Not Good For Maidens tells the story of the Goblin Market. I personally really looked forward to this book. The premise seemed promising with the myth and the fact that it has LGBT+ rep! However, something fell flat for me. Unsure if it's because my brain wasn't in the mood to read this (I had to restart this book three times in order to have enough attention span for it) or if it truly wasn't for me.

One thing is for sure though, while I had a hard time really getting into the book, I did really like the characters! They were a fun bunch who were all interesting.

Not my typical genre but I am so glad that I read this. Thanks #netgalley. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was excellent. Highly recommend.

This retelling of The Goblin Market was really great. It's dark, with some very terrifying moments and characters that are as dark and complex as the setting. This story had an excellent mix of adventure, horror, fantasy, family, and history.

I'll admit, I'm not familiar with the original poem this is based on, but so many other fairy tale stories use versions of The Goblin Market that it wasn't hard to follow. However, now I'm really interested in reading the original.

"Are you coming to the market, the market, the market?"
Tori Bovalino is a masterful storyteller. As you follow the Wickett women through the generations in their perpetual struggle against the cruel goblin market, the market grips you too. Years after some nameless incident hurt and changed her mother and aunt's lives, Lou finds herself up against the same nameless terror. The existence of the market has been hidden from her, but she still is not free of its terrible grip. As she struggles to come to grips with her family's painful past, she is thrust headlong into the age-old fight against the bloodthirsty goblin market. Can she make it out again?

This is the second retelling of Christina Rosetti's poem 'Goblin Market' I've read (both totally different) and this one definitely brings the horror of the market to life in a very real way. I enjoyed the multiple points of view from the different time-periods and thought that the two timelines wove into each other really well. I enjoyed the character development in both May and Lou. Parts of the book were a little too gory for me (personal taste) but it only added to the story. Some of the romance felt a little forced and rushed and it would have been nice to see a little more in-depth development of the relationship. The narration was a little slow and uniform, I would love to rather read this book myself. I don't enjoy horror as much as other genres but this was a fun introduction into fantasy horror - a first for me.

3.5 stars.

(CW: Graphic descriptions of gore/dismemberment/other extreme acts of bodily harm, kidnapping, death, death of children).

Just from the get go, I'm struggling with how to describe my reading experience without giving away too many spoilers. Many aspects of this plot is layered with context all of which you learn as you read. Of course, if you're someone who has previously read The Goblin Market, you will be familiar with a lot of the story's themes and plot points. I must admit I've never read heard of it until reading this book, so I went into the story completely blind. But still, this story is far different than the poem it originates from, and thus it is very hard to describe the plot without spoiling event-points.
You come into the story with Louisa, preferring to be called Lou, she is completely in the dark about everything having to do with the market, she has no idea what caused her mom and her aunt to move from York to America many years ago. There is so much going on being the scenes of this story that I was left gasping in surprise several times. Including with the grotesque body-horror going on here, reading via audiobook I absorbed a bit more jarringly than I would have if I'd chosen to skim-read via a physical book.
Speaking of the audiobook, I really loved it. This was one of my favorite audiobook experiences to date. I am not sure if the narrator is Scottish herself but I would absolutely believe it with how quickly she transitioned through accents. She has a shrill way about her voice that she assigns to evil goblins speaking, and it really added to the creepy atmosphere of the book overall. I'm slightly convinced she is Scottish herself though because even Lou's voice had the slightest Scottish hint, though she was raised in America. Either that or she is just an extremely good-voice actor, Lou's slight accented speech would make perfect sense with her being raised around family with an accent.
I think this is a perfect read for those who aren't too squeamish with body-horror or gore, but struggle to read other horror novels due to character death, freaky imagery, taboo subject matter for shock value, lack of plot, and a multitude of other reasons. I truly don't think I've ever read such a wonderfully fleshed out plotline for which an entire story stands upon in a horror-based novel until now. This is more of a psychological horror than anything else, the blend of real world imagery with magical realism adds a mountain of appeal towards the story.
These characters were so rich and three-dimensional, their relationships with each other were so believable enough that I was in tears multiple times. The stakes are incredibly high in this story, the edge-of-your-seat atmosphere is almost constant. The little valuable moments between characters adds to the incredibly high stakes, and makes everything else in the story a lot more tolerable. Instead of horror elements being killed by characters as I've witnessed so many times, each and every character adds something to the story, and at least to me, don't hinder the overall enjoyment of the book or the plot at all.
Plus, my happiest feature of this book is the LGBT rep. Especially in a horror-centric story, it is so refreshing to see a queer couple/queer character be main plot developments and important characters in these stories, these kinds of characters not being killed off for an easy plot death because it's horror and automatically more acceptable. This is a wonderful sort of book that showcases exactly how unimaginative some authors can and have been with queer characters in their novels, this book says queer characters can be front and center, can be integral, can be happy, can stay alive. There are so many better plot points than a queer characters' death, and this book is one of the better examples of this.
My rating could be higher but only because I feel the book was a bit longer than it needed to be, there were a few filler goblins/characters that made no sense to me and didn't really bring anything to the table for me or didn't stick around long enough for me to care. The plot is constantly moving, things are constantly happening, and yet at some points I found myself slightly bored and just trudging along with the plot hoping a slope of some sort of climactic event would come my way sooner rather than later. I however, loved the shifting perspectives between chapters. Seeing the market presently vs 20 years earlier and catching glimpses of the same characters between timelines really added to the excitement of the story and the slow unfolding of the plot.

This is a fun horror-adjacent retelling of the classic poem The Goblin Market. Readers who aren't familiar with the poem will learn all they need to know of it in the introduction. I really liked the multiple kinds of queer representation and how seamlessly it was woven into the story. The family bonds combined with unconventional family structure were really enjoyable to read about.

I also liked Bovalino's take on the goblin market and the goblin's themselves. They are shape shifters with some really cool body horror going on (including curses) and the market and it's illusions were detailed and inventive.

The thing that knocked it down to one star for me was the pairing of the song Scarborough Fair with the goblin market. I'm sure I'm not the only modern reader who thinks Scarborough Fair and jumps to a happy folk-y Simon and Garfunkel. Wikipedia made me aware of a possible connection, saying the ballad is based on an older one in which "an elf threatens to abduct a young woman to be his lover unless she can perform an impossible task." That isn't really the same thing as goblins, but at least it's a sinister meaning. I wish Bovalino had explained how a common song had morphed and changed from a thing that used to be a warning. It just pulled me out of the story a little every time it came up.

I really liked the novel though and I think it was a great and inventive read. It was awesome to see a fun original retelling of a poem written in the early 1860s.

I'm generally a sucker for stories about rediscovering the literal magic of the old country. That's a very specific genre, but it crops up a lot in modern fantasy, so I'm running with it. This is a fantastic take on Rossetti's Goblin Market, which has spurred a lot of really great novels. The character work here is particularly excellent. Everyone's motivations are nuanced, but sensible. The setting and descriptions are beautifully rendered, so much so that the danger and tension are very real. I will always respect a book that makes me genuinely concerned not everyone will make it to the end.

Big thanks to Netgalley and Tori Bovalino for the audio ARC in exchange for a review.

Lou lives in the US, but her mother and aunt, who she lives with are from England. She's got another aunt only a year older than herself who lives in England.

Lou gets a voice mail message from her aunt in England about The Market. And she needs help.

This kicks off a first time visit into the heart of England, and a life Lou had no idea her mother and aunt's lived. Magic, mystery and goblins.... can they get there in time to save Lou's family?

This was excellent. Very twisted and dark, gorey and fantastical.

I loved the world building within the market. The love story behind the scenes and darkness.
The narrator was decent although (in my untravelled opinion) the accents weren't great.
5 stars!!

I was not blown away by this novel, nor by the narration of the audiobook. I found the characters to be extremely flat. The plot is divided into two sections: the present, in which May is searching for her aunt, and the past, in which another woman's excursions into the goblin market resulted in tragedy years prior. Despite being in very different eras, May and Lou's narrations were virtually identical to me. May and Lou shared the same narrative voice, and even their names blended together, so it was sometimes minutes into the audiobook before I knew where I was in the timeline.

Thanks to NetGalley and RB Media, Recorded Books for providing me with an ARC of this book! All opinions are my own.

**I received a galley of the audiobook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for honest review.**

Tori Bovalino returns with Not Good for Maidens, a dark retelling of the Goblin Market. Readers follow Louisa as she learns that her teenage aunt, Neela, has been taken into the goblin market and has not returned. Louisa, of course, wants nothing more than to retrieve Neela from the market. Louisa, however, has been kept out of the loop by her family and has a lot to learn before she can consider entering the market safely, let alone consider being able to come back out.

I really enjoyed this take on the goblin market; the goblin market is already one of my favorite stories to have retold and Bovalino took the task head on. Bovalino did not shy away from the horrors and the gruesomeness that is appropriate for the market, but anchored the story in strong ties of familial love. This kept the story firmly in fantasy horror rather than delving hard into a more pure horror genre. There was never a lack of hope for Louisa or for her family, and while I think Bovalino achieved this balance of tension skilfully, I also personally wish that Bovalino would have gone even a bit darker with the telling.

The audiobook, which I was provided, was a wonderful vehicle by which to consume the story. Narrator Laura Knight Keating did a beautiful job transitioning between accents of American Louisa and those members of her family raised in York. Keating's contributions in her narration absolutely contributed to the entertainment value of the story and I would have no hesitation to recommend the audiobook for this story.

Overall, I had a really good time with this story and am eager to explore Bovalino's past and future works.

I was blessed by the author with an early draft of this novel and let me just say ... Y'ALL AREN'T READY FOR WHAT'S COMING YOUR WAY IN 2022. Such a great new reimaging of the Goblin Market with such fabulous darkness and imagery

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

Not Good for Maidens centers on the Goblin Market that appears under York every summer, and the witches who try to counteract the Goblin magic. Half of the story takes place 18 years in the past, telling us what happened to witch apprentice Mae when she goes to the Goblin Market and falls for goblin Eitra, the second to the Goblin Prince. The other half occurs in present day when Mae's younger sister Neela falls prey to the Market and their American niece Lou stages a rescue mission.

While I loved the atmosphere of the story, I had several issues with the book. I don't think the dual timeline works terribly well, and would sometimes get confused as to which timeline we were in. I feel like there could have been more character development, and Mae and Eitra's undying love being built over just 2 evenings together seemed a bit far fetched. The pacing was very slow for a good portion of the book, which I struggled with. I listened to this as an audiobook, and while I don't know much about York accents, I could swear the accent the narrator was doing sounded Irish. All in all, I did enjoy the story, but I was hoping to love it.

I received an eARC of this audio book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

the dual perspectives is rather distracting and confusing, especially when their povs sound too similar. the narrator is butchering non-american accents to the point that it really takes me out of the story.

CWs: Kidnapping, Dismemberment, Cannibalism, Gore, Violence, Torture, Confinement, Body horror, Antisemitic subtext

I'm going to start this review with something that often concerns me in Goblin Market retellings and how I think it was handled in this book before going into my thoughts on the rest of the book.

It's well known, or at least it should be, that the original Goblin Market is an extremely antisemitic work and any work based on it should seek to subvert that to avoid perpetuating further antisemitism in new forms.

(Full disclosure, I myself am not Jewish but I discussed the elements that concerned me with friends who are before posting this review)

There are ways this book subverts the antisemitism but there are many that it does not.

The goblins are described more like Fae and Fair folk than they are 'goblins' which goes part way to avoiding the antisemitic descriptions in the original, however the set up for before Lou and Mae get to the goblin market does mention horns and there is a lot of scaremongering done about their appearances (including mentions of horns) and attitudes towards humans, particularly witches. The main characters are witches and goblin blood is often an ingredient in things and said to have magical powers, the goblin market is underground, the goblins eat humans. All of this ties into extremely harmful antisemitic stereotypes that still affect Jewish people today

I think the likelihood is that the author wasn't entirely aware of how these antisemitic ideas were leaking across into the book but as I said earlier, it is, or at should be, well known about the antisemitism of the original and any work that doesn't seek to ACTIVELY subvert that, will likely still include elements of it. It's also an author's job when writing, especially when writing a retelling, to thoroughly research their subject matter and I find it hard to believe that during the author's research process they will have completely missed the discussions of antisemitism in the original text.

An example of a Goblin Market retelling that subverts the antisemitism of the original text is In An Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire (Wayward Childrens #4). In this book, rather than having a race of goblins who rely on antisemitism to be scary in an underground market, In An Absent Dream takes place in a crossroads world where people from many other universes come together to reside. The market in IAAD works on a strict moral code and those who break that code are punished in all manner of ways from reverse aging to losing senses to turning into birds. This book reframes the ideas in goblin market so it's not about an evil race of subhuman creatures but actually about morality, justice and how we treat each other. It also eliminates the physical features of goblins that formed antisemitic stereotypes.

In An Absent Dream is a perfect example of subverting harmful ideas through retelling and I don't think Not Good For Maidens was cognisant of the issues it needed to rewrite to achieve the same success.

I read Not Good For Maidens the way I read all Goblin Market retellings, keeping a keen eye out for the creeping in of the antisemitic ideas of the original but I'm aware that many readers will not do that and a lot of this will fly under people's radars.

While I'm unsure of whether to say this book is outright harmful (I'll take my cue on that from Jewish reviewers) I do think these things are concerning and should be kept in mind.

Now for my thoughts on the plot, characters and narration (as I read this as an audiobook)

Being from Yorkshire, and really enjoying goblin market retellings (when done right), I was excited to read this. I quickly realised my mistake in reading the audiobook... The narrator was entirely incapable of doing a Yorkshire accent in the slightest, most of the time it sounded Northern Irish.

There was a point where Lou says 'Edinburgh' in the dialogue and notes in her head that she's proud of herself for learning how to say it in the way her mum does so 'Eh-din-bruh' but the narrator says it 'Eh-din-borrow'. There's a point where the narrator pronounced Costa as 'Coaster' but then says it correctly towards the end of the book????

I KNOW the main character is American but choosing an American audiobook narrator who can't do a Yorkshire accent to save her life to do a book where all but 3 characters speak in Yorkshire accidents was a terrible decision and it made this book PAINFUL to listen to as someone who's lived in Yorkshire for all 26 years of my life.

This book is told in dual timeline between Mae when she was a teenager and went to the goblin market and her niece Lou, now the same age, going into the goblin market to save her young aunt Neela.

Dual timeline can be really hard to pull of and for the most part, I think the author did a really good job, the stories informed and interwove with each other well and they didn't interrupt each other's pacing. There also weren't any points where I was annoyed that we switched perspectives because it's done seamlessly enough that it makes sense that the book switches when it does. I don't think the narrative voices between perspectives are that different though and I can see it confusing people.

One of the elements I really enjoyed about this book was the casual queerness of it. Our two main characters are both queer, Mae is bi and has a relationship with a goblin woman and Lou is ace. It's always refreshing to see authors name character's sexuality on the page because it avoids any speculation or erasure of identities. Lou's strong ties with the women of her family were really lovely to read as well, her closeness with Neela and her strong urge to fight for and protect her being my favourite.

While I liked Mae and Eitra's relationship in here, I do think it could have done with a slight bit more development. It felt like they got past their issues a little quickly at times but honestly I think my opinion a little bit informed by personal taste and a little bit, I'm aromantic and struggle to understand how allos get together so quickly.

The horror elements of this books were well written, it definitely instilled that sense of unease but there were definitely times I wished the book had learnt harder into that and BEEN a horror book rather than a coming of age/rescue with strong romance and horror elements.

There was a fair amount I enjoyed about this book, the overall plot and characters were good but the painfully abysmal narration and the antisemitism underpinning the whole thing dragged this book down a HELL of a lot.

It currently sits at 3 stars but could actually be anywhere from 2.5-3.5 stars depending on how I feel

“Are you coming to the market?”

What happened to May and Laura?

This book was fabulously queer and hauntingly beautiful. I don’t have a weak stomach so the gore was not a problem for me to listen to. I enjoyed reading a fairytale with goblins that were not beautiful men, not that I don’t enjoy those book, this one just gave me a nostalgic feeling. I grew up on books about the Fairies and goblins and their trickster ways and this book delivered all that and more. I will say May’s story was more relatable to me however I loved that there is Ace rep with Lou and that the Aces get to be the hero in this story. The story did lack a little for my taste but I think that was just the YA writing. I kind of wish there had been a little more to the magic system but this was definitely more of a gore fantasy with a dash of magic. I’ve been wanting to read more from this author and will definitely be picking up another one of their books.

Thank you for letting me listen to the audiobook ARC of this book!

i picked this book up entirely because of the cover, and i had no idea what it was about going in. however, i had a really good time with this book. i was so immersed in the book every time i picked it up, i just wanted to keep reading. i would say, that i didn't feel as though this book stuck with me, even while i was reading i would kind of forget about it when i wasn't listening to it. overall a very satisfying, enjoyable read.

“'We must not look at goblin men, / We must not buy their fruits: / Who knows upon what soil they fed / Their hungry thirsty roots?"

A retelling of Christina Rossetti's narrative poem Goblin Market, this book drew me in immediately as I've studied it before and love its story of temptation, sensuality, and the power of women. I'm glad to say this book is the same - and the author does a really amazing job of expanding the small story of Goblin Market into a fully-fleshed and realized world of magic, glamours, female bonds, and darkness. Not to mention the ace rep! Asexuality is extremely underrepresented in literature and, while it is definitely not the focus of this book—it is mentioned in a conversation in one chapter—I like that; ace people should be allowed stories where they just exist.

I found it a bit difficult in the beginning to piece some of the world together, but once the ball gets rolling the characters are all given their own development, although I thought some of it was repetitive. I had some questions about Lou's character, and I find it interesting that the main character would be the one most in need of more fleshing out, but as a lot of the book is dedicated to her trying to figure herself out, I think some confusion is allowed.

I think my favorite parts of this book were the fantasy world and the queer romance, both of which revolve around each other in intricate ways. The world of modern-day witches, powerful women, and the sumptuous and tantalizing wares of the murderous goblin market dwellers that they constantly fight against, felt so real and enchanting. The romance, between a witch and a beautiful goblin woman, was beautiful and, in a way, empowering. I love the idea of women as monsters being beautiful. Women being powerful and deadly and still deserving love and receiving it.

Content warnings for gore and body horror throughout.
Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for this book in exchange for an honest review!

“Close up, there was something handsome about him, if you didn’t see him straight on. You couldn’t think of goblin beauty in the same way as human beauty, it was all odd, all destructive, all rot and horror and gaudy terror. But she understood it a bit more now.”

I listened to this on audiobook and I think to some degree that colored my enjoyment of the book. I think this would be much better on the page. I wanted to love this - that cover! The synopsis! Goblin Market and horror and sapphic love story!

Some books and stories are slower paced, meandering, character studies, and the like. I find that those stories don’t work as well as audiobooks. I believe it’s because audiobooks are often reserved for multitasking so your mind needs to be able to follow the story while doing chores, focusing on a long drive, grocery shopping, etc. It felt like nothing really happened until about 50% of the way into the book, and that’s incompatible with listening for me. I forget what’s happening, who’s speaking, how people are related, and bored enough that I think longingly of reading something else.


What I liked:
👺 Not Good For Maidens is an under the radar exploration of youth and sexuality with a dark and dangerous goblin market in the background.
👺 Some gore and horror imagery on the page - more of this would have been welcome, to push it firmly into horror.

What I didn’t like:
🔪 the entire plot seemed a bit inscrutable - the characters made decisions that didn’t make sense.
🔪 The dual timeline was confusing and seemed unnecessary.
🔪 At the end of the story, I didn’t know anything about who the characters actually were. Everyone was very flat.
🧙‍♀️ The witches strike again! I don’t know what it is about them, but inevitably when a book revolves around witches I have a hard time staying invested. There’s no rhyme or reason that I’ve found, it’s illogical and possibly a curse.
❌ This is another that felt like a slog. I didn’t want to DNF so I powered through, but overall I had to force myself to keep going.

Notes about the audio:

🎧 I, like a lot of audiobook listeners, actually don’t listen on 1x speed. The default speed often seems incredibly slow and drags, so I found that over time I increased to faster speeds and generally now listen on 1.75x. This is a quibble, but there’s a really strange echoing effect happening on the narrators voice at that speed. If you listen on 1x just disregard this tangent.
🎧 The narrator has a welcoming voice that works with the characters, and the accents help separate the characters during conversations. However as the book went on, everyone took on a strange half-Southern half-Irish accent that sounded insane.
🎧 It felt a little hard at times to follow the story, when there’s exposition or no action and the characters are just monologuing for long stretches. It’s easy to lose track of what’s happening or what was just said - my mind kept wandering.

Thank you, NetGalley for my audiobook!

This book started off weird and a tad too slow but just hold on because it gets very interesting and very fun. This family is very loving and difficult and completely badass. The queer love story between witch and goblin is so perfect yet tragic.

Sidenote: the narration of the audiobook is rather slow for me so I listened at 1.75 speed.

Just trust me it's a fun ride worth a read.

Do you like dark fairytales? If yes, then you should give this book a read.

Fans of young adult reads and authors like Neil Gaiman and Melanie Golding will find this story satisfying.

The narrator did great with vocal inflections, accents, and I enjoyed her tone. I would recommend this route.