I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review. "White Stag" introduces us to Janneke, a seventeen year old girl who is the youngest child in a family of all girls. She is raised to be the family's "male heir" and is raised as a tomboy who is taught to hunt and fight. When her village is invaded and burned down she is the only survivor. Taken captive by goblins, she must learn to live among them while struggling trying to keep hold of her humanity.

Pulled into a goblin war, Janneke must face beliefs she was taught as a child and try to fit them into her current reality. Are goblins merely monsters? Are they similar to humans? Can they feel emotions? Can they love? Can she love them? Can she love him?

While much of "White Stag" is predictable and follows the typical formula for YA books it is still entertaining and worth reading. There are a few surprises revealed along the way. Janneke is an interesting character who has to deal with growing up and falling in love with the enemy.

"White Stag" is the first novel in the Permafrost series by Kara Barbieri. No publication date is listed on Goodreads for the sequel, "Goblin King".

I received a free ARC from Netgalley.

This is a dark fantasy told from the viewpoint of the heroine. She hates herself yet wants to live; a lot of angst and a negative view of everyone around her was tiring. There is adventure and murder along to keep the plot moving.. A comic relief comes along late in the story but felt too lighthearted for the story.

While I was interested in how the story turned out and intrigued by the ending, this isn't a story that I want to read again anytime soon.

White Stag by Kara Barbieri
Actual rating 3 stars

White Stag was an interesting read. The book seemed to have elements of Beauty and the Beast but it defiantly was its own thing. I found the characters to be interesting and unique. With all that being said I had a couple of issues with the novel.

The plot of this novel was interesting. I have never read a book with quite the same premise as this book. The backgrounds of each character influenced the story and made for an interesting read. I especially enjoyed Janneke's story and history. I really think that her history added dimension to this novel. As for the overall plot it was interesting. The idea that goblins kill each other for power and fight amongst themselves in order to achieve supreme dominance. I am not sure that this book is for younger children and teens because of its content and its betrayal of some pretty heavy topics.

The characters in this book were fascinating. To be honest every single character was interesting in their own right. Kara Barbieri did a fantastic job of creating tortured and haunted characters. There is nothing I would change when it comes to the characters in her book.

My issues with the book were as follows. I found that all throughout the novel I wanted to know more about Janneke's and Soren's relationship during her earlier years of captivity. I also wanted to understand more about the transformation that certain humans go through when they begin morphing into one of the "monsters." My final issue was the presence of all the angst and longing. I know that this was intentional but I personally didn't like it.

Overall I enjoyed this novel. I would definitely recommend it to all of my friends. Like I said earlier I would not recommend this for younger children simply do to the content of the book.

Great book that has a unique plot and keeps your attention until the end. The characters are well written and make you feel for them.

3.5 Stars. I struggled to keep my attention on the plot. I thought about it for awhile and determined this was because the dialogue between characters never found a natural rhythm. It felt wooden, disjointed, and strange.

I did really like the book’s concept, and I enjoyed the Goblin King character. Also, the cover on this book is lovely to look at. I just wish the dialogue flowed a little more smoothly.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy of this ebook in exchange for an unbiased review.

Review posted to Goodreads on 10/2/18 (link below)

You guys, I am so torn about this book! I finished it last night and decided to wait another day before writing my review... There was so much I LOVED about this book but there were also quite a few things that I thought needed some work.

White Stag opens in a palace in the Permafrost, where the Erlking is seated on his throne next to a white stag, surrounded by Goblins paying respects to their king. A fight between two powerful Goblins erupts and during the battle the palace floor splits open. The Erlking falls through to his death and the white stag bounds away into the forest. The Hunt has begun: the Goblin who kills the white stag will become the next Erlking.

Our heroine is Jenneke, a human who has been living among the Goblins for one hundred years as a servant/slave ("thrall") after being captured during a Goblin raid on her village. In this world, based on Norse mythology, Goblins and other powerful mythical creatures live in the Permafrost, a frozen wasteland beyond the human villages. She is still mortal, but living in the magical Permafrost has blessed her with longevity, so even though Jenneke is over one hundred years old, she still looks seventeen.

"From the beginning of time, humans had been stolen across the border of the Permafrost in raids along with many other types of plunder. Those brought across the border had the status of a thrall, expected to work and do the bidding of the lord that had stolen them."

Goblins could rip me apart so easily, torture me until my mind unraveled. Goblins stole humans for work the Permafrost wouldn't let them do themselves. So many of the things they had - their clothing, their agriculture, their buildings were because humans lived among the monsters doing the skills they couldn't. Humans created, goblins destroyed. It was known."

Jenneke's master is Soren, who treats her less like a slave and more like a friend. This powerful Goblin takes Jenneke on the Hunt with him. It quickly becomes apparent that Soren is one of the most powerful Goblins on the Hunt; his main competition is his uncle, Lydian, who was also Jenneke's first master, who raped and mutilated her.

"Of course something was wrong with me. I was sitting here next to the world's most deadly predator, hunting a sacred stag in the middle of the Permafrost, after one hundred years of servitude that should've left me dead. I was the epitome of wrongness."

Before setting out on the Hunt, Soren reveals to Jenneke that she is slowly becoming less human and more Goblin-like: she is transforming into a Goblin.

"Remember what they are. They aren't your friends or allies. They're cold-blooded killers who want to either turn you into one of their own or kill you. . . They're monsters, and I'm becoming one of them."

The Hunt for the white stag becomes a fantastic adventure: Goblins riding mountain lions like horses, dragons, a goddess with an entourage of wolves, and a creepy underwater creature surrounded by the dead bodies of his "loves." These exciting escapades were so much fun as individual scenes, but the story lacked something integral: world-building. Barbieri failed to construct a full-fledged imaginary world. Like, I get that the Goblins are all hunting the white stag, but why? Jenneke is turning into a Goblin... but why? We only get a few glimpses of the human world, so everything is from the Goblins' perspective, which creates a one-dimensional world instead of a well-rounded fictional universe. Barbieri did tell us that the Goblins kidnapped humans to build for them and whatnot, but we never actually see that happening. In fact, Jenneke acts like there aren't any other humans around, or that she's an anomaly. Why?! Barbieri inserts a few passages at the very end of the book trying to explain why the stag is so important etc., but it felt rushed, like she quickly wrote a few paragraphs to fix the world-building issue, and it just didn't work. The reader needs to know these things at the beginning, not in the final pages of the book.

There is also sexual tension from the beginning between Jenneke and Soren, which I just didn't buy. On one hand, they have known each other for a hundred years. On the other hand, they act like strangers. Which one is it, Barbieri?! Plus, Jenneke understandably hates Goblins: they killed her family and have enslaved her for a hundred years. Now, as she's transforming into one of them, she begins to hate them anymore. Soren is a Goblin, sure, but he isn't a hideous monster like the Goblins you're thinking of. He looks like a sexy twenty-something year-old man, with long white hair. Hot! He's Jenneke's master, but he also protects her from the other Goblins, and wants to help her with her "transition" from human to Goblin. Part of Jenneke's journey is to accept Soren for his Goblin-ness and to accept her own emerging Goblin-ness, but their relationship did not feel authentic.

"Be his. The thought scared me. The thought petrified me. But not int he way it should've. Not in the way a human should feel about having the love of an apex predator, a goblin, a cruel merciless monster. No, it scared me because for once I was walking out onto thin ice. But maybe he's worth the risk. 'Janneke,' he said softly, 'are you afraid?' 'No,' I said. 'Not of you.'"

To be fair, the author is twenty-two. She obviously has some fantastic ideas for stories, and I would be open to reading her other work. This book has a fantastic premise; it just needs world-building and character development. Hopefully the second book in the series is more satisfying!

Release date January 2019, available for pre-order now.

Enthralling and dark are the perfect words to describe this book I simply adored it. From the very first page the action happens, Kara Barbieri is not playing around she engulfed me right into the story at full charge ahead. Letting the reader know whats at stake and who's who right away. Janneke is an amazing and refreshing heroine who starts out like a wounded fawn and as she journey through her pass on this great expedition with the ever charming goblin lord Soren. Who is nothing but infatuated with Janneke and would do sacrifice anything for her happiness. As she grows from like being a baby fawn who stumbled into becoming her true self by accepting not only her flaws but freeing herself and embracing all the pain does she transform into a beautiful stag.

I really loved how Kara incorporated many Norse folklore and entwined different fairy-tales throughout the story to enrich Janneka's journey. The White Stag is filled with every element of a great storyteller full of darkness, romance, humor, and adventure the balance of each element was just right. This a book I truly embraced for everything that it is and isn't in a fairy-tale.

P.S. I love a good arc that sneaks up on you against the clock that is how I know its a page-turner I can't put down.

I wanted so badly to enjoy this book more. I think I struggled to connect to the two main characters and didn’t have enough interest in them prior to getting into the heart of the story.

I received this ARC as a courtesy from NetGalley & the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book left me with a lot of feelings. The largest of all, confusion.

First of all, the book opened with the ErlKing which is a story I simply adore. That was definitely a point in the favor of the book.

I did finish this book. I came very close to giving up, and I’m glad I did not. The overall story was interesting. You can definitely tell that the author is young. I am interested to follow her and watch her writing evolve. In the meantime, I will recommend this story to younger fantasy/YA novels.

Fantasy is my all time favorite genre. I love all of the old myths and legends. Seeing them tied into modern written stories is always fun. However, the races were confusing to me. Goblins are not unwell known creatures. We are all familiar with the idea of goblins, but never have I ever thought of goblins as attractive. The goblins in this story were basically what is familiar as the fae. Not exactly, but closer than goblins. It was difficult to wrap my mind around.

I enjoyed the various creatures that appear throughout the hunt. It was fun to meet creatures from the deep dark. There were a few things I thought could have been resolved or dove into a bit more, but since this is the first in a series, I don’t count that as a negative. I’m sure we will learn more.

The story was full of action and intrigue. I found it a bit exhausting, but I do think that it would appeal to younger readers. Lots of battles and tracking etc.

I know a lot of people find this appealing, so take what I’m about to say with a grain of salt. I HATE it when there is a heroine (this is a hardcore YA problem) who, through some twist of fate, ends up leaving behind a terrible life as a peasant and becoming wealthy, beautiful, powerful, etc. but spends loads of time whining about it and bemoaning her old simple life. You didn’t see Cinderella whining about missing being a servant! What is up with this trend? I dislike it. Janneke is a little whiny. I kind of wanted to slap her.

Janneke was brutally raped and ended up with one of her breasts removed as a result. The whole thing was a bit convoluted. It honestly read as if the author stuck that in there to give Janneke a reason to be whiny. It was not plot relevant, it didnt help the story. It honestly reads as if it was only stuck in there because of sexual assault being a hot button issue right now, and as a way to make a completely unsympathetic at least somewhat sympathetic. I did not love that story arch. Sexual assault in literature is difficult to pull off, and in this case, the mark was missed.

This review is disjointed and I apologize for that. My thoughts and feelings are disjointed as well, so I guess at least it matches? Sorry!

I loved this book! The full review will be posted soon at kaitgoodwin.com/books! Thank you very much for this wonderful opportunity to connect books to their readers!

I really enjoyed this book. It had a lot of original ideas and an unexpected ending. I would definitely recommend this book to those who enjoyed titles like Three Dark Crowns and Children of Blood and Bone.

White Stag, is an astounding piece of work. Carefully traipsing the time between conventional beauty versus the image of monstrosity, and encapsulating a young (physically) womens internal challenge of identity and revenge, Barbieri creates an increasingly interesting world, that leaves you wanting more.

With a non-predictable premise, and a final chapter that leaves you on the metaphorical precipice, this novel is at the very too of my recommendations.

Read this novel, not for the high-fantasy, but for the well-crafted, and eloquent construction of a new world, and the ‘coming-of-age’ of a strong, female, lead.

This story is what I call Young Adult Fantasy Romance. A young girl, Janneke, is kidnapped by a goblin after her village is destroyed by the goblin tribe. The first goblin tortures and sexually abuses Janneke, then gifts her to his nephew Soren. Janneke is bound to Soren for a hundred years. She learns cunning and skills to survive and thrive in the goblin kingdom. The story begins as the hundred years are coming to an end and Janneke faces the fact that she cannot return to her human world, but she is also not accepted by the goblins.. Soren takes Janneke on his quest to find the White Stag which will give him power to rule the goblin kingdom. The story is well written, but I did not like the romantic aspect of the story-line, and the constant internal debate that Janneke goes through deciding her future. There is also a lot of mystical-type writing that you have to decipher. This is a beautiful, dreamy book with mature themes, but not my favorite genre.

I found this story very intriguing. I felt there were bits that were really interesting and I loved the Norse myth references that were littered throughout. I also really enjoyed the banter between Janneke and Seppo, those were probably my favorite parts of the whole story, but I felt there was something missing. I think it was possibly because I felt like Soren as a character was a tad underdeveloped. At the start of the story, Janneke has been in the goblin world for almost a century, so I wish we could've gotten a bit more backstory into Soren's life and time with Janneke during that period, especially to make the relationship aspect more believable.

I would've also loved to delve more into the realm of Permafrost because you can tell just by the little glimpses that there's a wealth of other creatures besides the goblins that inhabit this brutal land, and I think it'd be super interesting to touch upon them. There were interesting dynamics woven throughout, such as the question what exactly makes a monster? As well as the struggle Janneke goes through as she feels herself changing into a goblin, yet desperately tries to cling to her humanity. Despite this being a fast-paced, action-packed fantasy, and having all the makings of a story I would absolutely love, nothing really resonated with me and I felt it was just okay.

This book was super duper amazing! I was hooked from the very first page (finished it in a day if that tells you anything). Great writing, strong heroine, and GOBLINS! Need I say more? Can't wait for the next book! I highly recommend this one!!

Wow, this was very interesting.Not quite what I was expecting, but it kept me entertained. Please do be aware that there is Trigger Warnings for : Tourture, rape and ptsd

White Stag felt unique. It felt completely different from any book I've read, and I absolutely loved it! From the first page, to the last, I was mesmerized. Sucked in to the Permafrost world and didn't want to leave. This book is a definite page turner and a must read for any fan of fantasy and sci-fi. I will be impatiently waiting for the next installment to come out.

I really enjoyed this. Yes sometimes the writing is a bit stilted and yes some of the subject matter veers on problematic. It does hit my personal bugbear of sexual assault as a backstory without enough care and thought as to how that affects the MC. This is often lay writing but I think here it's the sign of an inexperienced writer. The story was fun and engaging, told with real relish and I was willing to forgive much. I've seen people complaining about the goblins being good looking. I think this just displays their intense ignorance of how folklore varies from place to place. English goblins - from which much goblin mythos is taken - are traditionally ugly. Some of this is don to Rosetti's poem The Goblin Market where the goblins personify the male sexual appetite and they are described as hideous and brutish. Original goblin mythology comes from the Norse/ Germanic stories of the Dokkalfar (dark elves) and the Erlkonig (Elf King) who were held to be uncannily beautiful. (So before you through a hissy fit about how an author portrays something, do some fact checking! Incidently Trolls weren't always ugly either - look into the Huldre of Norwegian myth.) Anyway this was an enjoyable read even if it didn't hold a lot of surprises for the seasoned fantasy reader. My feeling it that the author has yet to hit her stride as a writer but that she'll be one to watch when she does.

"We're all monsters in some way. But the only ones who are dangerous are the ones who don't realize it."


As the last child in a family of daughters, seventeen-year-old Janneke was raised to be the male heir. On the day her village was burned to the ground, Janneke—as the only survivor—was taken captive by the malicious goblin Lydian and eventually sent to work for his nephew Soren.

When the Goblin King’s death ignites an ancient hunt for the next king, Soren senses an opportunity for her to finally fully accept the ways of the brutal Permafrost. After dangerous truths are revealed, Janneke must choose between holding on or letting go of her last connections to a world she no longer belongs to.

That beautiful cover, mythological references (especially of the otherworldly white stag), and an enslaved human that becomes more monster than human? I smell potential!

Unfortunately, that's about all I got. DNF @ 60%.

From what I can tell, Kara Barbieri is a new author and it shows. The premise of the book is interesting but it could do with some additional work to cut the extras and add a little depth to the world. To try and give you an idea, let's go through what I liked and didn't:

PROS:
- The overall concept was intriguing.
- The pacing was good and there was enough action to keep it going.
- It brought up the question of what makes a monster and doesn't exempt humans from this label.
- Soren, Rekke, and Seppo are all good goblins though two out of the three are attributed to human attributes (which almost ruined it for me because being human-like shouldn't be the reason they're good).
- Lindworms (aka dragons) because DRAGONS. Who doesn't like dragons?
- Seppo is ADORABLE. I love Seppo. I need me more Seppo.
- The song from Janekke's heart was actually pretty cool. Once she got around to it.
- SEPPO. Why doesn't she choose Seppo? Why isn't Seppo a thing?

CONS:
- No understanding of how the white stag is a physical symbol of the king's power. What makes it so? What keeps it by the king's side until a new one is needed?
- Despite Janneke being enslaved for a century, and knowing better than to get into fights at important gatherings, she gets into one within the first chapter (while Soren, her owner, is re-swearing his allegiance to the king no less). You expect me to believe she's survived a century of servitude if she does this?
- Janneke's rape and internal conflicts are repeatedly brought up as a way to explain how bad goblins really are or to elicit sympathy. Whenever Janneke is upset about something it gets brought up again...and let me tell you she is upset a lot. Instead of making me feel for this character, I got fed up and started wishing something would eat her already. (This is similar to how I felt about Ash Princess for the exact same reasons.)
- I felt you could substitute "fae" for "goblin" and it would be more accurate; granted, I'm not all brushed up on my goblin lore but I didn't realize that they were inhumanly beautiful until they went aggro? This just struck me weird.
- If all the goblins can see the "prey trail" of where the white stag went...wouldn't that mean that the first goblin to reach the stag wins? Not the most powerful?
- There was some weird mystical stuff (mostly for foreshadowing but also for choosing her "future over her past") that felt out of place and could have been nixed completely without altering the story.
- To save Soren, Janekke got pissed about singing a song for the venom antidote? I'm sorry, what? I get that you've been wallowing in self-pity for a century but you couldn't even sing happy birthday or twinkle, twinkle little star? PUH-LEASE.

Despite how incredibly negative I appear, I think the author is decent overall. She knows her way around a story and the pacing was good. She just needs a rockstar editor to help her grow...to cut the repetitive angst and add a bit more meat to the history when necessary. I hope she finds her stride in the second installment but I won't be along for the ride.

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. I couldn’t put down!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own