The Goblins of Bellwater by Molly Ringle book thoughts

Title: The Goblins of Bellwater
Series: N/A
Author: Molly Ringle
Published Date: October 1st, 2017
Publisher: Central Avenue Publishing
Source: Netgalley
# of Pages: 289
Format: Ebook
Genre: Fantasy/New Adult/Romance
Days to Read: 3
Rating: ★★★★.5 (4.5/5)
My Social Media: Goodreads/My Booktube Channel/Twitter/Instagram

Goodreads 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.

My Thoughts

TW: Fire, Depression, Sexual Assault, PTSD

The Synopsis on Goodreads is spot on and I don't really know any other way to say it. Goblins, Fae, Romance and Magic.

It started off slow but even from the very beginning I was interested and enjoying it. The first 1/2 I wanted to keep reading and was intrigued, but in no rush, then the second half really picked up the pace and intrigue and I couldn't put it down! I read the first 1/2 in 2 days, the second 1/2 in one and stayed up too late doing so! There was one thing I predicted but only maybe a couple pages in advance, and I still loved it!

The writing was very readable. I don't necessarily think it's the best writing but I personally enjoyed it. I loved the characters! I don't think I can pick a favorite character, I just loved them all! Kit has had it so rough with the curse on his family and he's truly caring of others, and an artist with a chainsaw (sculptures). Livy is smart, a scientist, strong and also very caring. Grady is a wonderful chef and Skye is also an artist (without a chainsaw) who sketches and makes art in peoples coffee as a barista. Truly they are all caring people with their own things going on.

I enjoyed the world-building, it's set in washington (the state) but in a fictional town and while the real world is in there, so is fairies, goblins and magic! I truly enjoyed the atmosphere of the place.

The TW for fire (I was in a house fire 5 years ago and have PTSD from it) is something I wouldn't have been able to get through 5 years ago, so I mention it for anyone else who needs the TW. If you want to brace yourself for it, it's after water (that'll make sense in the book). About the 75% mark. I had to stop a couple times while reading it even still. However i'm really glad I read I this book and continued on with it! I have nothing against it of course, it's just trauma event=ptsd=trigger warnings for well-being.

The PTSD I mention isn't stated directly as PTSD in the book but to myself, someone with PTSD, it was plainly obvious and felt very real to my own experiences with it, with nightmares in particular. I would have had a hard time believing it if some trauma wasn't experienced after all that, but there was and for me personally I thought it was well done for what it was.

If an entertaining fantasy read with evil goblins, some good fae, romance, curses and magic, that is pretty light and fast to read with a bit of depth (but not too much) sprinkled in sounds interesting to you i'd definitely recommend checking it out! Some things below I wanted to talk about but may be considered spoilers.

*minor spoilers*

There is a thing with 9 fingers in the book, and I have 9 fingers, and I really enjoyed it! Of course it's nothing like my real life situation but I loved the way it was handled after the fact! No one made a big deal of it but of course they had to get used to it. I was born with a hypoplastic left thumb, and had a pollicization surgery (moved index finger to thumb spot) when I was 2 almost 3 years old. I was too young to remember the surgery but I do remember having to learn how to do things with my new hand. Since I was still a tot I had learned some motor skills but not all of them, so while it took some practice it wasn't too hard. I felt them getting used to it afterwards was very realistic in my own experience.

I can understand why some people have issues with the relationship between Grady and Skye but the awkwardness and stuff from the curse is mentioned and dealt with. Perhaps too neatly for some or not delved into enough but personally I loved it. It was a light fun read for me that I squeed a lot over. I was truly like this over some things.