Reseña: White Stag (Permafrost #1)

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White Stag (Permafrost #1)

by  

Kara Barbieri

368 pages 

Published January 8th 2019 by Wednesday Books

ISBN: 1250149584 (ISBN13: 9781250149589) 

Edition Language: English

Series: Permafrost #1

BLURB: As the last child in a family of daughters, seventeen-year-old Janneke was raised to be the male heir. While her sisters were becoming wives and mothers, she was taught to hunt, track, and fight. On the day her village was burned to the ground, Janneke—as the only survivor—was taken captive by the malicious Lydian and eventually sent to work for his nephew Soren.
Janneke’s survival in the court of merciless monsters has come at the cost of her connection to the human world. And when the Goblin King’s death ignites an ancient hunt for the next king, Soren senses an opportunity for her to finally fully accept the ways of the brutal Permafrost. But every action he takes to bring her deeper into his world only shows him that a little humanity isn’t bad—especially when it comes to those you care about.

My rating: 2.6 iced stars

Trigger warning: rape and PTSD. Tons of angst.

Janneke was abducted by a goblin, Lydian, at age 17, and was brutalized, raped and tortured, by him. Then, and no one explain the reason, she was delivered as a slave to his nephew, Soren. One hundred years later, the Erlking dies and the ritual hunt of the White Stag begins.

I have a question: how can they say that this is Y.A. when the protagonist is the youngest with 118 years of age? Yes. That's what I thought. Soren is about eight hundred years old btw. Of course, they all look young.

Goblins stole humans for work the Permafrost wouldn’t let them do themselves. So many of the things they had — their clothing, their agriculture, their buildings were because humans lived among the monsters doing the skills they couldn’t. Humans created, goblins destroyed. It was known.

The Barbieri's Goblins are more Fae than the subterranean sort, they are beautiful and cruel - more similar to the Malediction Trilogy than the Tolkien kind. They live in the magical land of Permafrost of the eternal winter where when you kill something you absorb therir power.(think of the Quickening in Highlander the series)

Soren, in the other hand, is super comprehensive and patient. And has lilac eyes...hehe.(I know!)

“You’re not just any thrall.” His words made me swallow.
I was painfully aware that despite Soren treating his thralls with a considerable amount of respect, honor, and social mobility, the way he treated me surpassed all of them. “Aren’t I?”

Note: Seppo looks like a trickster to me. Is the character conveniently there.

There are some secrets about the Soren/Janneke situation still not talked after what the lady said. And Lydian ramblings... /SPOILERS---->well, now it is obvious that Lydian's incomprehensible babblings are actually visions of the svartelves cavern, and that in them he saw Soren and Janneke. Why he did not kill her and why he gave it to Soren instead, uniting them both, that I can not understand and it remains unknown.<---SPOILERS/

The bad: -Janneke is emo-girl, all the time is poor poor me. Realy annoying.

-Also she is really speshul - Mary Sue level.

-The story dump all the Nordic folclore in one place. Maybe the author could better save them for the other book(s)?

-The dialogues of characters are really modern for this kind of darkfairytale style, that feel out of place. After all we are talking of swords , bows and horses. Hunting to feed.

The mostly-Good: She can fight (she was raised as hunter). All the women -or she-goblins- have to (all kill and fight for higher positions)

-Also she is non-white, scarred and maimed.

Every creature is prey of something . . . or someone. That doesn’t mean we’re evil. Besides, I always thought that a being was only a monster when they became blinded to the outcome of their actions.”

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Romance? Sí
Sexo? Si. Implicito. Fuera de escena y a escena puesta a negra jaja.
Malas Palabras? Si.
Recomendada? Hmmm, no niego que leeria el segundo si me regalaran.

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After reading:

First thougts: emo-tiresome-marysue protagonist; anachronistic language. tons f myth norse fairies creatures

writing has still 3 or 4 typos.

took me ages to start this story. got more smooth at the end.

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