“Goblin Mode Guide to Life” by Editors of Chartwell Books is a self-help lifestyle guide to living like a “goblin”. What is it to be a goblin in today’s society? Some may say it’s being a “slob”, but is it really? This book helps with the cozy lifestyle of the goblin living but without being out of control and dirty. There are places to write and reflect on self-introspection and what is actually important in your life. There are help worksheets on cleaning tasks you choose to prioritize on those hard days. The sections include home, hospitality, self-care, clothing style, work, and relationships.

I loved the cottage core witchy vibes and the nature imagery, especially the mushrooms. It reminds me a lot of “slow living lifestyle”. I liked the cute ideas and tutorials on things like “How to make an easy terrarium”. This book made me question the way we think our lives should look like and how perfectionism can be toxic to our relationships and ourselves. I’m definitely going to be implementing as much as I can in my life and see if I notice an improvement in mental health and my families happiness. I give it a 5 out of 5 stars.

A cute & funny little self-help manual about the "Goblin Mode" lifestyle, which I had heard of, but didn't really know what it meant. Enjoyable & interactive workbook. My thanks to Net Galley & the publishers for making me smile!

This was just a beautiful and delightful book.

To start with the graphics were beautiful. Each page emanated goblin. The pictures were cute and The colour scheme was inkeeping with the overall theme -goblin- and the quality of the artwork on each page was phenomenal.

My favourite part of the book was the goblin home and goblin fashion chapters. It had some great info graphics and was really informative.

I loved how the author didn't just tell us what goblin mode was but made us think about how it relates to us. Using activities to make us write down how we feel about a topic or how we can incoperate aspects into our everyday life was a great tool and really added to usefulness of the book.

Speaking of which, the whole book felt informative. Which is odd because the concept of Goblin mode is relatively new, how could someone be informative on something so new? Well they were. It was clear that the author knew what they were talking about. It didn't feel like it was regurgitated from the Internet and it had a really personal feel to it.

I would 100% buy this book, and I can't wait to put it on my coffee table amidst my goblin clutter.

I thought this was a fantastically whimsical way to spend my time. A workbook for adults that capture all of our chaotic lives and gave us cutesy illustrations to fill the void!

This was fun. I enjoyed the prompts. Goblin mood was a good little break from reading. A palette cleanser some may say

An odd little workbook for adults concerning what has become known as ‘Goblin Mode’, a term that was put into the Oxford English Dictionary in 2022 after a public vote, which became popular during the pandemic.

Being in goblin mode is typically thought as letting yourself go a bit - locking yourself in your home, letting your hygiene go, and prioritising yourself, until you feel ready to re-emerge. This book covers different areas in which you can apply the goblin mode way of thinking, and prompts you into thinking about what’s important to you in how you juggle the expected perfection level from societal pressure, and how you can maybe relax a little in some areas.

There are many pages to write down your thoughts and feelings about your relationship to yourself, your home, hospitality, self care, style, work, love. There’s even a few doodle pages.

I think the idea of having a book dedicated to this idea is good - the prompts were thought provoking, and I enjoyed the style sections, for both home and clothing.

However, there were quite a few typos, which hopefully will be fixed up for the final release of this book. I also found the art style to be inconsistent - on some pages you have beautiful cottage-core drawings of nature, and then there’s a very blocky looking goblin, or a grainy clip art-esq creature. There’s also ‘inspirational’ quotes dotted throughout the book, but they felt extremely random. For instance, there are about three Jane Austen quotes and then a random Ariana Grande one thrown in for good measure.

Overall, I think the concept is great, but the execution fell a little bit flat.

Thank you to the publishers, and Netgalley, for the copy to review.

I actually had so much fun reading this! I realized I already subscribe to the concept of Goblin Mode before even reading this book. I initially went into this book thinking it would be more silly and quirky, and some of it was, but a majority focused on accepting your imperfections and unapologetically being who you are.

The delivery of this message was in such a relatable way, covering different aspects of one's life, such as work, at-home life, and even romance. The workbook pages after the informational spreads really make you sit down and consider the 'why.' I also appreciated the artistic style and layout throughout the book, tying it back to an earthy goblin theme.

Overall it was a healthy and fun reminder to take time for yourself, to prioritize your comfort, and to take it easy sometimes.

I think that this book is well-intentioned, and makes a lot of good points about how unattainable expectations of society can be. However, a lot of the information here feels purely anecdotal in the authors experience, or attributed to some sourceless claim. This is maybe a little bit not picky, but basically calling anything that is woodland/cottagecore aesthetic a part of “goblin mode” felt weird to me. Some solid points, some misses, overall not bad!

I've very recently heard about Goblin Mode and I love how authentic the phrase is. I too find myself learning a lot from the Goblin Mode lifestyle throughout my read. The overall layout of the book reminds me a lot of shadow work or even regular journaling. The illustrations are stunning and hilarious. Very unique read, looking forward to finding this book at the bookstores near me!

Overall a fun, sometimes insightful book. The visuals were enjoyable and aesthetically pleasing and the tone of the book generally was light-hearted while still prompting some deeper thoughts — though by about halfway it felt a touch repetitive.

Goblin Mode Guide to life gives a somewhat humourous take on self-help/self-care. it is a fun workbook style guide.

A resounding "meh." This felt cobbled together with clipart and canva without too much thought. It's a cute journal to encourage self-reflection, but it offers almost no actual information about what to do with what you might find. The aesthetics shift dramatically; some pages are going for cottagecore while others have those weird little cartoon business people vector art. There is also some word art of "goblin mode" quotes, but these are suspect. They include two of the same Austen quote and one that is wrongly attributed to Austen.

I think my biggest gripe is that almost every page says something like "some say this." All this says to me is that they've taken other people's work and are choosing to not give it proper attribution.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

5.0 / 5.0 Think Marie Kondo for forest denizens...

This journal is a fun-filled, whimsical collection of prompts to help you unleash you inner Goblin Mode and de-stress. I had such a good time reading through the pages of full-color inspirations that really had me stopping to consider the way I manage some aspects of my life. The entire thing was a fun exercise in wisdom versus intelligence, and understanding what works best for each person.

I immediately went to find it on Amazon and get my copy ordered because I know this will be one that I consult over and over.

I think this would be a good gift (and look at that the holidays are right down the lane) for the introverted, dark academia-loving, trinket-crafting person in your life be that a separate individual or yourself.

Until Next Time,
MC

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a chance to review this book for my honest review.

I thought this was a cute way to reflect on society's unrealistic expectations. It has a lot of writing prompts that didn't interest me that much, but it's great if you like journaling! I realized while reading this that I'm not really a goblin, which is also okay. It gives you permission to not be perfect and reflect on how perfection can harm you.

Recommend if you want to do some self-reflection on perfection!

This book had brought many things about myself to my attention. It fun, unique way of perspective really made things fun and easy to read.

Goblin Mode Guide to life is the lazy, chaotic goodness I never knew I needed. There was so much in there that allowed me to breath knowing it wasn't seen as strange or weird (to other goblins, that is!). Deff recommend it.

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the earc for review.

Goblin Mode made me feel seen, it made me feel better about taking time to myself instead of immediately doing the dishes as I have a chronic fatigue condition. The exercises were a good opportunity to reflect on how I feel about goblin mode in different areas of my life. I also loved the entire asthetic of the workbook so I have learned I am a lover of goblincore!! I would definitely recommend this book for my friends that overthink how their house looks when people come over or need to take time to be a goblin in work.

Hail and well met, fellow Goblins! I hope you give this guide/workbook a read, because I found it just as cozy and delightful as a fresh cup of tea. I’ve enjoyed the Goblin lifestyle for quite some time, but just like many of you, quarantine made it that much more essential to my mental well-being. This book reminded me that hustle culture and the “more is more” mindset just isn’t for me, and that’s ok. That’s human. So when you’re in the need for a quiet moment to catch your breath, check this book out!

Goblin Mode Guide to Life is the perfect journal/book for reflecting on the busyness of day to day life. Goblin-mode is not stepping into The Lord of the Rings, but being reflective about how you spend you time, how you take care of yourself, and lowering your perfectionism tendencies. All of these sections spoke to me. The pages are fun and easy to use. Loved this!

This was a super cute and fun book. I love fill-in books that make you think or feel better. I Loved the Art. Beautiful. My only complaint is I feel like they had a bunch of filler doodle pages.