Any work of fiction with "goblin" in the title or a reference to Rossetti's timeless poem has my attention in an instant. For me Goblin Market was a no-brainer. I snapped up this ARC as soon as I saw it!

Here Zahler presents a thrumming, vibrant retelling of Rossetti's enchanting classic. Full of mystery, eerieness, deceitful goblins, and--most importantly and truest to the original--boundless sisterly love. I simply cannot elucidate how I love the relationship between Lizzie and Minka. I was near tears thinking of my own sister and what lengths I would go to to save her!

I also need to note the stunning use of chromesthesia (perceiving sounds as colors) as a plot device. I can honestly say I have never seen this done in a book before! Brilliant, fabulous; I am wowed, to say the least. This will not be the last I read from Diane Zahler--I am a fan!

Goblin Market is the story of two sisters in the country helping their parents run the farm. Minka is in charge of selling their goods on market day and one day comes home telling sister Lizzie about a boy she met who gave her the most wonderful fruit. A few weeks later, Minka falls very ill and Lizzie sets about finding out what happened and desperately tries to save her sister's life.

A story of courage and love, as well as a good reminder to tell those close to you how much you love them. For me this story had the perfect amount of spookiness and was beautifully written. I loved following Lizzie as she faced her fears and anxieties to save her sister.

This book was super fascinating and the kind of story I liked to listen to when I was in elementary school. I love the idea of sisterhood. It really made me think of my own connection with my sister and how far I’d go for her. It’s also cool to see a neurodivergent character like Lizzie. This story managed to be creepy, whimsical, and like an old fairy tale in all the right ways. I absolutely loved it.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced digital copy of this book! I thought this was a great story about the relationship between sisters. The elements of the story were a little dark and spooky, but it was perfect! Definitely a great read for middle school age children. I would have a copy of this book for my classroom.

It’s a very quick read, as one might expect from a story based on a poem. The Polish setting gives it a bit of newness and some unfamiliar vocabulary to enjoy, but for the addition of Jakob’s character and Lizzie’s synesthesia, the story follows the Rossetti poem fairly closely (Lizzie and Minka are sisters but they’re very different: Minka delights in the bustle and clamor of the market and Lizzie prefers to seek solitude and solace in the woods; one day Minka accepts a tempting treat from a handsome young man and things go downhill from there), and readers who are unfamiliar with the poem will probably see elements of Frozen.

I don’t know that I would bother to purchase this book for myself or someone else, but it would make a good addition to a public library.

This is a very basic retelling of The Goblin Market. There's not much depth or development.

I'd recommend this for middle grade readers

Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy of Goblin Market by Diane Zahler in exchange for an honest review. I know that this book is targeted more towards kids and I originally requested it to read to my niece and nephew, but I got really into it. It was a good fairy tale with likable characters and a fun storyline. I'm really looking forward to reading it to my niece and nephew and think they will like it as much as I did.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Diane Zahler for providing me with a digital ARC for Goblin Market.

When I was a child, I had a friend who was Polish. Ever since then, I’ve been interested in learning more about Poland and the culture. I read this book was inspired by Polish folklore, so I knew it’d be fascinating to me.

Lizzie and Minka are sisters who have little in common. Minka is the cheerful, bubbly personality. Lizzie is introverted and prefers to be at home. She has a hard time being brave like Minka. They have to go to the market to sell their goods for their family.

Minka meets a boy named Emil in the market. He charms her into trying his fruit. When Lizzie meets him, she gets a bad feeling about him.
Minka comes down with a mysterious illness.

The writing is so beautiful and magical. I would’ve loved a book like this when I was middle school age!

Lizzie learns about zsuszes, which are goblins in English. I always think of goblins as ugly, little creatures. It was interesting Emil was a goblin disguised as a beautiful boy. Lizzie and Jakob go into the forest to save Minka. I loved that Lizzie chose to be brave when it counted.

Overall, I really loved the story! I loved the horror and fantasy aspects of this book. It was just the right amount of creepy and sweet. I loved that it was about sisterly love and discovering strengths and talents. Lizzie came out of her shell because she knew her sister needed her help. She realized she had the taken to read people’s colors. Her intuition told her Emil was bad. I think it’s a good message for young girls to listen to their instincts when they feel they’re in a bad situation.

I love that there are so many diverse stories from around the world and from different cultures.

I would recommend this story to anyone interested in horror, fantasy and a morals stories.

This was sweet and creepy and haunting. On par with The Thief of Always by Clive Barker. I'd read this to my kids.

This was a lovely middle grade book which was just the right level of spooky! What I loved most about it was the relationship between the two sisters Minka and Lizzie who stuck together, fought for each other, and learned to express their love for each other in ways that suited them. I was also really impressed by the representation of neuro-divergent Lizzie who sees sounds in colours, has trouble expressing her emotions, and does not enjoy social events or prolonged physical contact. It was heart-warming to see her accepted by herself and by her loved ones.

This is an entertaining story of adventure, bravery, and love with elements of traditional fairy-tales, dark magic, and relatable characters.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC, and this does not influence my review. This was a quick and fun read, but it was mostly for middle-grade people (which I didn’t like). There was only one FMC POV, which I like. I also love the goblins trope

First of all I love this cover, it depicts the spooky vibes of this story perfectly. I loved the whole dark atmosphere and the small town setting. I thought it was cool how the main character Lizzie has synesthesia and all of the color descriptions. She also has trouble being around people and has to face her fears when her sister gets taken by a goblin. This definitely has some creepy elements but also a nice message about love and family. Thanks to Holiday House and NetGalley for the ARC.

I enjoyed this quick read. It was dark and spooky but I decided to read it on my own rather than with the children and think perhaps that was the best thing to do. Although this is classed as middle grade I would read it to a slightly older age group. Overall a good speedy read.

Love the colours on the cover of this children's horror story.
Thank you Holiday House and NetGalley for the digital review copy.

Goblin Market was a wonderful, whimsical read with elements of horror... When her sister is charmed by a goblin, unconventional narrator Lizzie will do anything to save her.

I was drawn to this book because it was described as a dark and creepy middle grade novel, and that sounded like a fun, unique concept. The book was even better than I could have expected! Lizzie wasn't like other middle grade narrators, she possessed traits that could be described as neurodivergent that made her more diverse and more interesting than your average middle grade hero. Lizzie's colorful view of the world and the deeply atmospheric setting made this a wonderful novel! Thank you Holiday House for making this book available to read via NetGalley!

I loved this book!
It was so cute and whimisical.

The writing style was so cute.

Yes the goblins and the end section was a little creepy. Middle schoolers would be a bit freaked out but that’s okay. As an adult, I still enjoyed it a lot which is awesome that any age range can enjoy the story.

It reads like a fairytale and it was atmospheric. The details in this books were incredible. The fruit sounded delicious, the forest was creepy, and the market was loud.

The idea of Lizzie having synthesia was so cool and imaginative. I wonder why the author decided to do that. It added to the story nicely.

Overall I would purchase this book for a friend or even myself.
Also, despite the other reviewers not enjoying the cover, I personally love it.

I will say, there were a few formatting errors on the e-arc. I am assuming those will be fixed by the time the story comes out.

A girl who's on the spectrum and has synesthesia battles through an overstimulating world to save her sister. This was a decent short story, and some of the descriptions were unique. However, due to its length, I did think there were some moments that felt rushed and could have benefitted from having some breathing time.

It was worth the read (about an hour), if only just for the confrontation in the forest. Parts did feel a little overdone-- sisterly love, stolen by the fae, appearances are deceiving; but I did like that it didn't end in a clear romantic entanglement, and that the children decide to explain what actually happened to the adults to try and spare others from falling into the same traps.

First sentence: Market day was Lizzie's favorite day of the week. Not because she loved going to the market--the few times she'd been there, she'd hated it. There were so many people she didn't know, from villages and farms clear on the other side of Elza. So much noise, such constant comings and goings, so many smells and colors! It was overwhelming, terrifying.

First Impressions: I requested Goblin Market by Diane Zahler because I love, love, love, crazy love the original poem Goblin Market. This one is described as "one sister must save the other from the goblin prince in this rich, spooky, and delightfully dark fantasy!" The cover, well, the cover doesn't scream out read me, read me--but everything else about this one said it would be a good choice for me.

Premise/plot: Lizzie and Minka are sisters. Minka, Lizzie's younger sister, is the one who goes weekly to market. But one market day, well, Minka meets someone different--a young man named Emil who sells fruit in the market. And their lives--the whole family--are changed forever. For once Minka has had a taste of that fruit, well, there's no going back to the way things were before...

It may be up to Lizzie to solve the mystery of her sister's grave illness. (The cost couldn't be higher--if Lizzie fails to find a cure in time, her sister will undoubtedly die. She wouldn't be the first to do so.) But she won't have to do it all alone. Lizzie teams up with a neighboring farm boy, Jakob, and together they will brainstorm a solution.

My thoughts: It was definitely a fantasy with horror elements. The goblins--or zduszes--are certainly spooky and scary. The action is intense. It kept me turning pages. I can certainly see elements from the original that were retained in this retelling.

My favorite character was Lizzie. I adored her. I admired her. My favorite quote describes Lizzie, "You're a plucky girl, I've always known. It's far braver to overcome a fear than not to feel fear at all."

It also reminded me of The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier one of my all time favorite, favorite, favorite books.

Quotes:

Her worries marched around in her head, a tiny army of waspy thoughts, stinging her awake every time her eyes began to close.

What he promised--it sounded like...freedom. To do what I wanted to do. To be who I wanted to be. He knew I wanted more than I had. He saw that right away....I would have married him...

So there was a bunch of typos in this book before every chapter there was the letter G in between I am not sure what that was about. But the book was pretty good, a girl and her sister and her sister minka falls in love with a boy named Emil who was disguised as a human she didnt know at first but he is actually a goblin. He was selling fruit at the market and gave her one she ate it and eventually got sick. Her hair would fall out and she had a fever. I feel like the writing was a little juvenile to what I normally read but it was pretty good overall. Her sister Lizzie started to go to the market and also eventually saw Emil and had a bad taste in her mouth knowing that he wasn’t genuine but she had a bad feelings bout him, so her and her friend Jacob would do a investigation and they would find out that Emil is actually a goblin from what the towns people would say and this happened in the past to other girls from a folklore legend called a zdusde which are goblin people who would lure little girls with a play pet or older girls with their true love by giving them a fruit and they eventually would get sick. This had a good ending as the book kept going and I couldn’t put it down.

This is a book that manages to be both charming and creepy. Just scary enough to interest a middle-schooler but not enough to keep anybody awake at night. Most importantly, it shows how the power of a loving family can help kids keep from making terrible mistakes.

It is loosely based on Christina Rosetti's poem, Goblin Market, but different enough that reading it will be a new experience even if you're read Rosetti's work.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review an e-ARC of Goblin Market.