The Hollow Kingdom by Clare B. Dunkle

Synopsis (from goodreads.com):

For thousands of years, young women have been vanishing from Hallow Hill, never to be seen again. Now Kate and Emily have moved there with no idea of the land's dreadful heritage--until Marak decides to tell them himself. Marak is a powerful magician who claims to be the goblin King, and he has very specific plans for the two new girls who have trespassed into his kingdom . . .

Jillian’s Review:

I know, not the prettiest cover, but holy cow, the story was great! I loved the individual personalities of each character, the clever banter between them, and the beautiful imagery of the Goblin Kingdom. I LOVED the guy, who is so not the typical YA novel guy (usually great looking, brooding, and cool). Marak was strong, confident, intelligent, and the perfect protector—all things I’m a sucker for in the main guy—but there is something completely different about him than any other guy I’ve ever rooted for in a novel. I never thought I’d cheer for the ugly goblin guy but he was too great not to!

The writing wasn’t the best and I got tripped up a few times trying to sort out who was thinking what time because it was written in third person, all knowing. It’s been a while since I’ve read a book in that POV, and I have to say it’s just annoying now. This could have been entirely written in Kate’s POV and it would have been a better read. Still, I was often lost in the story and the romance enough that the poor writing wasn’t too distracting.

Speaking of the romance, this was a squeaky-clean book without swearing and zero sex, though I would have liked to have a bit more detail in the kissing department. There were some gruesome scenes which I think makes this a good book for readers 10 and up unless they’re sensitive to a bit of gore.

Can’t wait to read the other two in this trilogy. Hopefully there will be more of Kate’s little sister, Emily and her little “cat” friend in the next one.