Reviews with content warning for Slavery - A Market of Dreams and Destiny

Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

A Market of Dreams and Destiny by Trip Galey

13 reviews

therainbowshelf's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I absolutely adored this magical book following two indentured young men as they try to find clever ways to circumnavigate their magically fueled contracts of indenture. Between the shady Untermarkt where supernatural beings buy and sell things like luck, dreams, and destiny, the delightful characters, the bells, LGBTQIA+ rep, the twisty plot, and vivid descriptions, I don’t know what I loved most! This might be my top 2024 book.

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bebidocrimes's review against another edition

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funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

The magic system and world building are really cool, and the plot and stakes were engaging, but I just couldn't bring myself to truly care about any of the characters. The runaway princess took up a lot of pages for a dead end, I wanted way more early development for Silvestra, and some of the offhand world building made it feel like I missed the intro class for Fae History. At least I didn't have to deal with a miscommunication trope and Owain fully trusted Deri like he was supposed to. It was a sweet romance, but there's just so much else happening and none of it felt like it got the attention and development it deserved.

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rhi_'s review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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katbecker96's review against another edition

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mysterious

1.75

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amyteurhour's review against another edition

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3.5

Content warning: trafficking, enslavement, child abuse, imperialism, classism, injury

I found the pacing to be really slow, especially in the first half of the book. The worldbuilding was pretty cool, but did seem to make things drag along. The ending was a bit confusing and jumbled together

Is Owain still himself? Did he just take on the princess's destiny or her old physical appearance as well?

. I enjoyed Will Watt's performance for the audiobook and think it added to the experience.

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starlitpage's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

This book is clever as you need to be to make a profit trading with a goblin. I loved the growing relationship between Owain and Deri, and while it's a bit horny, the writing is very tasteful about it. The conceit of paralleling indentured servitude Above with Untermarkt trades and contracts is excellent. This is a dark book full of exploitation and risks that make it a more stressful book than a comfort read to me. Certainly not a book I'd trade away my memory of to read again for the first time, but I won't write off a re-read having value.

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bear_ridge_tarot's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Set in the bazaar of the bizarre, where fate and fortunes are for sale below the streets of Covent Garden, London we meet Deri. He once was sold to one of the Merchants and has suddenly come into a means of not only extracting himself from his contract but also making a name for himself as a merchant himself. A chance meeting with Owain sets off a whirlwind romance, that may jeopardize this new path Deri is on. Throw in a runaway princess, who sells her royal destiny to a nobody in the Goblin Market, a high-stakes search, and the cool greed of business people and you get the Market of Dreams and Destiny.

This book was immediately attractive to me. The cover shows old fairytale vibes. The title screams Goblin Market and then delivers on it within the novel. I may have enjoyed this more than I would have if I’d read it because the audiobook did such a good job of pulling me in with the timber of the narrator’s voices.

I have always loved the idea that you could find your way to the Untermarket and find exactly what you’re looking for, and if you’re really lucky, exactly what you actually need. The world-building, full of alleyways, stalls to pursue, nooks and crannies to explore, was by far some of the best I’ve read in a long time. It made me want to savor each description as if I could walk through those places myself. My only complaint is that the character depth was shallow and their motives predictable. If they’d been more fleshed out, instead of wispy dreams of real people, the book would not only have been longer but would have made it my favorite of the month.

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