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The Goblins of Bellwater by Molly Ringle – A Review

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goblins

 

  •  PUBLISHER: Central Avenue Publishing
  •  PUBLISHED: October 7th 2017
  •  GENRE: Fantasy, New Adult, Romace, Paranormal, Magic, Urban Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction
  •  ASIN: B01MU8Z5PL
  •  EDITION: Kindle
    •  Also available in:
      • Paperback
      • E-Book

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS:

Most people have no idea goblins live in the woods around the small town of Bellwater, Washington. But some are about to find out. Skye, a young barista and artist, falls victim to a goblin curse in the forest one winter night, rendering her depressed and silenced, unable to speak of what happened. Her older sister, Livy, is at wit’s end trying to understand what’s wrong with her. Local mechanic Kit would know, but he doesn’t talk of such things: he’s the human liaison for the goblin tribe, a job he keeps secret and never wanted, thrust on him by an ancient family contract.Then Kit starts dating Livy, and Skye draws Kit’s cousin Grady into the spell through an enchanted kiss in the woods. Skye and Grady are doomed to become goblins and disappear from humankind forever, unless Livy, the only one untainted by enchantment, can unravel the spell by walking a dangerous magical path of her own.

*****WARNING MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*****

The Goblins of Bellwater is by far one of my favourite books this year, if ever. There’s magic, mystery, mayhem and more and that’s without the involvement of the goblins. Set in Puget Sound, Washington we follow four characters as they struggle to find a way to defeat the goblins once and for all.

What initially drew me to this book was the beautiful cover with its black background, almost hidden clockface with flowers, fruit, feathers and leaves blooming from the centre providing the only hint of colour. I also now know on reading this book what the image means.

We’re first introduced to the goblins very early on through Kit Sylvain as he pleads with the unruly goblins for protection for his naive cousin Grady. Kit is a chainsaw artist, grease monkey and human liaison to the goblins. Even from the beginning, it is blindingly obvious just how narcissistic and selfish this race of fae actually are. Referred to by the locals as ‘weeds’, it becomes apparent that it’s not just Kit that wants to be rid of the goblins but the whole of the National Forest too.

The story really starts to grab a hold of you when we follow Skye into the forest. Skye; a barista at Bellwater’s local coffee shop, and budding graphic design artist gets herself into trouble when she calls upon the fae in the forest. Glowing bioluminescent mushrooms light her path and seal her fate. Unbeknownst to everyone else, Skye becomes a shadow of herself, forced to live in silence. Finding solace in out-of-towner Grady Sylvain looks to be Skye’s only salvation from the goblin curse, or is it? Can this culinary mastermind save the youngest Darwen sister before it’s too late? Read the book to find out.

This is a very fast moving book which I love because you can never put it down. I read the Kindle edition which was gifted to me from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Normally, I struggle with E-Books because as a reader I love the feel of an actual book in my hands. The ability to turn the page, to feel the ink under my fingertips and to see it sat proudly on my bookshelf. You can’t do that with a digital copy.

Set in modern-day Puget Sound, Washington, Molly Ringle aims to show that even through human expansion the fae remain, hidden and adapting in nature fighting back. The reason why we don’t notice them is that we as a species have stopped looking at and appreciating nature. Yes, there are those who work hard to save and preserve the natural world, and so there should be.

Kit and Livy are ultimate couple goals okay?! I mean not only do they compliment each other but they just…all the feels…so many feelings!!! Convincing a normal person that actually mythological creatures exist is one thing but a goddamn environmental scientist is another. Skye and Grady are cute, don’t get me wrong I was cheering for them all the way but Kit and Livy are it for me. And not just because Molly Ringle used one of my favourite girls names.

This book ultimately is good versus evil but there’s so much more to it than that. I mean it’s more Disney’s Frozen than boy meets girl. Livy fights for her sister, not for Kit. If that’s not a beautiful thing then I don’t know what is?!

Molly Ringle has by far one the most amazingly creative minds I have come across in years. Her ability to take a simple, everyday object and turn it into something else is incredible. I don’t want to give too much away because I feel like I’ve already revealed too much already. There’s just so much life even in the dark that it really does make you wonder just who is watching you go about your day.

What makes Molly Ringle’s writing so perfect is that she doesn’t make the idea of goblins living in the forest seem like something extraordinary. Maybe it’s my love of all things fae and the supernatural, but the idea that there’s more makes me feel like Skye did when she realised all the stories her grandmother told her as a child were real: Teenie-Tinies are real! They’re just not what you’d expect them to be.

This leads me to magic. Magic to me is, and I’m sure Molly Ringle will agree with me (right?) that it is more than just having the ability to transform. It’s deeper and elemental. Magic to me is more ordinary than it’s portrayed. I think that magic is in the little things and not just the big, gigantic gestures. It’s in the air we breathe, in the water surrounding us giving life to creatures of our wildest dreams, in the earth allowing the tiniest of seeds to metamorphose into a beautiful flower or evergreen tree, and finally fire. The element that not only destroys but creates, allowing new life to be born from the ashes. I mean this is really where people get ideas for magical and mythical creatures and beings from. Even the goblins are elemental. They are earth. They are tree, lichen, grass, moss, and they are more.

Even science in all its glory is magic. Medical advancements and vaccinations nowadays enable people to fight horrible illnesses and cancers that even twenty years ago, would have meant death. To me, that is magic in it’s purest form. But, like everything it’s about your intent that determines if your magic is good or bad. Our beloved characters discover this the hard way.

This is not a light story. It is dark. It is harrowing and full of twists, and hidden paths. It will make you smile, it will make you curse, and it will make you want to jump into the story and knock some heads together out of pure frustration. I cried; I laughed; I cringed and I just could not stop reading. You will end up under its spell. You will end up in the woods and you will never want to leave.

Just remember to stay on the path…

I have far too much to say about this book that I cannot get the words out. Please, please read this book. It’s so, so incredible. Listen, this book actually makes me want to pick it back up and reread it, and I normally can’t reread books. My brain is weird. I can retain every part of a story within my head just from one reading. I’m actually concerned that Molly Ringle has force-fed me sweetened fruits in my sleep, it’s that good.

A FULL MILLION GAZILLION STARS and a massive, massive thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book. This review is for you.