tried reading it on several occasions but unfortunately I just couldn't finish it.
Not for me personally but if you like a lot of romance with a splash of magic then its certainly a book worth a try.

While I completely loved the dark and sinister vibe of THE GOBLINS OF BELLWATER, with the fae and goblins and dark forest, it ended up falling apart for me due to the problematic romance and rather slow storyline. It was mostly a contemporary romance about two couples falling in love rather than a totally entwined in the goblins side. The ending, of course, was very magical realism focused, but overall it lacked the magic I was looking for.

I do so love the cover though!

The setting was definitely vibrant and creepy and beautiful. The sinister vibes were so full of potential and I do love these "small town but with fae lurking in the corners" tropes!

I did like the characters, but wasn't ever quite invested in their lives. Grady wanting to be a chef was AMAZING and I loved all the food he made! Kit is forever fated to work for the goblins and bring them gold (although I would've liked to see him do MORE of this thievery on page, instead of just telling us about it) and he hates it but if he tries to get out of it, the goblins would just take his cousin, Grady. Livy is totally uninteresting but like a park ranger or something. And Skye, her 21 year old younger sister, follows a goblin trail and ends up enchanted to become a goblin. She accidentally sees Grady in the woods and claims him as her enchanted mate to try and get out of marrying a goblin. However she just passes the curse to him and together they fall madly and swiftly in love.

Grady and Skye's romance did NOT work for me due to that. It was not consenting, was it?! So while it was full of sex and they apparently "loved it" .... it was really wrong. And the book just sort of glossed over that at the end by saying "well you both enjoyed it!" I felt the gravity of the situation was just flicked away when this was actually something that should've been treated as very very dark.

And the rest read like an average contemporary romance, with Kit and Livy just going out for milkshakes and being so open and functional about their thoughts and feelings. I mean...who does that. Livy had no personality and Kit wasn't even DOING anything. Plus with all the very honestly open discussions about their feelings for each other, it left nothing to be guessed at or shipped. It was just "hi, let's have coffee, let's talk, let's have sex, let's have a crush, let's be in love." Okay then.

It also fell into a problematic mental illness trope of saying "Oh look! GOOD! You're not mentally ill, you're just magical." Which is really a slap in the face to the MI community. There was also a comment from Grady that Skye couldn't be "damaged goods" because she had a degree and was quite successful as an artist. Like depressed people can't achieved those things? Hmm, stop.

Ultimately it had a lot of potential but the execution let down the storyline.

The Goblins of Bellwater is based on Christina Rossetti's poem, Goblin Market but taken into a modern setting. I've not read the poem but I think The Goblins of Bellwater. manages to stand on its own -- you don't need to know the poem to read the book.

I was drawn in by the premise and the twisty plot. The idea the goblins have a liaison which impunity to steal for them is a really cool idea, made all the more interesting by how much Kit doesn't want to be involved. I really liked the goblins -- named for the first things they've stolen like Redring and Slide (for 'Slide to Unlock' on an iPhone) -- they were so quirky and inhuman. The scenes in the goblins woods are wonderfully atmospheric and well-written -- I could absolutely imagine myself being lured into those dark woods by a trail of shining mushrooms.

Unfortunately, I definitely enjoyed the setup and earlier sections of the book, I found myself losing interest as we went along. I just didn't really connect to any of the four main characters -- although I did appreciate the effort the author went to give them each their own interests such as art or cooking. Maybe because I wasn't sold on the characters, the romance(s) didn't particularly work for me either -- although, again, I appreciate we had older-woman-younger-man relationships that weren't treated as something funny or unusual (they're not a big difference though if that concerns you, just a couple of years).

Ultimately, this book just wasn't for me.

This review will be posted on my blog, Foxes and Fairy Tales on 7 Dec 2017.
https://foxesfairytale.wordpress.com/2017/12/07/review-the-goblins-of-bellwater

I came into this book with my expectations pretty high, but it still managed to surpass them. Wow! I haven't read ANY books with goblins before but this is exactly what I imagine goblins to be: sinister, mischievous and way more powerful and clever than they look.I read Christina Rossetti's poem 'Goblin Market' when I was in school and adored it, and I found this adaptation of it to be superb. It's set in modern day too which made the book even more fun!

I loved basically everything about this book and it's a top contender for favourite read of the year. The story was gripping, full of plot twists and turns that kept it moving. I never felt bored. I liked how Ringle imagined the curse would change Skye, and it's side effects were very clever The introduction of Kit and Grady was great, and I liked them both a lot. Ringle really developed all of her characters well and it made for an interesting read. The story is present-day and Ringle expertly blended magic with a contemporary setting. I could literally picture everything that she wrote happening in my head and I loved that she introduced rules for the Fae too. Also - thank you Molly Ringle for not turning this into a 'girl falls in love with a goblin' story. Much appreciated.

I have no real niggles at all with this one. Everything flowed perfectly and I smiled from beginning to end. Perhaps Livy's reaction to Kit when he told her about his situation struck me as a little off. I don't think anyone would really jump to 'serial killer' more 'wow, this guy is a bit superstitious and weird, oh well laugh it off and move on'. Still, when that's literally the ONLY FAULT I can find with a book, I call it a winner.

I tried reading this a bunch of times and could never finish the first chapter. I really wanted to read it since I was disappointed in Shadowsong since it was also about the Goblin King. At least with Shadowsong I made 75% in it.

I first heard the poem this novel is based on in high school and loved it. I found this book to be enjoyable, if a little short. It captured the essence of the poem with the powerful, wicked goblins tempting a beautiful girl into falling under their curse.

Occasionally the language felt stilted and awkward, I think in trying to make the voices of the characters relatable it just came off as simple. Overall, the novel was a sexy, dark and a quick read

I'm a sucker for Pre-Raphaelites, so a novel based on Rossetti's "Goblin Market" really called to me. And I enjoyed the author's imagery and also the chemistry between KIt and Livy. Any talk of Grady's cooking also sent me running to the kitchen for a snack, too. Flaws - the trials that Livy had to face felt rushed, and most of the battle between the fairies happened "off screen." But I did like the idea of the goblins being an invasive species. Overall, it wasn't a perfect book, but it was a fun, fast read.

unfortunately this novel was not one that was for me. I didn't really understand the concept and felt a bit confused throughout the novel. I think that this novel just isn't one for me, but if you're looking for a cooky, fantastical read, then I definitely think you should pick this novel up.