3.5 stars
I really enjoyed reading this book. The main character was a fully formed female character who was strong and a little unlikable at times, which I think makes the story more believable. Granted this is fiction and fantasy to boot, but I always want the characters actions, words and reactions to be based in reality. And this, for the most part was. The overall story was compelling, but I think that there was some repetitiveness in phrases that got a little annoying.

That being said. I did not see that end coming. In all honesty, it didn't really make a whole lot of sense to me with Janneke becoming the "stag." I'm really glad it all ended pretty hunky-dory, but wtf? How is she the stag?? That makes literally no sense to me, but maybe that's what makes me want to read the next one in the series. I really want to know what the heck happens next from that ending...

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I enjoyed reading this. An interesting story with fun characters. Well written.

This is an adult fantasy story full of fire. Yes, in fact I accept that this is a story that has been built from the beginning. Janneke's story, which has been a goblin for centuries in Permafrost, is a major concern. I can't tell a lot, but I can feel the essence of this story.
Life is built very well and each character lives up and down with trials. The conflict is truly stunning but not excessive. That means I can still accept it as a living fantasy story.
Then the picture of the character is very typical which makes the story impossible to leave behind. I can't say much, but other readers must also read one story from Kara Barbieri. Thanks.

I had some high hopes for this, it seemed like it would be great. Sadly I I was unable to fully finish the book. The story was not as exciting as the synopsis tries to make it, the characters were okay but nothing you could truly get into. I know this was originally on Wattpad and I didn't want to knock it for that, but it could have used more work prior to publication.

Fascinating novel. The most substantial aspect of this novel is the fact that it follows Janneke, a character who is a survivor. After her village was decimated, leaving her the sole survivor, by Goblins, monsters of remarkable beauty that raid and pillage, Janneke was taken prisoner, a slave, repeatedly raped and beaten for decades as she served under a monster stronger than her. However, brute strength is not the only type of power; there are wit and determination, both of which Janneke use to overpower her abuser and escape him.

However, she escaped him for another, kinder, Goblin master as the laws of the Permafrost bind her. That is where the story begins, going back into the past to explore the pain that the Janneke still holds close to her. She is a survivor, but even after years, her former abuser still has some sort of power over her. He lingers, like a shadow, over her, coming through her scars, her memories, and the pain that lingers there. So, the story is a journey for her, to overcome that pain, to overcome the past and search inside of herself to find self-love, to find respect for herself and uncover the strength that had saved her once and use it to replace her pain. It is an empowering journey that unfolds, and Janneke faces so many obstacles in this journey, more monsters, that seek to destroy her from the inside out because she is human. There is also a risk here for her, a risk that Janneke also fears: that overcoming her pain means she would become a monster. However, that is the power of the novel as it focuses on her and her journey, to uncover her strength and move on past the pain of losing her family and her innocence.

As for the story, let us list the trigger warnings: sexual assault/rape, torture, body mutilation, and emotional abuse. These are essential aspects of the novel because they all connect to Janneke’s journey. That being said, they are uncomfortable scenes, and, at times, hard to read. They are not explicit, but there is enough detail there in those scenes that will make the reader's skin crawl because of how Janneke’s emotions burn off pages. They are not meant to be easy scenes to read, as they never should be, which is part of the impact of the novel. Again, this connects to Janneke’s strength and her character growth. Everything in the novel connects which is part of what makes it a good read.

The writing, as persuasive as it is regarding characterization does falter a bit when it comes to the pace of the novel. There are times when the novel drags just a little too much, where the scenes that are less important take too long to resolve themselves and progress forward. The pacing is the biggest issue of the novel because while Janneke’s journey is impactful, the outer conflict of the plot, take a little too long to move forward and along.

So, what is human? What is a monster? How much of this is perception past the way we deal with it? don't get me wrong, I think it s all in what you do and how you do it, to who and why and how you accept your self and apply your talents. I have a tendency to give the barest of hints in reviews because i am so horrible about giving too much away but you can rest assured if I review it is because I feel there is merit in cajoling you to try and read to book and share my delight. .I am so delighted with NetGalley in giving me such a smorgasbord to pick through. Admittedly, I still do the same with books I used to do with boxes chocolates, sticking a long sharp pinky nail in the bottom to gouge out enough to taste and going from there. This book was delightful:. set with old Nordic beginning heavy symbolism and an excellent story. I had sorely gotten behind on reading and had to pick and choose between a lot and scored instinctively with three straight hits, this being the last and thoroughly enjoyed it [enough to finish in a day and a half] All three dealt with coming to terms with yourself and your destiny in there own ways. Highly recommend and hope there are more books forward in this world.

The White Stag is the first in a series that started as a Wattpad story before getting published . I love the story synopsis . This is a fantasy set in a land that borders the human realm . The Permafrost is a land that has magical species and the most deadly is the Gobliny ,beautiful in their natural state but the turn into Monsters when they fight.
Janekka is a a woman who lived in a village at the edge of the Permafrost. her whole village is killed . She is taken as a thrall "slave" to Lydian a Goblin who tortures her . When he tires of her he gives her to his nephew Soren.
Soren treats her well but she is traumatized and terrified of him. She does not age in this land and 100 years pass. A new King needs to be crowned and the only way is to go on a "Hunt:.They hunt The White Stag across the Permafrost. Whichever Goblin finds and kills the stag will become the next King . This story is filled with vivid action scenes which were great . The story also borrows a lot of Norse elements. I do wish the world building was more expansive but hopefully the second book will correct some of that. Overall a great read. and would recommend it.
Trigger Warnings : Sexual assault , violence and PTSD.

*****This eBook was supplied by Netgalley for free in exchange for an honest review *****

I wanted to love this book, I did. I had to stop reading it half way in. I wanted some much more from the story line. Book was really dark, and very slow reading. I wish i could give more stars.

This book was just ok. I liked the concept of the book with goblins as characters. It was a very different take on fantasy. Some other aspects of the book just didnt work for me. I cant really put my finger on the specifics but I kind of had a hard time finishing this one. I would still give this book a 3 stars because I did like other parts of the story.

This book did nothing for me. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. It didn't capture my attention. I wasn't dying to pick it up every time I sat down to read. It was just....blah.

I enjoyed the main character, Janekke. She was tough and almost died so many times but she never stopped fighting. Soren was cute at times but I never felt sucked in while reading this. It felt very fan fiction-y. The author did more telling than showing which made the book rather boring to read at times. I've put off writing this review for so long because I truly just did not know what to say about it. Reading this book didn't evoke any emotion in me.

I would say if you're able to borrow this book from a library or a friend: go for it! But it's not something I would want to spend my money on.

great read. Loved the cover art. That is what drew me in from the start. Characters that are memorable and a plot I quite liked. Good read.

**4 stars**
ARC kindly received in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed this book, the author managed to present us a new world. For such a young author, she did a splendid job. Yes, there were some scenes better than other, but overall I consider this book a win.

So I have some really mixed feelings about White Stag, and honestly, even having gone in knowing about some of its potential issues did not make putting together this review any easier. My problem is that I did not find this to be a bad book, just an aggressively mediocre one in that I’m having a hard time coming up with anything about it that excited me. And what’s more the pity, I recognized some clear attempts to make this one stand out, but in the end the story still felt bland and generic.

At the center of this tale is seventeen-year-old Janneke, the youngest of a family with only daughters, hence she was raised by her father to be his heir. In the wilderness, she learned how to hunt and track and other survival skills. But one day, her village is razed to the ground and everyone is massacred by the depraved goblins of the Permafrost court. As the sole survivor, Janneke is taken and tortured by the wicked Lydian, suffering the worst kinds of abuse at his hands before she was handed off to his nephew, Soren.
When the book opens, Janneke has already spent a century as a goblin thrall. Soren, however, has been a much kinder master than his uncle, and over time the two have settled into a comfortable, if not convivial, relationship. But then the death of the Goblin King throws everything into uncertainty, setting off the Hunt for the great white stag which would determine the next ruler of Permafrost, a position that both Soren and Lydian would be vying for. Still suffering from the memories and scars of the violence she has endured, Janneke finds herself caught between two worlds, her loyalties to Soren tested as the goblin and human aspects of her spirit clash within her.

On the surface, there appears to be quite a lot going on in White Stag, but dig a little deeper and it is revealed that most of this is of the window dressing variety—nothing really necessary or essential to the plot, which, in a nutshell, comes down to the stag hunt. The main story is simple, really: the first goblin to kill the stag gets to be the new king, but since the villain wants to fix the contest so that he can be the ruler forever, Janneke and Soren must do everything to stop him from carrying out his evil plans. Ironically, had the author kept things as simple and straightforward, I might have enjoyed the book more; as it is, though, all the superfluous bells and whistles and other melodramatic fluff actually made this one feel uninspired and less interesting.

Take the goblins, for one. On the one hand, I appreciate the attempt to build a story around these unconventional fantasy creatures, though on the other, I am disappointed by the wholly conventional and surface-level way it was carried out. The whole thing reminds me of a running joke I have with a gamer friend of mine regarding elves, a staple race of many of the MMORPGs we play. My friend despises playing elves because he thinks they have become a worn out, tired old trope that either needs to be completely revamped or straight-up retired. Unfortunately though, they have a tendency to pop up time and time again, even in new games where “original” playable races of pointy-eared, magically adept, forest-loving immortals are obviously just reskinned and re-designed versions of the classic elf. Whenever this happens, my friend always goes, “Nope, I’m not fooled.” And in the case of White Stag, I’m not fooled either. This novel had a chance to do all kinds of cool and different things with goblins, but really, for all intents and purposes, they are the Fae, complete with all their courtly machinations, glamor, and every other kind of faerie trope.

Then, there’s Janneke and Soren’s relationship. Again, I liked the attempt at an unconventional romance, one between two people who have been companions for a long time but are only now starting to explore the possibility of becoming more to each other. However, none of Janneke or Soren’s interactions really came across this way. Their “romantic profile” did not a resemble that of a couple who have known each other for close to a century, and whatever chemistry they had was ruined for me by that nagging feeling of incongruency.

There are other issues here, namely plot points and world-building elements that are interesting at first glance but slowly start to lose their appeal as you read on and find out they are either superficial cosmetic details or underdeveloped. Thing is, Kara Barbieri clearly has the writing chops and fantastic ideas, but just doesn’t seem to have mastered bringing them all together in an orderly and cogent way. As a result, White Stag feels like the book version of a stock piece of music or artwork, full of surface beauty but no real substance or depth. With time and experience, I think Barbieri can become an accomplished author because I see so much of her potential in this book, which was a decent read that could have been a great had it not been held back by its generic nature and uncertainty of itself.

I DNF'd White Stag by Kara Barbieri after multiple attempts to read. I don't pubically review books I don't finish because it's unfair.

There was a lack of world building and most of the character building seemed forced for shock value than to build true character depth.

What I did get through in terms of the plot seemed contrived and unbelievable.

I received an advanced copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great fantasy read packed with folklore, monsters, and epic battles. It was complicated in spots but it had really good world building and character development. Warning though that there are scenes of torture and rape, so this may not be everyone's cup of tea.

I loved the main character Jenneke and how much of a badass she was. With everything she faced throughout the novel, and I think going forward as well, she definitely has my respect. I noticed that this might be part of a series and I am definitely looking forward to the next one

I'm going to be honest with you: I DNF'd White Stag by Kara Barbieri at 56%. I normally don't review books I don't finish because it's unfair, but I've made an exception for this book because it needs major editorial help, and I think interested readers should be aware of that before they buy.

First, the plot: A human girl named Janneke has been a slave in the Permafrost for one-hundred years. Her first goblin master was Lydian, who was endlessly cruel and malicious to her, eventually giving her as a gift to his nephew Soren. While Janneke's current goblin master is much kinder than her last, she longs to escape to the human world, but without any family left to welcome her and her body undergoing monstrous changes from human to goblin, she is at war with herself about where she belongs. When the Goblin King dies and the White Stag that symbolizes his power flees from the throne, Janneke is forced to join the Hunt with Soren, who seeks to kill the stag, inherit its power, and become the new Goblin King. 

If that plot sounds a little bare bones, that's because it is. Even though this former Wattpad sensation has been expanded and revised for an official release, I'm afraid both the writer and the editor forgot something crucial: world building. As a result, the story is extremely confusing and at times downright nonsensical.

For instance, we learn that the Permafrost is a harsh and barren place, but there is no indication of where it exists in regards to the mortal realm. Is it considered a different, physical land? Is it a metaphysical plane that humans can accidental find themselves in, like most faerie realms are? What is the boundary that Janneke constantly references? Is it a physical boundary? A magical one? Or just a culturally-understood country border? Is it visible to the eye or invisible? And why does Janneke constantly reference Norse mythology in her swears ("Hel," "Odin's ravens") without any other religious context? Is she Norse, or do the Norse gods/mythology have a real relation to this world and these characters?

We also don't know why all the goblins are inhumanly beautiful. We don't know how or why they absorb power from the things they kill to grow stronger. And we definitely don't know how they have higher societies with estates, titles, and rulers if goblins can only destroy, requiring human slaves to do any work that involves creation, such as clothes making. (And yet goblins can create superior weapons and armor?) 

Then there's Janneke herself. I love fanfiction, but so much of Janneke is one fanfiction flaw after another. In addition to giving her body dysphoria, Barbieri has loaded up her main character with as many traumas as she can for no other reason than that's the only way she can make Janneke interesting. We're talking PTSD from torture, rape, body mutilation, a borderline eating disorder, and night terrors.

I'm not against giving a character traumas to deal with, but here they are only for shock value with no actual exploration of them, no journey with them. Janneke just carries them, and the reader has to endure one bad italicized flashback after another to learn when they happened, and that's it. I could've really enjoyed wrestling with Janneke's body dysphoria with her, if it hadn't just disappeared whenever Soren puts his lovey-dovey, goo-goo eyes on Janneke, revealing it to be the fake obstacle of their love that it really is.

And then there's the gross hyperbole that accompanies these traumas. Janneke experiences these tortures at Lydian's hands when she is first brought to the Permafrost, and the text implies that she's been with Soren for the majority of her time. Yet, she wakes up every night screaming because her nightmares are that vivid and horrifying. And she's done this close to a hundred years. I'm calling BS on this one. Any person undergoing this would have one of two things happen by this point: 1) your mind would just break from the strain at last, or 2) you'd go numb. The mind can't just stay in endless panic mode forever. Eventually, something has to give.

Also, I think Janneke might be a POC? Maybe? That, or a tan white girl. The fact that I have to question this should tell you something about how clear the author was being on the subject.

The rest of Janneke's backstory is pretty contrived, used only to garner sympathy from the reader, but that tactic failed with me. For instance, we're told when she was taken by the goblins that her village was burned down and her mother, father, and six sisters were killed. And I guess that's supposed to matter, when we get to learn nothing about her family, not even their names. I'm not even sure why Barbieri even gave Janneke six sisters if they were all going to be referenced as a collective. Why not just one or two? We do learn a little of Janneke's father, but only in how he contributed to her body dysphoria and her internal war with herself between choosing the human and goblin world. Other than that, he serves no purpose.

Let's talk about Janneke's World War Me situation. The whole reason Janneke is wrestling with this is because she's apparently survived in the Permafrost so long that she is turning into a goblin. Suddenly, she's absorbing the powers of the other goblins she kills, but we're not sure how or why that works. We do learn that she was born on the boundary of the Permafrost (that boundary we still know nothing about), and that's significant because she was born with a human mind but goblin blood. Because her mind and blood are warring with each other, she has to choose one over the other, or she will go mad.

I almost accepted this explanation, as flimsy as it is---until Janneke meets a literal halfling character who has a goblin parent and a human one, and somehow he was doing just fine. No weird mental wars or anything, and suddenly, the difference between the two is just so negligible that now I don't understand what Janneke's actual problem is.

These inconsistencies are all over the place. This is happening in a time of axes and swords, but both Janneke and the goblins speak with a strange mix of formality and bizarrely modern language. This book can't decide what time it's written in, making it impossible for the reader to determine as well. Janneke acts like there are many human slaves in the Permafrost, but then we only see one other than her for a brief moment. He says maybe two lines, makes Janneke feel guilty for being a traitor to her race, and then he's gone. Then, she stumbles across two human hunters in the Permafrost (how did they cross the boundary???) and then acts shocked that they're there. 

I had hope that Lydian was going to be an interesting character. One of those problematic ones that are Terrible yet Fascinating, but he was only a barely-polished madman, seconds away from frothing at the mouth. Soren was equally boring and so obviously already in love and endlessly fascinated with Janneke that their too-easy romance put me to sleep. Sure, Janneke's suffering from endless trauma from the goblins and the Permafrost, but she'll go ahead and declare her love alongside Soren halfway into the book since he's just so nice to her. Oh, he's cruel and a killer, we're assured, but we, the readers, conveniently never see evidence of this and Janneke just glosses over it. You couldn't have made this more dull if you tried.

There are other goblin characters, but they serve such little purpose other than to make Janneke strong as an almost-goblin that I can't even tell you their names.

To wrap this up, White Stag is a failed attempt at dark fantasy that wrongly equates trauma with actual darkness. It's not so much "brutally stunning" as it is just brutal to slog through. 

In truth, White Stag needed several more rounds of developmental editing before it was ready for publication. While the prose and writing style are generally fine and quite solid, the world building needs to actually be established instead of being info-dumped like I know what Janneke is even talking about (I swear, it gives you the sense that there was a book before this one, and I'm just missing that information, but there's not. This is the first book. Makes me wonder if this actually was based on something else first before it became an original story.)

Janneke needs severe work as a character. If you're going to load her up with trauma, then make it mean something. Don't use it in place of actual characterization. Make Soren more mysterious, his feelings for Janneke murky and unclear. I want to actually be as confused as Janneke is about Soren's behavior, instead of rolling my eyes at how stupidly dense she's being when she's supposedly pretty intelligent. (She's survived this long in the Permafrost, after all. Give her the respect someone like that deserves.)

Establish better magic rules and reasoning behind goblin society and their powers. Make Janneke's transformation actually make sense. And for God's sake, actually make it the dark story that was promised instead of going, "Uh, the main character was raped in the past and one of her boobs was ripped off, does that count as dark?"

I really enjoyed reading this book! It was fast-paced and action packed. In other words: exactly what I needed. I was easily hooked by the story. I've never read any book with goblins in it, and even though I won't necessarily be looking to read other books featuring them, I'm still happy I got to experience something new.

In this book, we follow Janneka. She has been through a lot of trauma after her entire family was killed by a goblin named Lydian. She survived but not without a price. She was tortured and raped but after a while, Lydian gave her to Soren (his nephew) and eventually, she learned that she could trust Soren. Even though he's a Goblin and a predator, he's nothing like his uncle and that's a relief.

While in part one, I found myself being a little annoyed at the FMC, it wasn't the case once we got into part two. After that, I really enjoyed reading about Janneka and Soren and their developing romance.

The ending was a bit unusual and it left me with a lot of unanswered questions. I'm probably going to read the sequel as I'm quite interested to see what's going to happen next (and it's available on Wattpad!)

(I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley. Thank you for letting me read and review it!)

This series sounded like it would become my favorite because it was based on a fairy tale of the Goblin King. The writing was beautiful and filled with vivid imagery. However, the pacing was slow and there were some scenes that made me a bit uncomfortable. Still, I look forward to reading the sequel. I recommend this for fans of Wintersong, A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Hunted.

I have to say, I'm not as impressed with this as much as others seem to be. I struggled with getting attached to the characters, and much of what happened was rather obvious. There is a fun twist at the end, but not enough character work to make up for a mediocre plot.

Janneke is a human thrall, taken as a slave by goblins to the Permafrost where she has lived for nearly 100 years. Her current master, Soren, treats her with dignity and respect, but Janneke cannot forget the four months she spent with his uncle and the torture she endured. When the hunt begins for the crowning of the new King of Goblins, Janneke must determine how much goblin she will absorb and how human she can stay in order to survive.

I really enjoyed the first half of this book. Then it got redundant and predictable. The only character that was at all fleshed out was Janneke. The others were two dimensional and a bit boring. There was plenty of action in the book, but you never feel anything is truly at risk. Of course they are going to kill the big monster that 30 other goblins couldn't kill. Of course they will survive and be miraculously healed for the next huge fight the next day. There was no real sense of danger for the main characters and by then end, I didn't really care. The ending was also cliched and could be seen coming chapters ahead.

Overall, it was well written and an easy read. The world building was one of the best things about this novel. For those who like an easy read with lots of action, this could be for you.