Review: Greta and the Goblin King

Title: Greta and the Goblin King
Author: Chloe Jacobs
Publication date: December 11, 2012
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Source: library

Rating: 5 stars

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While trying to save her brother from a witch’s fire four years ago, Greta was thrown in herself, falling through a portal to Mylena, a dangerous world where humans are the enemy and every ogre, ghoul, and goblin has a dark side that comes out with the eclipse. 

To survive, Greta has hidden her humanity and taken the job of bounty hunter—and she’s good at what she does. So good, she’s caught the attention of Mylena’s young goblin king, the darkly enticing Isaac, who invades her dreams and undermines her will to escape. 

But Greta’s not the only one looking to get out of Mylena. An ancient evil knows she’s the key to opening the portal, and with the next eclipse mere days away, every bloodthirsty creature in the realm is after her—including Isaac. If Greta fails, she and the lost boys of Mylena will die. If she succeeds, no world will be safe from what follows her back..

My first thought when I was reading this book was: "This is.... a debut novel?!"

Because it was flipping fantastic.

 You know how sometimes you read a book and you just love it so much and you want everyone to read it and fall in love with it? That's how I felt about Greta and the Goblin King.

The characters:
Greta is officially my new favorite heroine. She is a badass and I loved her for it.

"She needed to remember this moment. Not the fear or the loneliness- although those feelings were strong enough to tear her apart inside- but the anger. That was something she could use, it would give her strength."

Four years in the harsh world of Mylena has turned Greta into a tough-as-nails bounty hunter who can go head to head with just about any goblin/fairy/gnome. Greta reminded me a lot of Rose Hathaway from the Vampire Academy series in that she too was a wonderful mixture of strength and sarcasm. But, like Rose, Greta also had heart. She cared even when she didn't want to, when she knew better, and it was obvious that she was the type of person who would do anything and everything for the people she cared about.

Speaking of the people Greta cares about..... Isaac. The young goblin king.
Le swoooon.
In my mind, goblin is not synonymous with hot, but Chloe Jacobs has convinced me otherwise! Isaac and Greta have a fairly rocky history of lies and deception but their chemistry is off the charts. I loved that they kept pushing each others' buttons, challenging one another, and their occasional back-and-forth snark certainly doesn't hurt. ;)
There's hint at a possible love triangle in the next book, which brings me to my next point....

The human boys. These are kids and teenagers stranded in a foreign and dangerous land and, against all odds, they have managed to survive. Led by Wyatt (the potential other love interest), these boys have become a family. I loved them. From adorable little Jacob to tough, angry Ray to responsible golden boy Wyatt, I loved each and every one of them.

I'm not worried about there being a love triangle--in fact, I'm kind of looking forward to it (shocking words, I know!) because all three characters are so well-developed and none of them are present just for the sake of creating romantic conflict. I think this story has the potential for a really well-written love triangle, albeit possibly heart-wrenching because I love both boys very much.

The plot/setting:
This is YA fantasy done right. The world-building was great, the pacing was impeccable, and the adventure was riveting. The action starts pretty much from the very first page and keeps my attention for the rest of the book. Background information about the world of Mylena and how Greta got there was given as the book progressed in a way that didn't disrupt the flow of the story which was something I really appreciated.

Oh, and did anyone else realize see the influences of the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale in this story?? I wouldn't necessarily classify this book as a direct fairy tale retelling, but Chloe Jacobs definitely took some of the basic elements of the Hansel and Gretel tale and spun it into a completely unique and captivating story. When I realized the connection, it was like:

All in all:

Sigh. Guys. I really loved this book! I gobbled it up and I can't stop going back and re-reading bits of it over and over. I really need that second book. If you like fantasy, adventure, general epicness, and a seriously awesome heroine, then you really need to go pick this book up. 

Oh, and the romance was great too... you know.... if you're into that kind of thing.  ;)

Review: Insurgent

Insurgent (Divergent #2)
by Veronica Roth

Published May 1st, 2012 by HarperTeen

One choice can transform you--or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves--and herself--while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable--and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

~goodreads

Rating: 4.25 stars
Review:

I wonder if it’s possible to for a book to be too dystopian…

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not this dystopian world that I didn’t like—in fact, this 5 faction world is one of the most memorable and unique dystopian societies that I’ve read about. 

It’s the overall tone that rubbed me the wrong way.

I have somewhat of a love-hate relationship with this series, so this review might be kind of confusing and/or scattered, but it’s really hard to describe how I feel about this book!

I completely understand that Divergent ended horribly and traumatically. And since Insurgent pretty much picks up right where Divergent left off, all the characters—especially Tris—would be dealing with the trauma. And considering the things she did to survive, I’m not surprised that she pretty torn up throughout most of Insurgent.

But here’s the thing: reading an entire 500+ page book where the overall tone is bleak, morbid, angsty, and somewhat depressed can get really…. Unpleasant. To say the least.

There’s really only so much PTSD and angst I can take in a book!

While Tris is undoubtedly a pretty ballsy and admirable character, I just couldn’t really relate to her. (Might be due to some of that angst I talked about.)  Sometimes, when she talks about her emotions, her inner turmoils, I can’t help but feel that her voice, while speaking of deep, devastating emotion, comes off as somewhat…robotic. She talks about all the overwhelming emotions warring inside of her, but I just don’t really connect with her emotionally. I couldn’t really empathize because of her tone. And when it comes to her line of logic…sometimes I understand it, but sometimes I don’t. In multiple instances in this book, she figured out a plan that was supposed to be absolutely brilliant because it would outsmart everyone else, but I just couldn’t help but think, really? It made me feel like some of the other characters were maybe dumbed down a bit so Tris could seem so much smarter when she figured out the solution. I mean, come on, just because someone isn’t Erudite doesn’t mean they can’t be logical.

(well, apparently in this book, they can’t…)

At the same time, I can’t honestly say that I hate Tris as a main character. Sometimes, I'm so impressed by her acts of dauntlessness and I love her for her bravery and selflessness! She’s also tough as nails and not afraid to challenge what she believes is wrong. She exhibits a kind of behavior that a lot of people admire and aspire to. In fact, I can totally see why some people really love her as a heroine. I just happen to have a rather bipolar relationship with her.

But here’s the super weird thing: I’m not crazy about Tris, but I think Four is just about the hottest boy in Dystopia.

And he’s kind of like a male version of Tris… but, you know, more leader-like and not so traumatized. And possibly tougher. And I’m kind of in love with the dude.

Tris and Four’s relationship takes a more prominent role in this book and I really liked them together.  I wasn’t totally crazy about the fact that Four NEVER “coddled” Tris—not that I think coddling is a good thing in a relationship, but come on. It’s also not cool to expect a girl to be superman all the time—but I supposed that given the way Four is and what he’s gone through, it’s understandable.

And he more than redeems himself by the end of the book. Trust me.

ALSO. Since this books takes place literally right after Divergent, I feel like Veronica Roth might’ve expected me to either go back and reread book 1 before starting or just remember every single character and their interrelationships.

 But I’M SORRY MS. ROTH (MRS. ROTH?), I read a lot of books in the time it takes for a sequel to come out, and I really can’t be held responsible for remembering all those little details. The fact that there was absolutely no backstory, no reminder whatsoever about previous characters left me to be majorly confused for a big part of the book. At most, I remembered two or three characters. The rest, I… I wish I could say I later refigured out who they were and what their previous relationships were with other characters…but no. Not really.

As for the plot of the book, the pacing was fabulous, there was a lot of action (me gusta!) and running-from-bad-guys goodness, as well as butt-kicking awesomeness, and I really liked the fact that we got to see more of the other factions. And the Factionless. All the stakes are upped in the book and it. Is . Intense. But if anything, this book has given me way more questions than answers!  New revelations are made. New secrets are uncovered. And the ending…  Oh. My. Gosh. That ending will leave you feeling unsure of everything you thought you knew about this series. Well done, Veronica Roth, well done indeed.