Book Review: ‘How to Lose a Goblin in 10 Days’ by Jessie Sylva
Halfling Pansy Underburrow has been struggling to find herself and fit in her small town despite her strong culinary talents. Some might say she takes a little too much after her late grandmother and has too much of a mind of her own. Pansy decides to strike out on her own and starts with moving to the cottage in the forest where her grandmother once lived. Unfortunately, that cottage, which had been thought abandoned for some time, has a dreaded goblin living in it! Oh, what will Pansy do now? How will she get rid of them? Yell at them until they run away? Call the authorities? Fall in love? This is the premise of Jessie Sylva’s cozy fantasy debut, How to Lose a Goblin in 10 Days.
Sparks fly between a halfling and a goblin in How to Lose a Goblin in 10 Days
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this story, but based on the title, I was expecting it to be pretty silly. It was indeed silly in spots, but not in a bad way, thankfully. And if you are wondering, the “spice” level is pretty low with this one. That being said, there are some delightful yet typical rom-com awkward moments between Pansy and Ren that made me giggle more than a few times.
Both Ren and Pansy begin the story believing they both have a strong claim on the cottage and refuse to leave. The cottage had previously belonged to her grandmother, but it had been long abandoned after her passing. That is where Ren and their family came in, with Ren’s aunt and family taking care of the cottage and growing food for the goblin community there. That is, until Ren’s aunt became sick and couldn’t do it anymore. So Ren recently took over that responsibility.
The two butt heads for a bit about who is entitled to live there, and both have valid claims, so it’s decided that they will for the moment live there together… until someone decides to leave. Yes, they decide to live together for 10 days, and whoever leaves first gets the cottage. Cue the silly rom-com antics, forced proximity, enemies-to-lovers themes as both Ren and Pansy have ideas on how they can get their new housemate to relinquish their claim and leave the cottage.
In both Ren and Pansy’s cases, they have heard the unflattering and downright prejudice tales about the other’s kind from their families and communities after centuries of on and off wars. Their first meeting has them both starting off on the wrong foot in typical rom-com fashion and yet opening the door to a friendship between them. Ren kindly discourages Pansy from accidentally using poisonous mushrooms in a meal for her family, and is clearly a kind soul. Pansy finds the goblin both infuriating and “cute” during their first meeting in the forest (everybody has a type, right?).
While neither of them takes very long to see the good in the other person as friendship, trust, and later romantic feelings develop between them, there are still many roadblocks in their path to happiness. The biggest being their communities, especially those in Pansy’s village, Haverow, where long-standing prejudice and fear of goblins are deeply ingrained in the community.
Keeping an open mind and heart towards others can be the key to happiness
I was pleased as I went along with the story and picked up a bit more meaning and nuance than I expected. This is not just a silly love story or another queer love story (Ren is non-binary) in the popular and growing cozy fantasy genre. There’s also story themes of being true to yourself, generational trauma, prejudice, and communities coming together to support each other. There’s also the fact that Ren and his fellow goblins’ beliefs and lives are very much centered on taking care of and respecting nature, conserving it, and not destroying it. This is the opposite of the halflings, which the goblins see as wasteful and greedy.
Most significant in How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days is the idea of keeping an open mind towards people who are different from you and discovering what is to be gained from a change of heart in that respect. There are unfortunately those who only benefit from the fear, hatred, and bias people hold against each other and will use what power they have to profit more, keeping their thumbs on that scale. These themes are not presented in a heavy-handed way, but I found them to be well woven into the tale and added to the depth of the story as a whole.
Maggie Bain does a delightful job as the audiobook narrator
I had the pleasure of listening to the 9-hour, 36-minute audiobook version of this book. I am very fond of audiobooks, but I have certainly experienced the disappointment of thinking I might like a story only to find out the narration is flat or uninteresting, or even grating or annoying.
The audiobook narrator of How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days did a wonderful job flipping back and forth between Pansy and Ren and other voices. Maggie Bain brought an extra cozy feel to the story that felt a bit like an alternate Hobbit tale taking place in Tolkien’s world. The main characters sounded lively, warm, and fun but also brought the appropriate emotion when needed for more serious moments, and helped make it easy to understand why these two opposites might fall in love. I would definitely try more books narrated by Bain.
Final thoughts on How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days
Overall, I enjoyed this audiobook and would be willing to read more from the author, Jessie Sylva. I could even see myself reading a sequel to see what happens to Ren and Pansy and other characters in the novel. It was a fun, cozy romance, with some more serious, and very timely themes mixed in that helps make it worth checking out.
How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days by Jessie Sylva is available wherever books are sold.
Also check out: Book Review: Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs To Die by Greer Stothers
