Review: Of Goblins and Gold by Emma Hamm
“I’ll be your villain soon enough. But not right now.”
The Basics
Title: Of Goblins and Gold (Of Goblin Kings #1)
Author: Emma Hamm
Published: 2021
Publisher: Emma Hamm
Pages: 214
Format: Hardcover, omnibus edition
Genres: Fiction — Fantasy, Romance, Young adult, Fantasy romance, High fantasy, Young adult fantasy, Clean romance
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Book Synopsis
Never look a goblin in the face. Never speak to a goblin. And above all else, never make a deal with a goblin. These are the tenets by which Freya and all humans live. To break one of these rules is to lay yourself open to the creatures’ many wiles and trickery, which could result in your disappearance – or worse.
When Freya’s sister, Esther, accepts a gift from a goblin, the veracity of these warnings is proven, for by nightfall, Esther has been kidnapped and whisked away to the goblin kingdom. To save her sister, Freya must journey to the faerie realm and do the unthinkable: strike a deal with the Goblin King. If she completes a series of tasks for him, he will release her sister, and if she fails, she will be trapped in the goblin kingdom forever. It doesn’t take long for Freya to realize that she underestimated not only the difficulty of the tasks but also the charm of the Goblin King. As she spends more time around him, an undeniable attraction begins to surface that threatens her resolve and risks her heart. Will saving her sister mean sacrificing her happiness? Or are these feelings she’s experiencing just a devious ploy of the Goblin King intended to make her fail?
My Review & Overall Thoughts
TLDR: An entrancing, Labyrinth-inspired fantasy filled with adventure, romance, and magic.
How are more people not talking about this book? From a captivating plot that features a perilous quest and swoon-worthy, Labyrinth-inspired romance to a fantastical setting replete with magic and magical beings, Of Goblins and Gold has it all. It is the type of book that once you pick it up, you’ll be hard-pressed to put it back down – trust me, I binge-read the entire thing in a single sitting.
The story draws you in, ensnaring your attention almost immediately. Within the first chapter, you are introduced to the protagonist, Freya; the apparent antagonists; and a mysterious yet alluring goblin man. By the end of the third chapter, the stage has been set, with Esther, Freya’s sister, having been kidnapped by the seemingly malevolent goblins. The plot only becomes more enthralling from there on out as Freya embarks on her journey to save her sister. She encounters obstacles and dangers at nearly every turn, leading to some tense, edge-of-your-seat moments. The pages all but turn themselves as you read on to see how or if she will extract herself from these precarious situations.
Further bolstering the book’s appeal is the dynamic between Freya and the Goblin King. The two begin as enemies, with Freya convinced that the Goblin King orchestrated her sister’s kidnapping, but as the pair spends more time together, the nature of their relationship starts to shift. Their interactions become rife with sexual tension, and an irrefutable, mutual attraction surfaces. It becomes a question of not if but rather when they will get together. This feeling of inevitability, however, does not put a damper on things; if anything, it enhances the story. Confident in the belief that they will eventually find their way to one another, we can sit back and enjoy their tantalizingly slow-burn, banter-filled romance.
Both Freya and the Goblin King are also compelling on an individual level. Devilishly handsome, charming, and enigmatic, the latter makes for an intriguing male lead and love interest. He presents himself as a villain – and he certainly acts like one from time to time – but there is this unshakable sense that it is all an act. It is as though he is nothing more than a red herring, obfuscating the true threat. As for Freya, she is a commendable protagonist. She is fleshed-out, possessing both a backstory and character arc. Moreover, she is intelligent, cunning, and courageous, and to her advantage (but the disadvantage of all others), she is constantly underestimated. In short, she is a heroine you can’t help but root for.
Equally worthy of praise are the secondary characters. I particularly enjoyed Arrow, Freya’s doglike goblin sidekick. Duped into aiding her, he is at first a begrudging ally, but as the two spend more time together, he becomes her friend. Once on friendlier terms, he lets loose his partially sarcastic but wholly accurate observations, including that Freya is smitten with the Goblin King – a fact that Freya herself had not yet fully registered. The Autumn Thief, ruler of the Autumn Court, is another well-written ancillary character. Shrewd and quick-witted, she is capable of going toe to toe with the Goblin King and can easily put him in his place. She, unfortunately, is only a minor character in this book, but hopefully, she will be featured more prominently in the sequels.
As for the world-building, there is a surprising amount of it given the book’s fairly petite size (it clocks in at just north of 200 pages). We travel to the far reaches of the faerie realm, accompanying Freya as she moves from one court to the next to fulfill her bargain with the Goblin King. Each court has a distinct feel to it, with its own set of customs and fantastical inhabitants, and while some courts are welcoming, others are anything but.
Hamm’s writing brings these places to life, and her engaging, easy-to-understand prose ensures that your attention never wavers. Moreover, her use of a single point of view imbues the story with mystery and suspense. With our knowledge limited to that of Freya, we are as in the dark as she is with regard to what will happen next, and it is this pervasive sense of uncertainty that entices us to keep turning page after page.
The not so good
The story’s pacing is uneven, with more time devoted to the beginning of Freya’s quest (Spring and Summer Courts) than the latter half (Autumn and Winter Courts). While it is not so egregious as to significantly detract from my enjoyment of the book, it does cause the ending to feel somewhat rushed.
The book also fails to explain one aspect of the plot. So as to not spoil anything, I will simply say that Freya was unaware of all of the implications when she made her bargain with the Goblin King, and other characters who were aware of them never warned her for some reason – why? Was there a curse or spell preventing them from doing so? Or did they simply assume that she already knew?
Overall
Of Goblins and Gold is a vicarious adventure. Reading it transports you to a magical world where life’s troubles are momentarily forgotten and time passes by unnoticed. If you grew up watching Labyrinth and spent your adolescence daydreaming about David Bowie (a.k.a., the original Goblin King), then you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy of this book.
Have you read Of Goblins and Gold? If so, let me know what you thought of it in the comments section below!
