Lou didn’t believe in magic or supernatural beings, but she never questioned why her mother and Aunt May lined the doors and windows with salt or kept certain herbs hanging throughout the house. But after receiving a voicemail from her Aunt Neela that contained an eerie message, she began to wonder if there’s more to these superstitions than she thought. With her aunt kidnapped and her mom leaving to help, Lou decides to take matters into her own hands. Will Lou be able to save her aunt? Will she discover who she is and what’s missing from her life? And most importantly, will she be claimed by the market?

This was an amazing urban fantasy story. The author did an excellent job at creating the setting and including enough details to create an immersive read. The tone of the work was also immaculate – this is a dark read, and the author was able to convey that darkness and eeriness throughout the work. I loved the hereditary magic of the witches as well as the dark magic of the goblins and their market.

I wasn’t sure how much I would like the work based off its beginning, but after the first few chapters I couldn’t put it down. The story is largely told from Lou’s point of view, but as the work continues, there are several chapters scattered throughout that tell May’s story from eighteen years earlier. The character development is in depth and well written, and I loved the inclusion of a well written ace character and the sapphic romance; the character diversity was great. They were all relatable characters with believable dynamics.

The cover of the book is stunning. I listened to the audiobook version, and I loved the narrator – she did an excellent job with creating unique voices, conveying emotions, and differentiating the characters. I did notice that there’s some light fuzz noise in the background – almost like white noise – when listening to the audio on a higher volume, but it didn’t detract much from the overall quality.

There was nothing I disliked about this work, though there are some scenes of pretty intense gore with detailed descriptions that made me cringe a little. Overall, I highly recommend this work and will be reading more from this author!

I received a complimentary copy of this work through NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

TW: detailed gore, violence

'Not Good for Maidens' is a delightfully horrifying retelling of Christina Rosetti's 'Goblin Market' poem, capturing not only the traditional dark fairytale atmosphere, but also the moral of familial love combating malicious temptations and the horrors of the world.

The alternating timelines— one revealed to be doomed from the start, the other balancing on a knife's edge between hope and terror— are handled expertly, providing additional suspense and keeping each storyline moving at a nail-biting pace. May's star-crossed romance wondefully compliments Lou's journey of familial loyalty: each woman motivated by a different kind of love, and each struggling to overcome a different way of feeling trapped and stunted. Bovalino skillfully portrays each point of view character as opposing sides of the same coin, anchored and weighed down by conparable relationships spanning their generational gap.

Laura Knight Keating provides a stellar performance as narrator of the the audiobook, perfectly capturing Bovalino's narrative tone. Keating's raw, emotional delivery and succinct enunciation make for a listening experience that fully captures the prose without coming off as dry or monotone.

Bovalino is one to watch, having inarguably evaded the dreaded sophomore slump with this one. You can pre-order 'Not Good for Maidens' now, or pick it up on June 14th, 2022!

4.6/5

🌱THE EXCELLENT
~ Compelling mystery with family and goblins
~ LGBTQIA+ representation ✨
~ Unnerving teenage silliness
~ While I disliked the choices made by the teens, the storytelling was excellent
~ I would read a book 2 😍👏

Enter this at once recognizable, yet foreign, creepy, crawly world where Wickett girls are plagued by goblins of the Goblin Market. Vicious and tricky goblins who tempt, cajole, seduce and lie; who take, drug, beat and kill; who crack human bones and feast on human marrow; who are somewhat held in check by a set of rules that keep some safe. Rules two of the Wickett girls will break as one seeks her heart’s desire; rules a Wickett girl will keep as she attempts to escape the horrors of the Goblin Market. Rules, curses and traps that will take this family to the brink as their coven seeks to protect their city from more than the occasional torso, head and leg that wash up. When a sister is taken, what will you do and become to save her? The Wicketts become MORE.

A story about family, loyalty, forbidden love and protection. Of breaking rules and paying the price (somewhat 😒), of loss and sacrifice. Of dangerous beings ready to feast on stupidly unaware humans.

✨Give it a read.

🌱THE MEH
~ Really stupid stupid teens - like, cannot think
~ Keep me safe while I act as a jackass please 😶
~ The let me get myself killed because ‘love’ is worth it and I shall never be betrayed trope 😶

♡🌱 But that’s just me ;)

Thank you to NetGalley for this audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a simple girl, I see a summary for a sapphic fantasy novel set in a goblin market in the UK and I am beside myself with excitement.

First things first, the narrator is excellent and I could swim around in her Yorkshire accent all day.

Now, for the book: I have to give a mountains worth of credit to the author for truly committing to the horror and grotesqueness of the goblin market—uncomfortable and visceral and exactly what I wanted. So a huge warning here if that’s not for you (gore, body horror, violence). If it IS your kinda thing, oooh boy enjoy 🤩🤩!!

The plot is fairly fast paced and intriguing. It’s high stakes, and I think the climaxes of various plot points do the build ups justice. There’s two plot lines—18 years prior, and present day—and I think they converge well.

The world building is great and I’ve half a mind to jump on a train to York over the weekend because I have such a vivid urge to BE in this city (and this market that I, sadly, will never actually find). (Probably a good thing.)

The present day main character, Lou, is very likeable, and the side characters are fairly well fleshed out; I thought the goblins were VERY interesting, and I was happy the author let us see what life is like for this coven of witches cleaning up in the goblin market’s wake (even if it is really grim) (maybe especially because it is?).

The horror aspects really lifted this book up for me, but there were some things that stopped this from being five star.

Firstly, it’s quite repetitive in parts. Often it’s as if the writer is giving a summary of what happened in the last chapter every next chapter, which really isn’t necessary and I found it frustrating. I also felt like the author didn’t trust the reader to put two and two together, and needed the main characters to tell as well as show everything once it had already become obvious, which again made the book often feel repetitive.

And secondly—and this is entirely personal taste, I think—the past plot line romance is fairly “insta-love”, which doesn’t work for me at all unfortunately. I’d have liked to have seen more relationship building for it to feel important enough, for it to feel believable enough that May is going to be like: <I>I will 100% risk everything my family has ever worked for for this one girl I met a day ago.</I> Maybe I’m too demisexual to find risking it all for lust believable 🤣? Instead I found myself increasingly irritated with May and her decisions, and I ended up liking her the least out of ALL the characters because of it.

Still, these two points aside I’m giving it 4 stars because the romance isn’t really the point of this book, I don’t think—it’s about family, and learning to stand on your own two feet and, of course, the savage revelry of the goblin market 🥰 and I think the writer has hit those nails on the head 👌

If I could give more than 5 stars, I would. It’s not often I’m knocked over by how much I love a book, but this is one of them. For starters, retelling of Goblin Market?? Absolutely. One of my favorites, and has inspired other favorites (Labyrinth, Pan’s Labyrinth), but this is actually why this could have gone south, because I love Goblin Market’s inspiration so much. It had such an opportunity to fail simply because of how much I love the premise, but the book never took a turn for the worse and it just kept getting better for me. Tori Bovalino accomplished the utter creepiness of what Goblin Market should be in a novelized version, pulling no punches with the horrors of the market and what it is at its core. Beyond that, an asexual main character? Absolutely yes. This is a dual narrative in different time periods, so the other MC’s story is a sapphic Romeo and Juliet type love with a goblin which was just absolutely amazing for me. Normally love interests are boring, overdone, unrealistic, or cringey (especially in YA, for me) but this was nothing like that.

As a side note for the narration, it seems like there is a slight echo that you can hear when you’re listening with headphones. It ends up sounding a bit like the narrator has a candy in their mouth when you’re not listening with headphones, so I hope that’s edited for the final version. Aside from that, the actual narration was amazing, switching between accents and performing genuine emotion. This was an A+ all around for me.

Rating: 2.5
I think everything happened way too quickly. Nothing was explained very well before being thrown into the story. The audio arc made the duel timeline hard to follow and it was difficult to connect to the story and the characters.

The Goblin Market is calling you, will you heed the call? Are you strong enough to resist? And finally, will you become just another entree or come out on top? When Lou Wickett's aunt goes missing she is left with one clue to find her; in a rushed and frightened voicemail he ain't mentions "the market". Willing to do anything to get her aunt back Lou must face the sins of her family's past and weave her way through a market of death and decay. What will she uncover? And will she make it to her aunt before she is absorbed by the market?

Goblin Market books are my absolute FAVORITE. Spearheaded by Seanan McGuire's In an Absent Dream(Wayward Children Series #4) and my love of Dungeons and Dragons I am simply a trash panda, picking though and devouring any morsels I can find. Not Good for Maidens is no exception. This is the gritty and vile market you imagine while alone in the dark lying in bed. These are the goblins who are hiding under your bed, grabbing your ankles when you try to rush to the bathroom. Bred of nightmares and savagery they won't offer you a happy ending, instead offering a front row seat to your violent end. The author does a stellar job painting this world that fits these creatures and their brutality. The story is well paced and laced with history from year prior.

Five stars from this fantasy goblin who gobbled it up page by page. I heavily recommend this for anyone who loves darker fairy tales and their retellings, age range 14+ as this does have graphic violence. Fans of Wayward Children will love this story as it will help to fill the months we await our next tale with a dangerous adventure. Come by, Come by.....the market awaits

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an AudioARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was my second book by Tori Bovalino and it was so close to a 4.5! It was so creepy and interesting. It wasn't the usual goblin book, it was definitely its own thing. The atmosphere of the market was absolutely amazing. It was gross and creepy and so easy to picture even when I didn't want to.
We almost immediately get a missing person mystery which really caught my attention. Lou's aunt Neela (who is almost her age and her best friend) leaves her a strange message on her phone. She needs Lou's help. And then a voice she has never heard comes on the line telling her to come find Neela. She lives an ocean away and Lou's mom does not want her to go but she won't tell her why.
Obviously from the synopsis Neela ends up in the goblin market. Lou's mom and other aunt May have a long history with the goblin market Lou has never heard about. Lou is determined to save Neela no matter how hard it is to get in and out of the goblin market, especially with her family's history.
We get 2 different timelines in this book. Lou (present) and May (18 years earlier). I really liked Lou and her determination to save Neela. I also really enjoyed May's story. Everything ends up weaving together perfectly and it just makes sense. Since I listened to the audiobook, there were times where my attention would lack just because I was doing *work* and I missed the change in the timeline but it was almost always easy to figure out where I was.
If you are looking for a creepy goblin horror story, look no further. Put this one on your TBR!

3 stars.

“Not Good For Maidens” is a dark fairytale about a girl who’s goes on a search for her missing aunt in the Goblin Market. She ends up exposing family secrets when she goes on a guest to rescue her aunt and mother.

This story was fun, quick, and dark. It did have a witchy vibe to it that worked well with the story.
However, I felt very disconnected from all of the characters. They all felt quite generic. I also think this story missed a lot of the descriptive details that could’ve made it a lot more atmospheric and tense. The moving timelines was a bit confusing via audio, so I think this story would translate better physically.

I enjoyed the atmosphere and the Goblin Market aspect of the book. What however really didn't work for me were the alternating timelines. It made the book really drag at the beginning and didn't leave enough space to develop characters, relationships, not to mention the world.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Not Good for Maidens is truly a book that lives up to its epic description and gorgeous cover. This book follows the Wickett witches May and her niece Lou in this retelling of the Goblin Market. May fell for a goblin in the market and subsequently ties her family to the market as the memory of their name holds great power. When Neela is kidnapped by goblins, May and Lou must return to the temptations of the market to save their family member without losing themselves in the process.

This book was absolutely stunning. I'm unfamiliar with the original Goblin Market story, but I was so entranced by this novel. The plot was rich, the worldbuilding was immersive, and the characters were well-developed and exceptional. Following both May and Lou was artistically designed and easy to follow, and I loved following their stories as they intertwined in a wonderful way. Even the side characters and enemies were great to read about. I definitely connected more with May's storyline, but it was easy and enjoyable to follow both May and Lou throughout the book, and I wouldn't change it if I could. Additionally, the inclusion of both sapphic and ace stories helped make this book stand out. Even the gore-y reality of the market and the many horrors it entails were described well without being too repulsive that it'd pull the reader from the story. The conflicts were reasonable, the plot was well-paced, and even the narration of the audiobook was exceptional. Tori Bovalino really blew it out of the water with this one. If I could, I would give this 4.5 stars. I'm very picky about which books I give 5 stars in this genre, but this one really came close. The beginning may have been a tad bit slower than the latter half, but I know this book is still close to a perfect read for me.

I received a digital ARC copy of this audiobook through NetGalley and RB media in exchange for an honest review.

Lou's aunt Neela has been kidnapped by the goblin market, and it's up to Lou to save her. Her family has a colorful history with the market as her mother and Aunt May escaped from there long ago.

First of all I want to stay kudos for Bovalino on the rep in this book. The main character is Ace, and other characters are gay. Lou was an okay character, but May was by far my favorite. I loved her a whole lot. The way her character was written really resonated with me. The beginning of this book almost lost me though. It was a bit boring to start out with, but it definitely got better. If you can make it over the beginning hump, then it's worth it. I'm glad I had the audiobook, because I might have given up.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ALC. Laura Knight Keating was a fantastic narrator. I love the voices she did. I definitely recommend the audiobook with this one.