I enjoyed this book but it wasn't what I was expecting. My enjoyment of this book was purely a situation of "it was me, not you" situation because I can definitely see this book having an appeal to those who love light hearted fantasy that doesn't clobber you with romance.

Most people have no idea goblins live in the woods around the small town of Bellwater, Washington. But some are about to find out.

Skye, a young barista and artist, falls victim to a goblin curse in the forest one winter night, rendering her depressed and silenced, unable to speak of what happened. Her older sister, Livy, is at wit’s end trying to understand what’s wrong with her. Local mechanic Kit would know, but he doesn’t talk of such things: he’s the human liaison for the goblin tribe, a job he keeps secret and never wanted, thrust on him by an ancient family contract.

Unaware of what’s happened to Skye, Kit starts dating Livy, trying to keep it casual to protect her from the attention of the goblins. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Kit, Skye draws his cousin Grady into the spell through an enchanted kiss in the woods, dooming Grady and Skye both to become goblins and disappear from humankind forever.

It’s a midwinter night’s enchantment as Livy, the only one untainted by a spell, sets out to save them on a dangerous magical path of her own. -Goodreads

This story was inspired by Christina Rossetti poem, Goblin Market (which is listed below the review.) Before reading this, you need to know that this is a new adult book. This means that there is sexual content not suggested sexual content but full blown sexual content with characters under the age of 25.

I was immediately sucked into this book. The story of goblins is something I don't touch too much. Its not as if   don't like their story, I guess it isn't as popular within the channels I run through to look for new books but its something I am going to look into. 

Anyway... as I said I was sucked into this book but the intensity I had reading into the beginning died. . . slowly but it died. It wasn't as if the story was not interesting. It was but the author took a little bit too much time of having the characters run around the issue. I felt that the resolution was too easy found and there wasn't enough fight or intensity leading up to the conclusion as there was with the sex scenes. 

I also didn't think there was a enough mythology in the book. I wanted something deeper in the overall story. I wanted more history and color overall in the story. I felt that the focus was too much on the relationships and not on the goblins their story, their end game or anything such as that. The story was fairly straight-forward and I'm not a fan of that. 

Despite the story hitting a slow patch, despite the lack of mythology and color, it provide a quick read and it introduced me to a new author.

2.5 Pickles (for a good foundation)

Modern fairytales seem to be a rising trend and some good stories are coming out of it. This one read much like a traditional fairytale as far as language and sentence structure goes, but it had some original elements like goblins using iPhones and other modern devices. I was finding it rather charming until near the end of the first chapter an F-bomb spoiled it for me.

I'm not a prude or easily shocked, but I had been thinking this would be a lovely story for adults and children alike up to that point and it served no purpose to the story except maybe to add some shock value. Was it worth making it unsuitable for children? I didn't think so until I saw the direction the plot would take.

The story continues in an enchanting style for a while, drawing the reader into the human interactions with the goblins. It takes a sinister turn just as the f-bombing starts again and then a set up for an apparent romance angle.

The significance of the human characters to the goblins all clicks into place by 20% and I started enjoying the original premise, despite the teenage-like relationships. It comes out that the characters are actually in their twenties and becomes decidedly sexual by about a third in, so any thoughts of sharing with children are out the window. I'll give it credit for stopping at 'sensual' rather than turning into graphic erotica, which I hadn't signed on for.

By this time the story has become about the humans and the goblins are left behind. They appear again periodically, but the fairytale atmosphere gives way to a Romance story. Readers of that genre may enjoy this more than I did. It went in a different direction than I expected and my interest waned accordingly.

The writing itself is good so I can't fault it, it just wasn't for me.

“Everyone knew you shouldn’t go biting into fruit offered to you by magical creatures in the woods, even if you’d thought until just five minutes ago that such stories were, you know, only stories.”

This story is a take on the Goblin Market, which is a poem by Christina Rossetti.

I was initially really excited for The Goblins of Bellwater, but found the story rather dull until the last half of the book.

It focuses on four adults, two sisters and two cousins, who are all linked to the goblins in their own way. Things happen and then they split into couples, which was fine at first. There is a heavy focus on romance in the story, but I didn't care for Grady and Skye's romance because it was insta-lust/love at its finest. Yes, they were under a spell, but I think it could have been written better. Liv and Kit's romance was more tolerable, but it wasn't amazing. Props to Ringle for writing about casual sexual relationships in a positive way. Considering this is supposed to be a NA book, I was expecting more steaminess from the sex scenes but they were actually pretty boring and tame.

The goblins and magic were my favorite parts of the story, I just wish they had been present more in the story. When they did appear, they were evil and maniacal just like one would expect goblins to be. This is definitely a darker version of a goblin story.

I didn't really care for any of the characters except for Liv and Skye, mostly Liv though. Her love of the Earth and her sister made her a really interesting character, especially towards the end when she had to go through some major trials.

I really wish that I loved this book, but the romance and slow first half dulled the enjoyment for me. With some cleaning up and fleshing out the story more, I think it could be really good.

Full transparency: I did not finish this book. I DNFed it around 73% but since I read the majority of the book, I did rate it.

Honestly, what killed this book for me was the insta-lust between Skye and Grady. Skye is under a goblin spell but to everyone else, it looks like she is having a mental breakdown and has gone almost completely silent. Instead of trying to help this girl, Grady spends most of his time trying to get in her pants which feels a lot like taking advantage of a situation. Even though Sky has chosen him “as her mate”, it bothers me to think about this character trying to start a relationship with someone who needs help, who had gone almost completely mute, and has suffered some form of trauma. Kit and Livy weren’t much better. Just the way the characters are described was a little weird to me. There was a lot of focus on how many women the male characters had been with and how thin and desirable the female characters were. Not for me.

I received an advance copy of this via Netgalley and Central Avenue Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

I gotta be honest, I was looking forward to this one but it fell flat for me. I wasn't expecting a Wintersong esque clone but this just left me feeling dull.

Most of the book was focused on romance which is well and good and I thought Livy and Kit's relationship was fine but I wasn't here for Skye and Grady's seemingly easy insta-love plot. I just wish this was more fleshed out. It seemed lacking at points, for a book about goblins they didn't seem to be present much. But when they were I would have liked to have read some expansion.

This has a strong start. I really liked it from the beginning but it starts to sizzle out after about half way through. I really had high expectations for this. The cover is awesome. The basics of the story are great, it just fizzled.

I was grabbed because the description namechecked the poetry of Christina Rosetti, and the chance to explore this story more in-depth was irresistible. I was not expecting the book to have quite so much swooooon, but it was a pleasant surprise, still there was a definite disconnect between the fairy tale and the romance. I'd definitely recommend this for older fans of Holly Black or Rosamund Hodge.

I really wanted to like this book. The summary, the cover... my expectations were high. But from the start, I didn't like any of the human characters at all. Especially once I got to the middle and the relationships started.
The setting was beautiful and the goblin aspect was interesting. I wanted to know everything about Kit's family and the deal with the goblins. But, I didn't like Kit. Or Livy. Or Skye. Or Grady. And Skye/Grady really made me uncomfortable. The characters felt flat - especially Livy and Grady. Skye had some interesting moments, especially in the beginning with the descriptions of her struggling with the Goblin curse.
So, with that said and lovely writing aside, I had to put this away and not finish it.

I loved the Pacific Northwest setting! It was beautiful and eerie and everything I want in a book with goblins and fae.
I really enjoyed the plot and the setup. A man tied to his family's curse with goblins, enslaved to serve for eternity to these evil gremlin-like creatures. Sisters who grew up in the area believing in the monsters unseen in the forest. One sister insnared and the other left to save her.
The plot, tension, and setting really created a magical story. The one thing that took away from it was the relationship with the older sister and the guy tied to his families curse. I feel like it took away from the younger sisters plight and spell she is under.

I've loved Rossetti's poem since I first read it in high school and was interested to see what Molly Ringle would do with it as an inspiration. Overall I really liked the book. The allusions to the poem are very slight, but the bond between two sisters that is the backbone of the poem is there and it works. I would have liked to know more about the goblins, although I liked that Flowerwatch and Redring's stories were wrapped up in the end. There's plenty of romance, which isn't really my thing, but to me this is really more of a good urban fantasy that reminded me a bit of Raymond Feist's underrated Faerie Tale.

I received a copy through Netgalley.

In the Goblin's of Bellwater, sister's Skye and Livy live in Bellwater Washington, Skye is an artist, a budding graphic designer, working in a local coffee shop, her sister Livy works for the Forest Service. As young girls they'd always imagined their local woods contained more than just what you can see with their eyes. The Teenie Tinies they called them as children, and a few fractured memories of smelling wafts of sugar cookies, or coffee while walking through the forests around them. But that couldn't be real right?

Kit Sylvain, knows the dangers of the forest first hand, his own family wrapped into a thousand year curse. Doomed to bring the tribe of Goblins, tributes of gold every month. Or they would begin flexing their powers and messing with the human community. Gold in exchange for the safety of other's.
But this month Kit comes up short. Disdaining himself for the thievery he must commit, his payment comes up one day late.
And the Goblins begin to flex their muscles once again...
And Livy's sister Skye finds herself the newest victim of their curse.

Molly Ringle's Goblins of Bellwater gives you a classic feel of a dark fae curse. And that nothing is ever what it seems, above all listen to the terms of the deal, and never ever go off the path, no matter how tempting it may seem and always respect the elements of nature.
I throughly enjoyed this one! 3.5 stars.

I was really intrigued by this story, as I'm a huge fan of magical realism and fae stories. I also had never heard of the poem it was based off of, and when I looked it up, I was only more interested in learning what this book had to offer. I will say upfront that I am not a fan of NA books and actively try to avoid them. I find that the relationships can be shallow and focused primarily on meaningless sex, and that's just not what I look for in a book. However, I tried to be as objective as possible while reading this, and I ultimately walk away from it finding it a very solid, unique read which I fear will become forgettable.

Ringle established a palpable atmosphere rife with stunning imagery. I could very easily paint the picture of the tiny town, the nasty goblins, and the sullen characters. I'm a huge fan of books set in the Pacific Northwest, which is what originally drew me in. And I was not disappointed settings wise! The book unfortunately became very dialogue heavy during the middle of the story. When it broke away from that in the end, and the chase was on to save the characters from the goblins, the story came to life again. I just wish it had been able to keep the trajectory it established in the beginning throughout the story.

In terms of characters and relationships, this book fell into the trap that always makes me wary of NA books. The relationships established were very shallow, although Kit and Livy's relationship especially grew on me. However, I didn't like Skye and Grady's. It made sense that they had this very feral lust for each other as a result of a spell, but post-enchantment, it felt like things moved way too fast and they barely knew a thing about each other. They thought great sex would translate into a great relationship, and it's totally unrealistic that that was the outcome. No one in their position would walk away from such a trauma and immediately want to still be together. Healing takes time, and in this case, I expected a fair amount of isolation.

Once again, the tone and the imagery in this novel was incredible. I always wish that novels were more atmospheric, and this definitely met my expectations. It was a very fast paced read, and shorter than I expected, but not necessarily anticipatory. Which I find a good thing! The speed was amped up at the end just when it needed to be. I do wish there had been more development for the local fae, and fae history in general. Not just in relation to Kit and his ancestors, but to how these goblins came to be at all.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was unique in plot and conception, and I think New Adult readers will be all over this come publication. It may not have been my perfect cup of tea, but I certainly enjoyed the story I was given.

A try and fail though I will go and read "Goblin Market" where the seed for the book germinated. It was too bloated with setting and details that didn't pull me in. Atmosphere was trying to be created and layered, but it fell flat to me.

When twenty-something, Skye, falls into a near catatonic depression, her older sister, Livy, is at a loss to what could have happened to her. The answer? Goblins. Yup, they exist. And they exist in Bellwater, Washington. After this period of transition, Skye is destined to leave life as she knows it and join the goblins in the forest. Also entangled in the supernatural drama are cousins Kit and Grady—whose family has served as liaisons to the goblin tribe throughout history.

I've been on a kick with fairytale / folktale / mythology retellings this year and I really enjoyed The Goblins of Bellwater, which is a reinterpretation of the poem, "Goblin Market," by Christina Rossetti. "Goblins" captured my interest right away and was a fairly quick read due to its "un-put-downable-ness" <-- Totally just made up that word...

And if it helps sway you, the cover is GORGE.

Just a note: For me, this book walked the line between young adult and new adult. The themes are relatively dark and the sex scenes are more graphic than typical YA novels (but definitely not what you'd find in true blue adult novels).

Thank you Central Avenue Publishing and NetGalley for my ARC.

Goblins of Bellwater by Molly Ringle
How could I resist a book inspired by one of my all-time favorite pieces of writing, Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market? Molly Ringle’s reimagined Market takes place in the forests of present day Washington State, where we are introduced to Kit Sylvain, a young man bound by a family curse to take care of a tribe of goblins. By “take care of” I mean provide them with gold or whatever else they want to prevent them from messing around with the nearby humans. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, since goblins are wily, deceitful creatures.

While Kit is tending to the goblins, sisters Skye and Livy Darwen have grown up in the small town of Bellwater, and spend hours exploring the forest, where they imagine “teeny-tinies” call to them. One day, Skye follows a path that wasn’t there before, drawn by the call of the “teeny-tinies,” which turn out to be goblins who ensnare her into their world. Kit, Livy, and Grady (Kit’s cousin who is unwittingly drawn into Skye’s drama) eventually come to understand that Skye has been cursed and join forces to keep her from becoming a goblin.

The story is fresh and engaging, and the characters well-written. Ringle skillfully develops four likable characters and weaves their stories together to an exciting, nerve-jangling ending. The story moves along at a rapid pace, with the current dilemma of Skye’s curse being nicely woven into the older story of how the goblins became attached to Kit’s family. I especially liked the fact that all four of our heroes were essentially saved by the first goblin “victim” who was snared so long ago. There’s an extraordinary amount of sex here, more than I expected, but it fits with the darker side of fairytales that few dare to tell, and creates a sizzling romantic side to an otherwise folklore/fantasy-heavy story.

I give Ringle props for taking an old story and hanging new skin on it. This will appeal to fantasy fans, for sure and would make an awesome graphic novel. Highly recommended.

The Goblins of Bellwater had a lot of potential and I feel it didn't live up to it. It had an intriguing premise and was set in a gorgeous location but fell short. The author's voice wasn't compelling and Livy and Grady felt like flat characters with Kit and Skye only slightly more rounded. I felt that they didn't have distinct personalities, but instead character outlines. The goblins--the most interesting element--made very few cameos and I didn't feel that meeting them helped the reader understand much. The story lagged in the middle and the ending felt rushed. In my opinion, The Goblins of Bellwater has a good foundation but needs another round of editing to smooth out some edges and round out the protagonists.

After seeing the gorgeous cover and reading the blurb, I knew I had to get my hands on this one.

Thanks to an ancient family agreement, Kit is bound to keep relations with the goblins for his entire life--a secret he doesn't exactly share with anyone. When a late gold delivery on his part ends up with an innocent young woman, Skye, being cursed, things get difficult. Especially when she ends up dragging his younger brother into the curse. Luckily, Livy, Skye's older sister, knows something is off and wants to help, but she's not sure what's even wrong, since Skye isn't allowed to explain anything. Somehow, Kit is going to have to accidentally stumble onto the real problem at heart. Too bad, time is running out.

First off, kudos to the cover designer! This one is so original and brings across the perfect atmosphere before the first page is read. Unfortunately, this was also by far my most favorite part of the book.

This is a retelling of Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti, and in many ways, does a great job at holding up to to it. The scene surrounding the goblins and their undertakings is beautiful and slightly haunting at the same time. Set in the mountains, the nature seeps off the page, bringing forest odors, sights and sounds to life. The situation that Kit finds himself in immediately draws in and demands sympathy, while the goblins come across as dangerous yet curiously interesting at the same time. None of this is fast moving, but slowly draws into the circumstances and characters, allowing the chance for the entire thing to gain depth.

But it was not for me.

Although the start is intriguing and lures in, as soon as Skye is hit with the curse, the creepy goblin side all but comes to a stand still until it suddenly picks up again toward the end. Skye is caught in a difficult spot; she's unable to express herself and is being drawn deeper and deeper into the curse. Her thoughts and feelings pull in, but the goblins themselves are left to the side--and just then when I really wanted to see more of them. Instead, an odd romance starts between Skye and Kit's brother as she accidently-ish draws him into her curse. The two are drawn to each other, but since this attraction is also influenced by the curse, it's hard for the real sparks to gain ground. And that despite all the 'tense' and 'nearing' scenes. This was also the main chunk of the book, which drown the creepy delight that the goblins could have played. As said, it just wasn't my thing even though the world and writing itself are actually interesting and, in many spots, very well done.

A couple saving graces were the flip-flop on girl/guy ages. The guys were younger than the girls, something not often seen. Also, the wonderful sisterly love Livy gives at the end to swing the curse around hits the heart full thrust and makes her, possibly, the best sister ever.

Although I can't give it a complete thumbs up, I realize that others do love this book and have to admit that it does have a lot of merit. Just not the kind I prefer to read.

3.75 Stars rounded up
This started off rough for me, initially a lot of the writing felt rather amateur, with some info dumps that felt like a stats rundown instead of getting to know a character, but over the course of the book the writing did become more "show" and less "tell".

I was also initially worried that I would like the version of fae in this story. I understand you're not meant to like the goblins, but I was worried I wouldn't be able to keep wanting to learn more about them. However, as more their origin story was presented, as well as some of the family history, the world-building grew deeper and richer.

Out of the four main characters Livy got the most time for character development, making her the character who felt the most real to me. I also liked that too often after the climax of the story everything gets buttoned up in 5 pages like it doesn't matter what happens to each of the characters in the days and weeks after a life-changing event. If you care about the characters at all you want some of the "after".

Since first impressions are everything—and don’t you dare tell me not to judge a book by it’s cover because we all do it—this. Cover. Is. Gorgeous. I mean, look at it! Definitely what drove me to request it, at least. I went to take a peek at Ringle’s other books, and I have to say I had a suspicion this was her first properly published novel. It’s a terrible thing to say, especially since she has several other completed works published through different houses and formats that are no doubt fantastic. But, this was the only one with a clean, striking and professional looking cover, and I reiterate … it’s beautiful.

Paranormal isn’t something I usually read. I thought I did, but honestly, I think the last thing I read that had werewolves, vampires or faeries in it was a Cassandra Clare novel, which was a delight. Sarah J Maas’ A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES doesn’t count because that is a fantasy masterpiece, faeries or not!

This was something quite different however. As Ringle says on her Twitter, it’s a paranormal romance where the love interest isn’t a supernatural creature. Any and all romance is found between the four main characters, all human from page one. Do not go into this expecting to read about some hottie goblin who is tired of immortality … because you ain’t getting that. They’re mean, ugly, and downright tricky, as goblins should be!

More into the specifics, this novel has four main characters and bounces around equally between each of their POVs. It was easy to follow, as Ringle keeps the start of each shift clear and transparent. However, what wrecked it for me was there was quite a bit of repetition in their thoughts and feelings. Sky thinks something one chapter, Livy voices it herself the next, then Kit wonders about the same thing in the chapter after. It got to be a bit much after a while. Like, I get it … they’re worried.


This is going to sound odd, but for a novel where almost nothing happens, I couldn’t put it down. I read a few chapters a day for a few days, then finished the last half of the book within twenty-four hours. Events unfold rather slowly, the character development, if you will, unfolding as a slow burn. The steady pacing carries throughout the novel until the last quarter or so, when the final event begins and things happen rapid-fire.

I will admit, it lost me a bit towards the end. Loathe to give away any spoilers, I will mention there is a section that involves a character having to battle through the four elements. This played out into an entire chapter of this character slogging through the bottom of the Puget Sound and pointing out everything she saw. It got old fast. And there were four chapters like that.

Overall, I quite enjoyed this. The story itself is highly unique. Ringle’s writing is solid and flows well. Her descriptions are fairly easy to picture. The relationships between characters was sweet and heartfelt, both romantic and familial. And I have to give mad props to any writer who uses the West Coast as a setting. The Cascadia region is home to me and I love seeing the geography I see everyday brought to a bigger audience.