Janneke didn’t live like the other girls in her village. The youngest of her father’s daughters, she’s brought up to be the equivalent of the male heir. She’s taught to hunt, to track and to be strong, and she is better at it than all the boys in town. When she’s taken captive to the land of the goblins, these skills keep her alive. At first, she wants to die but when her first owner, Lydian, gives her to Soren and her life improves, she begins to change. She’s a survivor and she adapts to life among the monsters. Then the Goblin King dies and The Hunt begins. Soren and Lydian are the main contenders. Whatever the result, it will decide Janneke’s fate and she is determined to never be under Lydian’s power again.

Barbieri has cleverly drawn from Norse mythology: the Erlking, the Permafrost, the snake that bites its own tail, svartelves, nokken, Skadi the giantess and her wolves, and the White Stag. Yet, the story of the growing bond between Soren and Janneke is the same in any culture. Love is love. We must ask ourselves, as Janneke had to: what constitutes a monster? Is it possible for people from two completely different cultures to fall in love? This story lingers in the imagination long after the book is closed.

Reviewed by Wendy Noble
Age Guide 14+