Hello There!
Welcome to my stop on the book tour for
Not Good for Maidens by Tori Bovalino.
Not Good for Maidens by Tori Bovalino.
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy Horror
Publishing date: June 14th, 2022
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indigo | IndieBound
Rep: Sapphic, Asexual, Bisexual
Synopsis:
Salem’s Lot meets The Darkest Part of the Forest in this horror-fantasy retelling of Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market.”
Lou never believed in superstitions or magic–until her teenage aunt Neela is kidnapped to the goblin market.
The market is a place Lou has only read about–twisted streets, offerings of sweet fruits and incredible jewels. Everything–from the food and wares, to the goblins themselves–is a haunting temptation for any human who manages to find their way in.
Determined to save Neela, Lou learns songs and spells and tricks that will help her navigate this dangerous world and slip past a goblin’s defenses–but she only has three days to find Neela before the market disappears and her aunt becomes one of them forever.
If she isn’t careful, the market might just end up claiming her too.
Content warnings: on-page gore, on-page body horror, violence, trauma
REVIEW
This book was received from the Author, and Publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.
This is a non spoiler review, because you as reader need to read this book. Also, I feel sometimes I have in the past gave away to much of the plot line. This has diminished the pleasure for would be readers.
Thanks to @tbrbeyondtours & @toribovalino @pagestreetya for my print copy
♥︎A Dark and Bloody Drenched Goblin Fairytale ♥︎
A generational story of magical women, the Wickett Witches who are descended from a long line that protect mortals from the Goblin Market in York that reappears every year. The book is told in dual narrative in different time periods.
May, who was banished and survived, the Goblin Market in her hometown of York. But only just barely. Seventeen Louisa Wickett-Stevens, living in Boston, with her mother, Laura and her aunt May. She has a almost normal upbringing life even though somethings her aunt and mother do are a little odd. Lou struggles with her mother’s decision not to ever return to the town of York. Or not give any reason for not doing so. So when Lou’s younger aunt Neela goes missing, in York there is nothing Lou won’t do to find her. Or so she believes
The market Shall Arrive The Eve Of The Solstice And Endure Until The Tool Of Midnight Lammas
The author doesn’t shy away from the sexual nature in her reinvented horrifying tale of the original Goblin Market. In this retellings she works into a queer take on it. Let me tell you it works perfectly, making this book a standout amongst all other fairytale retellings out there. If you are an accomplished reader, you find the weaving back and for between present day characters or past ones in dual time periods easily to follow. It thought the writing was solid and the pacing on target. The tension builds and so does the gore. It really is a deliciously fiendish tale, with incredible world building that this mere mortal never wanted to return from.
-Please check the trigger warnings on this book!
Tori Bovalino retells Christina Rossetti’s famous Victorian poem, “Goblin Market” (1862)
AUTHOR
Tori Bovalino grew up near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and never knew she wanted to live abroad until she was already in London. She’s awful at picking favorites, but her consistent go-to books are Pride and Prejudice, Fire, and The Picture of Dorian Gray. She’s enamored with books that make her cry.
Tori holds a BA in English fiction writing and anthropology and a minor in German from the University of Pittsburgh and an MA in Creative Writing from Royal Holloway, University of London. She is currently on the Creative and practice-based PhD course at RHUL, researching the relationship between Russian folklore and YA fantasy novels. In her free time, Tori enjoys reading (duh), embroidering, and traveling.
She is represented by Dr. Uwe Stender and Amelia Appel at TriadaUS Literary Agency. She writes short stories, poetry, and novels.
Social Media:
Gwendalyn’s Books 
Brilliant review! I also got an arc from NetGalley (the cover was too good to miss!) and I totally agree, the family aspect and the gory goblin market was so interesting! I loved Neela and Lou’s relationship. It’s a pretty gruesome book but I still enjoyed it – and agree with literally everything you said haha. I talk more about the gore and why it feels to me like more of a thriller than horror in my review here: https://hundredsandthousandsofbooks.blog/2022/09/20/arc-review-not-good-for-maidens/ 😊
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