Format: audiobook
Author: Tori Bovalino ~ Title: Not Good for Maidens ~ Narrator: Laura Knight Keating
Content: 3 stars ~ Narration: 3 stars

Based on a story of Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti. Maybe this reading experience would be better if I knew the story before reading this novel. All in all, this was an interesting story. I finished the audiobook, but it didn’t grab me as it should. Not Good for Maidens was my second Tori Bovalino novel, but if I’m honest, I liked The Devil Makes Three more.

If you are a fan of young adult dark fantasy/horror, with main characters witches and goblins, and don’t mind many content warnings, you could like this. And I am sure many readers will. I guess I am not quite the target audience here, or maybe I just was not in the mood.

Narration was good overall, and I would normally like this change of accents, but it didn’t feel natural.

Thanks to Recorded Books for the ALC and this opportunity! This is a voluntary review and all opinions are my own.

I just had the immense pleasure of finishing off the audiobook for ‘Not Good for Maidens’ and I have run to Goodreads to gush and celebrate just how wonderful it is!

Here are some of my rambling thoughts: It’s moody, atmospheric, well-paced, not in a rush at the expense of the mood it’s building and just sets its own pace. Great female characters. MAGIC! HORROR! Feels like stepping into a modern-day fable. You can feel the wonderful influences so consistently throughout the book, it’s not just “lifted” briefly and then abandoned, it feels deeply rooted in old fables designed to scare the hell out of children and adults alike.

The call of the goblin market is one of curiosity and danger. I loved the contrast between our very relatable, modern heroine with the feel and atmosphere of the old market and the cast of characters that pass through that place.

I personally absolutely ADORED the contrast between England, more specifically Leeds and American culture. This was really well done and a lot of the American books I happen to read fail at this (I’m Australian so I fairly easily pick up on it and it’s such a shame.) I appreciated the tonal shifts of these minor cultural nuances. Oh, also, listening to the audiobook means you get to hear the FANTASTIC Leeds accent as well as that of the inhabitants of the goblin market. Highly recommend.

My very short summary would be women’s intergenerational coven trauma entwined beautifully with bipanic and family secrets. I am so darn happy I read this. I can’t quite pinpoint a single book that I can compare this too.

By the end of the book, I was so touched by the story and the relationship between these women, as well as how far they had come that I shed a few tears, overcome with pride and appreciation for their story.

Who doesn’t want to read a book that can take you from the States to York, the Goblin market and back again? If I could get more books in this series/world I would welcome them! There is already such a fantastic foundation built and in terms of the magic in the story the irony is that the influences are so old that they feel very fresh as compared to a lot of the magical books on the market.

I enjoyed this so much that I’m very excited to dig into her previous book ‘The Devil Makes Three’ and am very keen to continue to read her work in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley for the Arc!

4.25 stars

This one was a lot of fun. “Goblin Market” is a poem I read during undergrad, and because of some less-than-stellar experiences in high school, I remember it as one of the first pieces of poetry that I actually liked and that stuck with me. I love that this story is based on the poem, and it follows the basic premise nicely without feeling like nothing more than an extended copy of the same tale. It was a delightful mix of fantasy and light horror, genre-wise, and although some parts were a bit graphic (goblin attacks aren’t pretty, friends), it was, overall, a very fun read. I also appreciated the queer character representation. I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to seeing what else the writer creates.

(It didn’t affect my reading experience itself, but I do love the cover design and will admit it’s a big part of what attracted me to the book in the first place.)

I received an advanced copy of Not Good For Maidens from Page Street Publishing so I could share my review with you!
Content Warnings: On-page gore, on-page horror, violence, trauma, talk of humans being eaten, and descriptions of mutilated bodies.

This book has two main story arcs, one told in the current era and one told eighteen years earlier, both set during the goblin market. I did struggle somewhat with keeping the characters straight at the beginning of the book with the dueling timelines, but as the story progressed I found myself becoming more immersed, so this issue went away. Soon enough, the characters were all so distinct and personal to me that I couldn’t imagine not remembering who is who! Tori Bovalino’s ability to write visually graphic scenes was integral to this story, especially during the market scenes. I felt as though I could really imagine the goblin market existing (which is not an entirely pleasant thought)!

In addition to reading my physical copy of Not Good For Maidens, I also listened to the audiobook! Somehow, the audiobook made Not Good For Maidens even spookier! I think that the narration by Laura Knight Keating and the witchy style of the text were a fantastic pairing, making this book very addictive to listen to! There were several parts where it almost got too creepy for me, but I’m glad I stuck it out and listened to the whole story because I was definitely engaged the whole time.

My Recommendations-
If you’re a reader who can handle a gorier story and who loves witchy books, you should check out a copy of Not Good For Maidens! I would especially recommend this book to fans of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, or of other similarly witchy and thrilling stories! Additionally, if you’re looking for a book with a bisexual or asexual protagonist for your reading challenges, Not Good For Maidens has got one protagonist with each of those identities who are both extremely well-written.

An interesting story that keeps you enchanted until the end. I’d like to hear more about these characters.

You had me at goblin market! This book was creepy and at times gross and it was awesome. I loved every minute. I was pulled right into the present and past drama of this family of witches. I loved the duel POV. It has great LGBTQ rep throughout the book. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fun story that incorporated "The Goblin Market" in a new and exciting way that I hadn't seen done before. It was a bit predictable at times, but overall, it kept me guessing. I like when people put a new spin on old favorites, and Bovalino did a great job with that here.

It was also refreshing to read a "fairytale" that didn't revolve solely around a love story between the main character and a person she started out hating. ...eye roll... I mean, yes, there was a bit of a love story at play, but it was between supporting characters, not the main protagonist. That was a nice change of pace that I enjoyed quite a bit.

The narrator was great, too. I had no complaints with the narration or the speed at which the story progressed or was told verbally. Overall, a solid four stars.

Bovalino really shines when the story lends itself to description. Walking through the goblin market, surrounded by both marvels and horrors aplenty, through narrow winding passages and endless mazelike rooms, the market comes alive. Also hell yeah for an ace MC and a bi MC in an f/f relationship being front and center!

Unfortunately, the two timeliness were not created equal. Lou and May's narrative voices aren't distinct (maybe this is meant to be a metaphor for how Lou is essentially repeating May's mistakes, but with totally different stakes), which makes it rather difficult to follow which character is performing which action. I think May's story was more interesting for background purposes (the age-old conflict between the witches and the goblins) but Lou's motivations were clearer. It also took a very long time for the plot to pick up. We don't actually go into the market until after the halfway point, by which time I was losing patience.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, RB Media, and Recorded Books in exchange for an honest review.

Content warnings (from the author): on-page gore, on-page body horror, violence, trauma (physical, emotional, generational).

Bovalino is back with another dark and creepy YA that is sure to hook readers. This time around we're getting a YA gothic horror based around Christina Rossetti’s poem, “Goblin Market” that introduces us to the the Wickett women and their encounters with the goblin market in York, England. The plot alternates between present day with teenage Lou desperate to know some of the secrets her mom and aunt are keeping from her. When her aunt Neela goes missing (after leaving two very ominous voicemails on Lou's phone), Lou begins a journey to understanding the history of the Wickett family... and it might be more than she bargained for. As Lou fights to save Neela, she is also told the story of how her aunt May was almost lost to the goblin market 18 years before... and the stories might be more entwined that she originally thought.

While this wasn't the type of horror that made it hard to sleep at night (at least for me, and I'm generally a wimp), it does a good job of evoking the sense of unease and claustrophobia that is prevalent in classic gothic horror tales. I really enjoyed how Bovalino slowly unfurled both the plots for Lou and Neela, and May's. This will be perfect for fans of Holly Black and I think readers that enjoy tales about the fair folk will thoroughly enjoy a dark tale about goblins. The LGBTQIA+ representation is well done and is just a fact - not used as a plot device. There is also an array of representation that goes beyond just having a gay or bi character which was refreshing.

The overall audio quality is very quiet and hard to hear at times (I had the volume turned up WAY higher than I normally do and I still had trouble hearing parts of it). Not sure if that's due to the quality of the version offered through NetGalley, or if it's the published audiobook, but something to keep in mind. That being said, like all good gothic horrors, this book is well suited to be listened to, it adds another layer to the story. Laura Knight Keating does a great job with the audiobook narration.

Not Good for Maidens was an excellent reimagining of The Goblin Market. Told in sort of dual timelines, the story explores the pact between the witches and goblins, and what happens when the rules are broken. I loved the themes of finding ones place as well. It’s the perfect blend of witchy, modern, and fantasy with plenty of queer rep to boot. The narrator was really good as well.

I have mixed opinions on this story so I am giving it a solid 3 stars.

First, I loved the horror element to this book and how those entering the goblin market seem to have an idea of the dangers but naively think they will be able to get out unscathed. Is also enjoyed the multi layers to the goblin market and how the deeper down you go the more danger you are in.
But there was a good part of the story that occurred outside the market and most of those part were not as intriguing.

Secondly, there are two time lines in this story which I usually enjoy the back and forth. But I don't feel the back and forth in changing time lines added much to the story and believe I would have enjoyed it more if it was just told in two parts (past and present). Overall I would have enjoyed just the story of May and Atra by itself.

I'm definatly interested in more stories of the goblin market and the way this book ended it could turn into a series which I would check out.

I like this narrator and the accents added to the characters. The only critique is many of the characters sounded similar and did not have distinct voice from each other.

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for an advanced audiobook for review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an advanced audio copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Not good for maidens is a modern take on the fairytale of the goblin market. The market appears in a small town every summer and you better beware of what happens after dark. 18 years ago, sisters May and Laura had to make a terrible decision that ended up costing them their magic. Today, Lou is desperate to know more about her family and why she can't ever go visit her best friend Neela back in Europe.

One day, Lou gets a voice message from Neela saying that "they're coming for [her]" and then a creepy as heck voice starts singing Scarborough fair. Lou knows Neela is in trouble and absolutely must go back overseas to try to save her. But what ensues is a life-or-death cat and mouse game under the city in the deadly goblin market.

This book was awesome. The dual timeline was done immaculately-- each time I wanted to know more about what was happening the current timeframe, we would skip back to the other timeline. This kept me reading and super engaged throughout. Lou was a ballsy character with tons of smarts, integrity, and love. I was rooting for her the whole time. I enjoyed the past timeline slightly less because I found May to be a bit stupid. It was still super enjoyable and I was engrossed as heck, but I found myself rolling my eyes at May and being like "omg please don't do that thing. That's a bad idea!"

The narrator was absolutely perfect for this title. She read Lou and all of the narration of the story with an American accent and then read all of the other characters with Scottish accents. It was SO fun to listen to. She also did some great character work to make the goblins sound creepy and cunning.

The story ends with juuuuuuust enough of an open ending, which is my absolute favorite kind of ending.

Overall, I'm giving this a 4/5 because I had some problems with May's and Adra's characters and their motivations for their actions, but this title was super enjoyable and it's very likely that I'll be purchasing my own copy for my collection!

I read Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market for school last semester. I wrote a whole paper about its legacy as feminist prose, and even discussed it within the framing of The Monstrous Feminine. It’s safe to say I REALLY enjoyed Tori Bovalino’s Not Good For Maidens as a loose, modern, queer retelling of Rossetti’s iconic text.

My absolute favourite part of this book was the worldbuilding. My god, was it good! The way Bovalino describes the surroundings of the protagonists, especially of the goblin market, is gripping, entrancing, and colourful. The audiobook experience might’ve added to this, but it really was immersive. Everything is so vivid and three dimensional, I could perfectly picture every grotesque, gritty little detail. The gore is done amazingly well too. I’m not typically someone who can get freaked out just by a description of something scary, but this was more than adequate!

I really don’t have too many complaints. The one thing that always happens to me when reading multiple POVS is there will be one I dislike more than the others, and that definitely happened here, but that’s probably just a me problem.

Barbara Creed & Christina Rossetti would be proud of this book. A incredibly solid retelling of Goblin Market with great romance, horror, and empowerment.

I got approval for the audio book of this one and was already listening to it before I was approved for the digital copy, and I kind of wish I hadn’t. I found the narration extremely annoying and I couldn’t get past it to enjoy the story. I also found things repeated a lot, like I heard the word market so many times and in that accent I just couldn’t stand it! The gore of the human body parts was also mentioned a lot and I’m not turned off by gore, it just seemed to be talked about excessively. I fear my experience of this story was ruined by the narration and I think I may have had a better experience with it had I read it instead. So my star rating is only directed towards the audiobook version.

To leave on a positive note, both covers for these book are STUNNING 😍

⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for providing me with an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ok, I want to start this off by saying that I thought this book’s atmosphere was pretty good and that it had a really interesting concept. However, it just…fell flat everywhere else. In this book, we follow two povs, from two points in time. One of the povs takes place in the present, following Lou, whose aunt, Neela has just been taken into the market. The other pov takes place eighteen years ago, following Lou’s other aunt May. Lou’s pov mostly just consisted of two topics being repeated over and over again. The first topic was her concern over Neela and the other was her being upset her family kept the market a secret from her. It wasn’t until the last third or quarter of the book, that Lou’s pov had gotten a bit interesting. Even then, I wasn’t too interested because I didn’t care for these characters and had no concern for them either. None of the characters had much of a personality and lacked depth.

And then there was May’s pov. May’s pov was also full of repetition and primarily focused on her relationship with a goblin. Now, I’ve made it known in the past that I am not a fan of instalove, but I do think there are some instances where it can be done well, or at least can be tolerable enough.

This was not one of those times.

I mean do you really expect me to believe that after two days, TWO DAYS, these two girls were completely head over heels in love with each other and would sacrifice their entire lives for the other. Especially given the fact that one of them is human and the other is a goblin. I mean if you’re going to fall in love with someone whose kind literally eats humans, I’d expect you two to know each other a bit more. They spoke a few sentences to each other and then out of nowhere, they start talking about their future together. I just didn’t find the romance to be believable and it made it difficult for me to enjoy the book.

When it came to the market, I feel like things could have been explored so much more. The market is the central part of the book yet it is never clearly explained why people go there in the first place. All the motives that were given just seemed weak and didn’t make sense. I mean everyone is aware that the market is dangerous and that the goblins cannot FORCE them to go into it and yet people still go??? Why would you willingly go to a place where they literally EAT HUMANS. Like, THEY KEEP BODY PARTS ON DISPLAY IN JARS FOR OTHER GOBLINS TO EAT. Out of all the characters in this book, the only people who had valid reasons to go into the market were those who went to save someone.

I’m giving this two stars instead of a one since it did keep me interested at times.

4.5 stars. I really loved this book. I was hoping it would be a tad bit darker but it was still a very goo story. I love the LGBTQ+ rep, I love the goblin market portions and I love the overall atmosphere of the story. What I didn't love? The main character and her whiny personality. But the beauty of the story overshadowed that enough that I still adored the story.

I am so intrigued by the Goblin Market and Not Good for Maidens did not disappoint at all.

The book is super dark, terrifying and gruesome, but it was balanced well with the sense of family and the embedded adventure. I also really appreciated the LGBT representation!

The dual timelines were a great addition, although I did find myself getting a bit lost. Regardless, I loved the idea of gaining information about the past by going back in time. I felt like Tori really put together amazing characters; from the “villains” to the “good guys” they were just so well written. I must admit, I really am invested in the next book, because come on! With an ending like that, who isn’t waiting for the next one. If that isn’t incentive enough to read this book, then I don’t know what is.


Thank You to Tori Bovalino and RB Media, Recorded Books, for the audio-digital ARC provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

I went back and forth on how I wanted rate this, and I think I'm actually bringing it to a 3 - it's a 3.5, but I have a few issues.

I'll start with the things I liked about it - the first being just the concept of the goblin market in general. I love the original poem and was so excited to read a retelling of it, and I think the novel is strongest when we're at the market. Bovalino has disgusting, gory descriptions of the horrors that lay beneath the market, and I was captivated. The goblins are eerie and a little disgusting. LOVED it.

I really enjoyed the story of May's rescue from the market 18 years earlier. The build up to her getting trapped, her thinking she could go, just one more time and not get caught - really speaks to the bold and sometimes reckless behavior of (specifically young) people in love. I thought the stakes for her were higher, and overall it was a more interesting plot.

On the flip side, Lou is also going into the market, and I think of the two POVs hers was much weaker. Some of this was just set up - she spends a solid chunk of the first half of the novel not knowing what's happening and being angry with her mother from hiding things. That whole plot point in general was just weirdly resolved to me.

I had also really hoped Lou's asexuality would play into the goblin market, since the source material is all about sexuality and temptation - but nope. I truly appreciate having on the page ace rep, but I think it would have been nice for it to also impact the story.

Overall, I'd say May's part is closer to a 4, and Lou's is closer to a 3, with strong prose but weak on some of the characterization and plot details. Enjoyable and I'll def check more of her stuff out.

Thanks to NetGalley and the editors for providing this early copy in exchange for an honest review.
I like the voice and pace of the narrator so I'm pretty sure its the story the one I just couldn't understand, I restarted this 3 times cuz I kept drifting and getting lost, I couldn't even tell you what's about.

Audio review: I liked the narrator. She did a good job of bringing nuance to the prose and distinct enough character voices. She was easy to listen to.



Main review:



As someone else has noted, Rossetti's (at the time) scandalous poem <i>The Goblin Market</i> doesn't need a feminist coming of age retelling since it already is one. By and large I agree with this and to be honest Erlkonig/ Goblin Market retellings are a ten for a penny and mostly utterly forgettable. However, this was a rare and enjoyable exception.



The author doesn't try to rewrite the coming of age narrative and she doesn't remove the inherent sexual nature of the story (something many YA authors are guilty of when writing retellings). Instead, she reframes it through a queer lens and it works surprisingly well. The book is told in dual narrative format with Lou, the MC of the current timeline being asexual, while the other timeline is set around eighteen years before and is headed by Lou's bisexual aunt. Their sexuality is neither throwaway empty lip service to representation nor the entirety of their characterisation. Bovalino strikes a nice balance between making it necessary to the plot and allowing both of them to be entire people who are not solely defined by their sexuality.



The story itself has a Pan's Labyrinth aesthetic. There's a distinct unfiltered Grimm's fairy tale feel which leaves the reader feeling that all may not be well at the end. If you like dark fantasy with a gothic feel, you'll probably find the tone delicious. Bovalino has leaned heavily towards horror - specifically body horror and gore. While in the original poem there's definite references to young women being consumed and used up by the goblins (men) if they succumb to sexual temptation - a reference to the fact that sex can result in pregnancy which can lead to societal pariah-hood or death, or to sexually transmitted diseases which can also lead to death - the goblins do not literally eat the girls. But here the goblins delight in blood letting, torture and consuming human flesh. I found the horror mild enough but then it's one of those things where your mileage may vary so fair warning.



This is not strictly speaking a romance, despite have elements of romance in it. Lots of different kinds of love are examined and included with nuance. There's never a sense that loving anyone is always rosy and effortless. Bovalino's examination of mother-daughter and sister-sister dynamics was spot on. Attaching that to a wider clan was interesting too. And okay I am a sucker for goblins in fiction - why do you think I read the retellings even though I'm fairly sure I'll be disappointed? - but I actually liked the romance here. There were elements of the plot that didn't entirely gel for me and I admit that the love story was a bit insta (or shall we just say teenaged?) but I found it sweet and I was happy with where it ended. Sometimes these things grow into the real thing and last.



Overall I really enjoyed this book and am intending to track down anything else the author has written. Definite hats off for this not turning into another linear, easy read YA with a kickass heroine TM. This is dark, nuanced and delicious. Like goblin fruit.