As the last child in a family of daughters, seventeen-year-old Janneke was raised to be the male heir. While her sisters were becoming wives and mothers, she was taught to hunt, track, and fight. On the day her village was burned to the ground, Janneke—as the only survivor—was taken captive by the malicious Lydian and eventually sent to work for his nephew Soren. Janneke’s survival in the court of merciless monsters has come at the cost of her connection to the human world. And when the Goblin King’s death ignites an ancient hunt for the next king, Soren senses an opportunity for her to finally fully accept the ways of the brutal Permafrost. But every action he takes to bring her deeper into his world only shows him that a little humanity isn’t bad—especially when it comes to those you care about.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review through Netgalley. This was my first read of 2019, so I wanted to make it a book that really interested and excited me. The story of Janneke and the goblins sounded some fantastic and unique to me, that I decided to give it a try for my first book review of the year. I was hoping to find a fresh protagonist, world and story compared to the books I read last year.

The world of White Stag interested me the most in the book. While parts of Permafrost and the neighboring human realm reminded me a bit of Spinning Silver, I found the contents of the world complete original as far as I was aware. The customs and rituals of the goblins Janneke lives among were also mostly new, though some things did sound like generic fae rules you’d find in other books. But, the focus on goblins, which are usually depicted as ugly and gross, instead of the much more popular faeries was a welcome change. There were also a number of things for me to learn about the human world of this book, which added some excitement to the story.

As a narrator and protagonist, Janneke was interesting as she’s not always a likable character. She’s the victim in a number of situations, but she’s also hardheaded, hot tempered and obstinate. Many times, I found myself wanting her to do something, and she’d do the complete opposite, almost as if to spite me. It was maddening, but also made me feel invested in her. Other times, she’d make decisions that seemed almost out of character, but the author does a good job of working these decisions into the character so they’re at least believable. Additionally, Janneke’s chemistry with Soren is enticing and delicious. I adored their scenes together more and more every time they happened.

The story of the book, while exciting and fun, was also confusing at times. It was odd for the book to begin with Janneke already having been in the Permafrost and separated from humans for 100 years. That fact, although it is somewhat important to the plot, was disorienting to learn within the first few pages. It made me question whether Janneke was human or extremely old or enchanted, the answer to which came much later. Additionally, the book jumps between present action, flashbacks and dream sequences often, which were at times hard to keep track off. I appreciated each scene as they happened, though, and they were all well written and added to the plot.

If you’re a fan of The Cruel Prince and Spinning Silver, you’ll love this debut book by Kara Barbieri. The world is interesting and unique. The protagonist, Janneke, is complex and fun to get to know. The story, which disorienting at times, is compelling and kept me glues to my kindle screen until the final page. I’m delighted to know this is the first book in a series and will be eagerly awaiting the next book.

I received a free copy of this book from the author. I had the opportunity to review or not.

I'm not sure what I expected from this book, but I am positive it was not what I found. I loved this book even though there are aspects of the tale I was leery of including violence and slavery among other acts of what would happen in a barbaric society. However, Kara has used these acts in a manner to make one think about these issues in ways I would not otherwise have.

The tale of Janneke is filled with drama, love, hate, action and humor. Everything you would want in an epic tale. It grabs you from the start and holds your attention all the way through. And leaves you wanting more. Janneke is the seventh daughter of a loving family and is taught by her father to be a warrior and survivor. She is treated as the son of the family and learns the skills normally taught to the male heir. She is well taught and learns well. Thus, becoming a survivor in a world of barbaric treatment.

Janneke’s family and entire village is slaughtered and burned to the ground by goblin invaders. She is captured, claimed by Lydian, the leader of the murderous goblins, where she is raped, tortured and enslaved. Lydian tries to break her but cannot. He gives Janneke to his nephew, Soren, who treats her much better than she is used to. While she is still a captive, she is also treated with respect and the torture ended. Jenneke lives with Soren for over one hundred years as their relationship changes. Danger lurks everywhere in this world of goblins, but as Lydian decides to kill the current Erlking and the White Stag to become king of the world, the danger increases.

Whoever kills the Whit Stag will become ruler of the goblin kingdom, but if they kill the white stag in a manner to end its life permanently, he can become ruler of the entire world. Lydian wants this with all his heart. Nothing is going to stop him. Will anyone even try?

This book is filled with descriptive scenes, dialogue and characters. I can’t wait to read more of Kara Barbieri’s writings.

White Stag, the first novel in the Permafrost fantasy series by self-publishing success story Kara Barbieri, is a dark, brooding and superb read; in fact, it's difficult to believe that this is a debut, let alone a book written in the authors teen years. If this is the first, I am already ridiculously excited for the upcoming series instalments but also what comes after the too. Brutal and beautiful in equal measure, this is an intricately plotted story with some wonderful worldbuilding.

The atmosphere is ominous for the entirety of this masterfully crafted tale, and you really feel for main character Janneke as she finds her feet in a cruel world that she has no prior experience or knowledge of. The journey she goes on to attempt to save some of her humanity and salvage something meaningful from a time of real despair showed me just how emotionally invested I had become. This is one of those deliciously dark and deviant fantasies that you get most out of from going in blind, hence the intentionally sparse detail. If you appreciate deceptively dark fantasies of just a sucker for a special talent then this is an immensely enjoyable and utterly enthralling book. I hope there isn't too long to wait for the next instalment; I'll keep my eyes well and truly peeled!

Many thanks to Wednesday Books for an ARC.

This was everything I could have hoped for and more. The minute I heard about this book I knew I absolutely needed to read it. It's the perfect dark, twisted tale of a girl becoming more monster than human. The characters (good and bad) were all extremely well written and easy to fall in love with. The world building was fantastic and super atmospheric. And the plot kept me intrigued all the way until the very end. Overall, I couldn't have asked for a better dark fantasy to kick off 2019 and cannot wait until the next book is out!

Grit, survival, pain, and emotions pack these pages as a young woman tries to find balance in a world of monsters.

At age seventeen, Janneke's family was murdered, while she was kidnapped by the goblins and taken to their realm. Trained by her father to be a fighter, she survived torture by her first master and has managed to continue to live one hundred years under his nephew, Soren. When Soren is called to pay the usual respects to the Goblin King, the king dies and the hunt for an heir begins—the first to kill the White Stag. Soren takes Janneke along with him on the hunt, insisting that their relationship is changing and that after so many years in the Permafrost, she now is turning into a goblin herself. Although Soren considers himself at least her friend, Janneke refuses to forget the hate she has for the goblins—vicious, emotionless creatures who slaughtered her entire family. And she certainly refuses to become one of them. But as the hunt begins, she must fight for more than her life. She fights for her very soul.

This was a gripping and amazing read. The material is not timid, but rather bites, grinds and hits even the darkest of places. While this is sold for the young adult audience, I found it better suited for New Adult or Adults. While Janneke might have the body of seventeen, she has lived over one hundred years in some of the most horrendous circumstances. These years molded her and gave her the experience, fight and mind of someone much older than seventeen. While older young adults will be fine with the story, the material does hit tougher themes and might not be fitting for all teens.

That said, this read grabbed me from the first page and didn't let go until the very end. Janneke is a tough girl with tons of emotional scars. She has inner battles and very high-stake outer ones. Death lurks around every corner, and the goblin world is not for the meek. Her hate for the goblins is understandable, and this makes her easy to cheer for until the last page. Add the white-haired Soren, who is powerful, hot and holds more heart than Janneke wants to believe, and it's a wonderfully delicious mix for fans of action packed fantasy with dark undertones and romance thrown in.

The world which makes up the Permafrost is wondrous in its creatures and sights. There's cruel beauty and action packed moments to make the heart skip a beat. The author keeps the tension high in a delightful dance of survival, emotions and fears. With a little more background information surrounding the world, it would have been unforgettable.

While I loved this read...and will give it full marks because it is extremely well written in many respects...I had a little problem sinking into the Permafrost and Janneke. The story starts right in the middle of action. Janneke has already resided in the Permafrost for 100 years and has had 99 years to come to terms with the horrible things her first master did to her. These experiences make her what she is. While flashbacks attempt to fill in the holes (especially of Janneke's human past), the moments come too late making the extreme empathy, which would have molded her into a beyond-awesome character, weaker than it might have been. Still, this story had me pinned to the pages, and I didn't want to put it down even for a moment, which makes it a definite 5-star read.

Fans of goblins, tense fight scenes, strong heroines, dark plots and difficult romance will enjoy this book. Now, that this has laid an amazing beginning, it will be interesting to see where the series goes next.

I wanted to like this book, but something about it just didn't hold my interest. I really tried, because the summary was intriguing and the cover was beautiful, but whatever it was about the book that I thought I'd like just wasn't present the way I wanted it to be. I'd say it's a well-rounded book, but just not one that lined up with my personal preferences/enjoyments.

Starting this book, I had absolutely no expectations. Sure, I was intrigued by the blurb, but other than that, that was it. I didn't feel the need to love it, I was merely hoping not to hate it.
And I did (love it I mean).
From the very first page I was swept away by the universe and the characters. In the same image of this universe, I found the book both fascinating and dangerous, and it was hard to put it down.

The characters were incredibly well developed and I loved discovering their story through the pages, though sometimes I found the author's way to unveil some parts of their past a bit... clumsy, if we can say that. Janneke is a truly interesting character whose resilience I really admire. It's what makes her so strong and her will not only to survive but to live is incredible.

If I loved (almost) everything from the plot (although sometimes I thought it was a little too predictable) to the characters (protagonists and antagonists alike were really great) and even to the world-building, one thing bugged be during the whole read: the Goblins. If you look up 'goblins' on Google, you'll find that they're really unattractive (and sometimes even monstrous) beings, yet here they are described as impossibly beautiful creatures. So every time I saw the word 'goblin' I couldn't help but think of this repulsive image of what a goblin is supposed to be, and not this Fae-like representation (because according to their descriptions they basically look like Faes). They do have a beast-like form, but to me it doesn't make up for the fact that Goblins are supposed to be repulsive.

Overall, it was a really great read. I loved what I read, and I'm really looking forward to reading the sequel!

White Stag was a great dark fantasy book. With Goblins as the main characters, I knew I was in for a treat. This story takes the reader on a journey of adventure. while brings up the topics, of grief, rape, and PTSD. There are trigger warnings for the topics mentioned above. I thought Janneke was an interesting main character reminding me of Jude from The Cruel Prince. Subjected to being a thrall to a goblin lord for almost a 100 years, has changed Janneke's perspective alot. But now with the hunt on the move, she has to decide if she is willing to change into the monsters that took her from her home or is she willing to find a way out of Permafrost.

Goblins. And a Goblin King. And a fight for power. Dark themes. And action scenes. Mythical animals. And a tinge of romance.

This book has everything I’m looking for in a good fantasy. Every time I found myself putting it down to attend to life, I was counting the minutes until I could pick it up again. I adore goblin stories and this definitely didn’t disappoint.

The main character Janneke has been living with the goblins in the Permafrost, essentially as a slave, for 100 years. She has flashbacks to the pain and abuse caused by her previous master that she just can’t shake even though her current “master,” Soren, is a lot closer to a friend and treats her well. Before coming to live with the goblins, she lived in a small village, the youngest of many sisters she was taught how to hunt and fight in order to assume the position of male heir. Now, these skills come in handy as she sets off with Soren to chase The Stag, the source of goblin power.

I loved all of the Norse mythology peppered throughout this story! There were many creatures that I had never heard of before, so I found myself googling to learn more about them. It reminded me a lot of Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young with the Viking references, but it definitely stands on it’s own. So if you’re looking for Vikings with Goblins, this book is perfect!

It looks as though there is a second book being published sometime this year. While I would love to adventure back to this world and learn more about the characters, I thought the ending wrapped up nicely and it could be read as a standalone.

Originally seen on my blog: https://makaylasophia.com/2019/01/07/whitestag/

As some of a backstory, I know Kara by “Pan”. I originally spoke to this spectacular author on Wattpad, where her username is Pandean, and I began following the first few chapters of White Stag there. When she announced it was going to be published, I stopped reading so that I could wait to read the finished, published version. I’ve been so excited for this release, and I mentioned it in my books I’m excited for in 2019 blog post.

There are a few things to be aware of in the book before you read it. There are a few mentions of rape, violence, slavery, and self harm.

This was a wonderful debut, and I am so grateful I had an opportunity to read an ARC! I was in love with the world Kara (it’s going to be weird not saying Pan throughout this review) had created. There are hints of norse mythology, a spin on the tales of goblins, sprinkles of romance, a vivid setting and the book was stunning thematically.

The characters were great. The angst was great. The romance was great. I absolutely loved the dynamics between Jenneke and Soren. Jenneke grew throughout the story, which was a plus as well! I loved the side character’s just as much! There were laughs and tears, which is always a great combination.

One of the themes of this book is what qualifies a monster to be a monster. It’s not often a book makes me think this deeply, but this one really did! A not-as-obvious-but-still-kinda-obvious theme is accepting ones self. Kara beautifully executed Jenneke’s character arc.

I loved the fantasy Kara created. The goblins are described as being ethereally beautiful, which is something not seen in tales in goblins. Only when they engage in powerful fights do they exude a monsterous exterior. And I loved that. There are also hints of norse mythology, and as a total nerd for norse related things, I adored these bits! The land of the Permafost was super interesting, too, and I really enjoyed how even the land itself played a role in the fantastical bits.

I could probably ramble forever with how much I loved this book! I read it in two sittings and stayed up until nine in the morning until my eyes burned during one of those sittings because I was so addicted to the story. I can’t wait for the sequel!

Overall, I rated this book a solid 5/5!


TL;DR

Spectacular setting, characters, and fantasy. 5/5 rating.

Content/Trigger Warnings: blood, assault, torture, violence, brutal death, mutilation, sexual assault & rape, self harm

We're all monsters...

Janneke, a human girl born the last in a long line of daughters, was raised to be her family's male heir. Instead, a brutal tragedy took place and she was stolen away by goblins to the Permafrost. One hundred years later and the Hunt is about to begin, a terrifying ordeal to choose the next Goblin King. What will this mean for Janneke's place, in this world where she's becoming something neither wholly human nor wholly goblin but scorned by both? Find out in Kara Barbieri's debut novel, White Stag.

I'd like to thank the team at Wednesday Books for inviting me to take part in the blog tour for White Stag and congratulate Kara on her debut novel hitting shelves.

The concept of the Wild Hunt, of the Goblin King's court, and of Janneke's upbringing as the last daughter/male heir drew me to this story because individually they sounded intriguing and together could have been even better. The combination sounded like the start of a potential magnificent fantasy, though that wasn't quite what I found myself reading.

I think there's an audience that may well enjoy this book, getting further into it and the depths that the characters get to, whether through thought or deed. I would advise checking out content/trigger warnings because it did get heavy at times for a variety of reasons, so there's that to consider.

Personally, I wasn't quite comfortable reading it first and foremost because of what I viewed as the forced romantic setup between Janneke and Soren, the goblin lord who is her master.

When Janneke was first kidnapped after her family was slaughtered, she was brutalized by Soren's uncle and then cast aside to Soren's ownership. While he may well be a special, not-like-other-goblins in his own right, this is still an enormous power imbalance that was very unsettling, particularly with his continual use of lines that pushed her to give in to her body's changes via Permafrost adaptation into goblin-hood, as it were. Whenever Janneke would use the word companionship, and there were more than a few, it really drove home the feeling that I was witnessing a magical kind of Stockholm Syndrome and it wasn't pleasant.

Janneke as a person was a bit contradictory. Her tone from one moment to the next didn't seem to match up with her actions or even her internal thoughts, so understanding her was difficult, the other characters even less so. Soren barely seemed to act like a goblin, aside from some of physical attributes, and Lydian, the disgusting goblin that brutally assaulted Janneke during her first six months in the Permafrost, acted like an insane, petulant child when we meet him in the beginning of the book.

Which brings me to the issue of timing. White Stag takes place one hundred years after Janneke's abduction to the Permafrost, which makes sense because of the author's desire to have an established connection between her and Soren. However, by doing so and starting the action in the middle of the opening scenes at the Erlking's palace, it feels like the reader gets no history to connect them to the story. It just plops us in there and expects us to care about a political system and a people, both with complicated rules, without answering: why?

It's a pity that I couldn't enjoy a Goblin King fantasy more. While White Stag wasn't what I was expecting, I expect that there will be people who may like Janneke's tracking skill, hunting across the icy lands in search of the Stag.

There are a few things that would have turned this book from passably entertaining YA fantasy to a really terrific read, and I'm hoping that the fact that there are only a few things bodes well for the future career of Kara Barbieri. First and foremost is the lack of rigor, whether it be in the editing process or in the world-building itself. I'm not the kind of nitpicker who's all "Well in Book 3 of the so far 7-book series, it was clearly stated that the minor village of Bludhaven burned down in 1831 and not 1832" (because also I have a terrible head for dates) but there's a lot of disbelief I'm willing to suspend, especially in fantasy novels. What I could not get over in this book was the idea that our heroine, Janneke (or Janneka to her friends,) had been Soren's companion for a hundred years but that they were only now having this thawing in their relationship. Hell, I couldn't believe she'd been in the Permafrost for that long yet knew so little about goblins, when she's supposed to be smart and resourceful and all that, and had been given plenty of opportunity, often explicitly so as with her role as cupbearer/spy when visiting rival courts, to learn about the beings she lived with.

Which also leads to the whole concept of goblins only being able to destroy and thus needing humans to create and how this makes no sense whatsoever in the way it's selectively applied. Like, Soren's hand is damaged by the Permafrost because he dares to braid Janneke's hair at one point, to ready for The Hunt, but his lips don't fall off after he kisses her out of love? Not that I wanted them to, but it bothered me that the "hard and fast" rules governing goblinkind were so arbitrarily applied. Which is a shame because the world building otherwise is quite fascinating, as Ms Barbieri draws from a wealth of obscure Norse mythology to tell her tale. I do think a more rigorous editor would have been able to demand more from her, as the richness of the tale sometimes turns patchy, particularly when it comes to describing locations -- oftentimes, I feel like Janneke must have some sort of myopia as nothing more than 5 feet away from her ever seems to be described. There were also a lot of assumptions in the way that events were described as givens after the fact despite their being supposedly contemporaneous with and important to the narrative. It's like Ms Barbieri just assumed we knew stuff she had in her head, which is a common rookie mistake that a good editor should have been able to help remedy.

I also found the whole "I know he's a serial killer but he's my serial killer and aren't we all really serial killers at heart" romance trope wearisome. Fortunately, this was balanced with some excellent self-examination, with the message that sometimes it's healthier to let go of the past and embrace your future. I wasn't as much of a fan of the natural selection theme, however, finding it painfully ironic that a character who spent so much time rightfully and knowingly fighting for survival as a human among goblins should assume that others welcome or deserve death due to inherent weakness. Also, and this is going to sound weird, was Janneke's rape ever actually named such? I felt it was referred to euphemistically too often, and I'm not sure why. Whose sensibilities are we protecting here?

I will probably read Book 2 because the ending and epilogue were actually pretty cool, and I'm willing to overlook debut novel mistakes as a fledgling writer makes her way into the world. There's a lot of promise here, and I'm hoping that, as with Alwyn Hamilton's <a href="http://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2018/04/25/rebel-of-the-sands-rebel-of-the-sands-1-by-alwyn-hamilton/">Rebel Of The Sands</a> <a href="http://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2018/11/03/traitor-to-the-throne-rebel-of-the-sands-2-by-alwyn-hamilton/">series</a>, it just keeps getting better.

Okay. So. Where to begin with this one? I liked it? I made the mistake of reading some other review before I started reading this book so I wasn't really sure what I'd decided to get into. I requested it from NetGalley because I was looking for something fantasy that would hold my attention.

This book was decent. I'm not familiar with Wattpad, so I don't know how it works and how things become popular or whatever. This book definitely had a lot of potential for me to really enjoy it, but there are just a few things that felt off to me.

I liked Janneke as a character. She's sarcastic and strong-willed, but also a little annoying? Janneke has been Soren's "thrall" for nearly a hundred years and she's just now thinking about escaping. We don't get a lot of background about their relationship, just that she goes everywhere with him and, though she's human, she isn't a "slave". (Only he owns her so she kind of is.) Soren is okay. He's not all "beastly" and she describes him as beautiful. He seems to treat others kindly and not behave like all the other goblins.

When the Golbin King is killed The Hunt begins and Soren elects to take Janneke, which makes everyone crazy because apparently they all hate her. I don't really know, there's not a lot of history on it.

Soren and Janneke's relationship is kind of weird. You can tell that he has feelings for her, but she obviously thinks he's gross for most of the book. This definitely has a Beauty and the Beast feel about it, considering how the relationship changes while these two are on The Hunt.

I felt like the majority of the story was Janneke doing things that just showed what a badass she was. You do get a little backstory on how she was raised to be "the male heir" (which didn't make sense, but okay) and so she was obviously trained in tracking and fighting. I'm assuming that one hundred years living with goblins helped that, too.

I liked the progression of the story and the relationships formed, but I definitely had some issues with some of the world building. It felt like the author took German legend, Norse mythology, Nordic folklore and then threw some knives to see which ideas she would use. More concrete storytelling and world building would have been nice.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for a review.

For all its promises of a dark fantasy, White Stag completely missed the mark for me. The world itself couldn’t make up for the lack of interesting characters and a story that fell on its face.

From the start, you’re expected to simply accept the magic system, the world, the beautiful goblins and this land, this Permafrost, that sits apart from the land of humans. I read a lot of fantasy. Accepting certain things about the world comes with the genre. But then this idea that humans can change into goblins comes into play. . . and it’s never really explained. Furthermore, it becomes a MAJOR plot point throughout and I couldn’t get behind it because I didn’t understand it. I wasn’t grounded in the world, the magic system, enough to accept that it just happened. Nothing just happens.

The protagonist, Janneke, felt like all sorts of special snowflake. From the beginning, I felt she was very one-note as a character. Her entire backstory revolves around a single moment and while I get the traumatic nature of it, Barbieri brings it up again and again until I wondered if Janneke is defined by anything else. I don’t make light of what she went through but in terms of character development I wanted her character to be more. She was the best human hunter from her village, and so she hunts and questions her humanity and I never felt a need to root for her. Nothing drove her through the story, at least not until later on but it was too late by then.

So back to the hunting bit. She’s good enough to compete with goblins who are supposed to be these super badass fighters, big deal monsters here. And perhaps that would have been reinforced if Janneke’s love interest, a goblin, wasn’t so different from the other goblins. Soren starts the novel not getting sarcasm but suddenly does by halfway through. He’s kind to Janneke and treats her differently than his other “thralls” (human slaves/servants taken from their home), which is strange for a goblin, very human (so why did he need to be a goblin?). You can tell they’re being set up for a romance subplot early on and I never felt the chemistry, so when it finally came up I was more annoyed than anything. Especially when Janneke goes on about how she’s not beautiful and Soren contradicts her.

The story itself centers around The Hunt and the drive to find the next Erlking (Goblin King) of the Permafrost. I thought it would take on a darker edge based on the synopsis but soon turned into an adventure story with Janneke, Soren, and their group traveling about completing “quests” of sorts. It’s not a bad thing but I was already losing interest so another run-of-the-mill fantasy didn’t help.

Plus, every situation they’re in the group gets out of, with each saving grace more outrageous than the next. Tension GONE. If they’re always going to get out with assistance then why should I worry they’ll suffer? Yes, I like characters to suffer so they can overcome and it didn’t feel like Janneke and her group were ever truly in danger because she was chosen. Snowflake AND chosen one. Quite the combo.

At one point, it comes up that Janneke was known to her father as “Janneka,” the feminine form of the name. It’s made clear that she was raised and treated as a boy in her village while her sisters led a normal life, so I was surprised when that entire concept wasn’t taken further. I would have loved that, to be honest, because instead Janneke questions her humanity and where she fits but it’s never really a question.

The one thing I did love about this book was the world itself. I have a thing for creepy paranormal fantasy worlds, and I love the idea of the Goblin King (always will thanks to Labyrinth). And I was SO excited when I heard White Stag involved Norse mythology, but I realized soon on that the bulk of this involvement is Janneke saying “Odin’s ravens” as a curse.

Trust me when I say I wanted to love this book. Dark fantasy. Goblin King. Two of my must-read phrases. But it wasn’t all that dark. And the goblins were nothing more than slightly more murderous faeries. I can’t say it was for me.

First of all, let me thank Netgalley.com and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review this book: White Stag. I was provided with a free digital copy for my honest opinion.

Synopsis:
The first book in a brutally stunning series where a young girl finds herself becoming more monster than human and must uncover dangerous truths about who she is and the place that has become her home.

As the last child in a family of daughters, seventeen-year-old Janneke was raised to be the male heir. While her sisters were becoming wives and mothers, she was taught to hunt, track, and fight. On the day her village was burned to the ground, Janneke—as the only survivor—was taken captive by the malicious Lydian and eventually sent to work for his nephew Soren.

Janneke’s survival in the court of merciless monsters has come at the cost of her connection to the human world. And when the Goblin King’s death ignites an ancient hunt for the next king, Soren senses an opportunity for her to finally fully accept the ways of the brutal Permafrost. But every action he takes to bring her deeper into his world only shows him that a little humanity isn’t bad—especially when it comes to those you care about.

Through every battle they survive, Janneke’s loyalty to Soren deepens. After dangerous truths are revealed, Janneke must choose between holding on or letting go of her last connections to a world she no longer belongs to. She must make the right choice to save the only thing keeping both worlds from crumbling.


First of all. Look at that COVER. My gosh. It’s reminiscent of a Patronus (okay, I said it) and all the lore that we half-remember about the white stag of legend. It’s svelt and sleek. The cover art here is magnificent. The typography is fabulous. I would buy a physical copy of this story JUST for the cover.

So this story is about goblins and a girl who is a goblin’s slave. Oh, hey, Trigger Warning! This book is chock full of really horrible things. Abuse, rape, dismemberment, slavery, betrayal, carnage, and death. Just so you know, it’s full of triggers.

In any case, it’s pretty brutal. The story itself is very engaging, though the flashbacks and the dream sequences make it hard to follow after a glass of wine.

There’s not a lot of worldbuilding, honestly. There’s not a lot of history or culture. It’s almost all about the pursuit and destruction of the white stag, which is fine, but you don’t get a sense of the world at all.

The main character, Janneke, is a seriously strong woman. She’ll inspire you. You’ll feel braver after just meeting her on-page. The entire aura of Janneke + the goblins is very much a captive + Viking vibe. The goblins are brutal like Vikings, and gorgeous, like Tolkien’s elves, so picture some Viking elves and you’ve grasped it.

I’m still not sold on the romance angle of this, so I’m giving it a solid 3.5 stars.

What’s the first book you’ve finished in 2019?

The notion of becoming what you despise most is one that is so appealing to me. Add in goblins and the threat of reality ending, and I’m sold. White Stag by Kara Barbieri definitely ticks all the boxes for things I wanted when I went into this, though I can readily admit this will not be for everyone. Please be warned, this is a dark fantasy novel. As such, there are cruelties involved that play a big role in the story.

Before touching on the warning bits, let me talk about what I loved. The world-building was really great. I loved how goblins differed from humans and the bits Barbieri added to give them her own twist. The fact that running water affects goblins (not just ghosts and vamps anymore!) and that violence and just razing in general is so ingrained in the essence of a goblin that they can no longer create anything that isn’t meant for destructive purposes is such fantastic little things that really add to the culture and world. The melding of Norse berserkers with goblins was a great touch to flesh out exactly why they’re viewed as monsters. The human world does need fleshing, but considering we haven’t spent any real time there for White Stag, it didn’t matter much.

Pacing was quick but smooth. There was never a moment where I thought okay, this is lagging and taking too long, let’s just get to the point. Every part gets to the point, whether it’s a major plot point or a character development point. At the same time, we’re never left hanging for the sake of moving things along. It was actually really refreshing to read a debut novel that didn’t have tremendous issues with pacing.

The relationships Janneke builds are interesting and feel fully-fleshed. I say interesting because there is something that reminds me of the post I made the previous week asking whether certain aspects of YA romance were creepy. The non-creepy first, Janneke’s friendships first with a young goblin and second with a halfling were incredibly sweet and clever ways at showing Janneke not every goblin is a monster. It helps answer the underlying question throughout the novel, are monsters made or born.

Now, we can get to the creepy part of the relationships and also the warning bits. The creepy part comes with the possible romance between goblin Soren and protagonist Janneke. The major dilemma I’ve faced with this is the Stockholm syndrome aspect of their dynamic. Janneke has been under his service as a thrall for 100 years. The power dynamic in that relationship isn’t on equal footing. But, like so many other “is it creepy” moments in ya fiction, this is something I can overlook because dynamics do change. The second bit that can introduce the creep factor is how long Soren has known Janneke — the first time he met her. That gave me some serious reservations and Barbieri is really smart to reveal this incredibly late in the novel, yet it still gave me pause. I really don’t understand why this was needed unless it plays a bigger part later in the series. It works only to confuse readers that were already on-board with this romance and put off readers that were iffy.

What I’ve seen many people complain about, and it’s a completely valid complaint, is the TRIGGER CONTENT WARNING HERE NOW part which deals with the aftermath of Janneke’s rape that happened prior to the start of the series. It is graphic and it is repeatedly brought up throughout the book. For some, especially those that went into this novel with no forewarning, this can be too much to bear and can definitely feel as though Barbieri is doubling down for shock. However, I never felt this way. I felt that, as a survivor of sexual assault with absolutely no outlet or assistance on mentally coming to terms with what happened, what Janneke experiences throughout the book makes sense. It isn’t overly done or done to shock (if you want to see what that looks like, take a look at the latter seasons of GoT.) It is brought up in story during incredibly appropriate times. When Janneke feels threatened, when she comes into contact with her abuser, when she thinks about her body, she remembers. She is thrown into a PTSD loop, reliving the trauma. It reads as so very real. Now, if Janneke in the second novel never processes what happened and is magically cured of that worry, or if it is still brought up constantly, then I can agree with detractors. But the way it is utilized in this novel definitely makes sense and feels valid. I definitely think readers should be forewarned that this is something in the book and I’m not sure the age rating on amazon is the right one as it mentions an intended age as low as 12…

White Stag by Kara Barbieri is a fantastic debut novel written by an incredibly promising author. I sat down after reading to think about what was wrong with it and how to mark this novel, and realized I didn’t really have anything I could mark it down for. I really enjoyed the story and the world, the pacing was spot on, and I’m truly excited to see what happens next.

There are few things that upset me more than a book with HUGE potential, that never gets there. Sadly, this is one.

That's not to say there weren't moments where it didn't blow me away. There were a lot of times where I was sucked in deep to the story, unable to turn the page fast enough. And then it would be ruined by what I call The Wattpad Inconsistency. But more on that below. I did enjoy this though. The world was well-fleshed out and quite neat. The pacing of the plot was relatively tight. I liked the concept and Janneke was really the badass bitch. Her development throughout the story was well done! She struggles with her identity after 100 years in the Permafrost. Is she human, goblin, or something more? And what does she want for her future, based on her past. The reveal of the backstory is admirably done as well, so I must give kudos.

I did struggle in a few sections in following the writing though. I hope it is something that will be fixed in the final published version, but there were a few action scenes where I got lost. One in particular is some kind of odd waking dream, find-your-true-self-and-the-answer-you-seek scene. That was the part where I started to lose interest a little bit. It's hard to stay focused when you're not sure what's going on and subsequently miss important details for later.

Now, The Wattpad Inconsistency. Before I go further, please know that I am not diminishing anyone whose writing gets its start on Wattpad. I have several early works myself on there that have since been completely retransformed, and I always wanted to be one of these stories, with millions of reads and votes. A writer is a writer, period.

The Wattpad Inconsistency stems from a first time writer just spilling words out onto a page based on what they know without thought to what they've already built up in their story. For instance, in White Stag the world is dark, the stakes high, and the characters monsters. The one goblin is hundreds of years old, incapable of sarcasm, and quite stoic. Then out of the mother**king blue, he says something like, "Do all humans have that really cute nose scrunch?" Aaaand torn out of the story and rolling my eyes. Sudden juvenile comments that the author as a teen would say but a 700-year-old goblin in a norse inspired tenth century(?) era certainly would not are an example of what dragged this story down. Any book I've read that comes from a Wattpad sensation is victim to it in some degree, and it drives me nuts that those are the ones that get all the love.

Despite my mixed feelings on this one, I would be interested in reading the second book and will keep an eye out for it.

I thought this book was really intriguing, especially because I have never read a book about goblins before. I would compare it to books written by authors like Sarah J. Mass, but it was unique because the mythology was different. I am giving this book four starts because I really enjoyed the ride, however, it used fairly modern phrases like 'literally,' which is used in an argument at some point in the book.

Also, trigger warning for rape/sexual abuse.

I highly recommend this if you're looking for a new fantasy book. I'm excited this is a series!

This was a great book, it hooked you in from the first page and never quite lets you go. The part I hate is that I have to wait for the next book.
I enjoyed how the relationship between Jenneke and Soren was built, it wasn't insta-love or anything like that it felt like it really had a foundation. Something that I always felt was lacking with most YA novels, with The White Stag we see the relationship grow and when it does happen it feels right not like it happening for the sake of the story. I do have to say when it does happen it does feel a bit heavy-handed at times, I’m sitting there looking at my tablet like; Don’t they have people trying to kill them, and also they're extremely underdressed (I’m very big on people being properly prepared for bad weather) to be on a freezing cold mountain – they have no coats and their clothes are in tatters but ok we’re stopping (once again on a FREEZING COLD MOUNTAIN) to go over the confession of love that was made a moment ago, yeah… there’s no problem with that.
But all in all, I enjoyed this book there was great action, believable romance between the two main characters, a villain that was just made for hating. Reading this book made me want to rewatch both Vikings and The Labyrinth over and over again. But also made me wonder what am I doing wrong. Ever book I find on Wattpad isn’t really that good and then these gems appear on the scene that makes me want to try and give it another go, even though I know I’m just going to banging my head on the walls.

I give White Stag by Kara Barbieri 2 stars. I admit, I requested this because the title made me think of Narnia. I will say, if you enjoy YA fantasy, this will be a pretty good book for you. Unfortunately, for me, I have a hard time with YA fantasy. I found that this was more targeted to adult rather than young, with a fair amount of cussing, it was pretty violent and gory and a sex scene I skipped. I find the whole misunderstood girl who’s good at hunting main character to be a little over done and cliched at this point. Also, this girl has so many shivers down her spine and chills she might want to see a neurologist.
If you are into mature YA fantasy, you’ll like this.