Goblins, Dwarfs, and Elves -- Oh My!In book one of the Hollow Kingdom trilogy, we meet up with two orphaned young English ladies who are coming to their ancestral home, Hollow Hill, for the first time. After taking a walk through the woods, Kate begins having nightmares and suffers through her days with the feeling that she is being watched. When she meets a group of odd and horrifying people, her worst fears are confirmed (even though she doesn’t quite know what they are) as she tries to escape the goblin King Marak – who is intent upon making her his new bride. What a mix this wonderful story is! Goblins who are funny and open while still horrifyingly ugly, nefarious guardians intent on sabotage, and an even unlikelier love story are all combined into something truly magical. I found myself grimacing at the cruelty of magic and conversely laughing out loud at Marak’s humor and wit. A perfectly mixed novel and I can’t wait to read the rest. ( )

This book is absolute gold. I read it when it first came out a few years ago and I can still quote many of the sentences in that book. It is prose, but the pure poetry contained within each sentence makes it a pleasure to read. The characters are excellent (Marak is my favorite!), the details are just right (not too many and not too few), and the feel of the story is cozy. One of my favorites. Excellent!

--Even though I know one isn't supposed to judge a book by its cover, this cover is one of my favorites! (The one with the black background, not the red one.) ( )

Don't let the weird/spooky cover and slightly odd beginning scare you away!! I LOVED these books! They're completely different than most books I read and that's what made them so great. ( )

Kate must promise to wed the goblin king in exchange for his help in saving her sister. She is overcome with dread when she has to live up to her side of the bargain. ( )

Girl meets goblin, goblin tries to steal girl, girl resists but eventually will reconsider due to her younger sister. I really liked the extra twists in this book and I really wasn't expecting the tale to turn the way it did. I'm just dying to read the next in the trilogy now. ( )