Actual rating: 2.5 stars

A beautiful, whimsical winter fairytale, perfect for fans of old fashioned tales with a more traditional approach to magic.

We follow Elizabeth as she travels to the Underground, where the Goblins live, in order to save her sister from the Goblin King. Overall, Elizabeth is a very character, she's interested, loves her people and you really want to see her story unfold. Unfortunately though, she suffers from "oh I'm so plain, why do you love me, I told you I'm so plain" syndrome. I could excuse it at first, but in the middle of the book, when the whole romance is slowly starting she says that so many times, that I had to mention it.

The sibling relationships are very true and fun to read, because they feel realistic and I could relate to her love for her brother or her rivalry with her sister, for example. The romance was very intriguing as well, it was quite mature for a YA book in the sense that I felt that both partners respected each other and held each other to equal standards.

Even though the book had a very strong beginning, I was literally turning the pages like crazy, I found the middle part dragging a lot. The ending was satisfactory in a sense that, although it was sad, I was quite content with how everything turned out. I know there's a sequel out, but I'm not sure I want to read it, since I don't feel like the story actually needs it and it's refreshing to read a YA book with a sadder ending than what we are used to.