Tyger Tyger (The Goblin Wars, #1)

by Kersten Hamilton

Teagan Wylltson's best friend, Abby, dreams that horrifying creatures - goblins, shape-shifters, and beings of unearthly beauty but terrible cruelty - are hunting Teagan. Abby is always coming up with crazy stuff, though, so Teagan isn't worried. Her life isn't in danger. In fact, it's perfect. She's on track for a college scholarship. She has a great job. She's focused on school, work, and her future. No boys, no heartaches, no problems. Until Finn Mac Cumhaill arrives. Finn's a bit on the unearthly beautiful side himself. He has a killer accent and a knee-weakening smile. And either he's crazy or he's been haunting Abby's dreams, because he's talking about goblins, too...and about being The Mac Cumhaill, born to fight all goblin-kind. Finn knows a thing or two about fighting. Which is a very good thing, because this time, Abby's right. The goblins are coming.

• ISBN13: 9780547330082
• Publish Date: 15 November 2010 (first published 1 January 2010)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 18 June 2012
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[Kelsenator]

Originally posted on my blog Kelsey's Cluttered Bookshelf.

Teagan and her family are an interesting bunch. Her mother is a painter, who writes children’s books, and her art is all about goblins. Her father is a librarian who loves to tell stories and her brother can remember any song he’s heard and just loves to sing. Teagan loves to help others, especially the animals at the zoo where she works part-time.

Things start off by her cousin Finn moving into their place after he has a mishap and breaks his arm. He technically isn’t Teagan’s real cousin, since her mom was adopted, so he hits on her a tiny bit at first. She doesn’t give in, the strong girl!

Then she starts to see things. Little cat-like creatures following her (cat-sidhe) and causing mischief, and her brother seeing a shadow in the house that follows someone. Finn decides to leave after this incident, convinced they followed him there. He’s an Irish traveler, always roaming and hardly staying in one place for too long, possibly to keep the creatures away.

When their father goes missing, they need Finn’s help to get them back so it’s a good thing he finds them just in time. They would need to go into the Mag Mell though, which is kind of like a forest where all the evil goblins live, and which no one escapes if they’re caught. Getting there is easy but getting out is going to be the hard part, with all sorts of creatures that could get them and no real sense of direction inside. Especially when the ruler, Doirich is the one holding him captive.

One of the best things about this book, was the Irish myths and the Goblins and other creepy creatures. I loved the tales that were told, and will be going and looking at my own myth book later to brush up on it more. I loved the character’s names too, I think I’m a sucker for it since I’m part Irish myself (small part, but still). I loved how the goblins were described, but the cat-sidhe was extra creepy and it had me watching my back the day after I read it just in case.

Recommended for young adults who love fantasy!

[lizarodz]

Tyger Tyger was my introduction to Celtic mythology, of which I knew nothing about. It has to do with goblins which are mentioned in some paranormal/fantasy books in passing, and in Tyger Tyger we get to really learn about them.

Let me start by saying that this was perhaps not the best audio book to listen to. The names were very difficult to understand and the story (especially the Celtic myths) is hard to follow. Another thing was that the Irish accents didn’t seem believable either.
Teagan is loyal, brave, smart, but somehow she was not likeable or easy to identify with. It is curious that she is not aware of anything strange surrounding her until she meets Finn. Finn is what is expected of a main male character: handsome, brave, selfless, loyal, funny, but still he falls short to me. I think he is a little too “detached” to everything and it’s amazing to me that he had to live in the streets by himself for most of his life. He is too “old-fashioned” and too accepting of his heritage that the loneliness that it brings.

I found Teagan’s friend Abby the character with the most unique voice and I really liked her. Teagan’s mother death is brushed over; when I know it should have felt as devastating as it was. Aiden is a little too “know-it-all” for a five year old, he is a human GPS and has both the sight and special abilities that help him in the Goblin realm. It doesn’t feel as this story is centered on Teagan and Finn, since Aiden is ever present (and I mean, all the time!)

Tyger Tyger was an okay read for me. The plot was original, but a bit too confusing. The ending was a total cliffhanger which means, of course, that I will read its sequel: In the Forests of the Night.

About the cover: The three might be the entrance to Mag Mel, I still don’t understand the title of the book either. The cover is mysterious, but not particular pretty.

[Kim Deister]

The debut young adult novel by Kersten Hamilton, Tyger Tyger is the first of what is to be a series, The Goblin Wars. Teagen is a girl with a plan for her future, knowing exactly what she wants out of life. She has a great job and has expectations for a college scholarship. Her mom is an artist and an illustrator, her dad a librarian with a penchant for Irish poetry. Her best friend, Abby, is a quirky girl that she has known her whole life. Her little brother Aiden is a human iPod. Nothing about her life is dangerous. Until Finn comes into her life and everything she has known about herself, her family and the world around her turns upside down.

From the first page of this novel, I was hooked. I was drawn into the story from the very beginning and very literally couldn't put the book down. I loved the Celtic mythology that wove throughout the story, and the way it was used to both develop the characters and the story. There was definately a line drawn between the good and the evil characters, but the characters were far deeper than that. The evil were definately that, but they were developed in such a way as to be fully intriguing in their own right. I loved that Tea's family members, as well as Abby, were not only supporting characters for the main story, but were almost three-dimensional in nature, quirk and eccentric and fully lovable.

Not only was this a thoroughly engrossing story, it had very clear themes of good and evil. There was a part at the end that essentially said, and I paraphrase, that while blood is blood, sometimes it is the choices you make that count, rather than who or what you came from. I love that message and this story definately made that point. And absolute MUST read!

[Amber]

The story started off strongly, the action kicked off right from the beginning and I thought this was brilliant. Although, a certain point was very much glossed over very near to the beginning, and from then on I felt that the book lost it’s initial charm. I felt that more time should have been spent on it, because it really was a life changing event for Teagan and her family.

The main plot was a nice idea, nothing original though. Girl travels to an unknown place to save her dad who has been kidnapped. I’ve seen it before. However, I do give Kersten Hamilton major, major points for the fantasy side to her story. The fantasy world of Mag Mell was a wonderful idea, and the various amounts of goblins, Sidhe and other magical creatures were incredibly described and written about.

I found most of the characters to be very dull. Teagan didn’t have much of a personality other than a general school girl who likes animals. Finn was great at the beginning. I genuinely liked his character and had very high hopes for him and Teagan - even if she was a very boring character. However, after that certain glossed over point in the book, even Finn’s character took an unexpected turn. He became very two dimensional, and I just didn’t find him as compelling as I did in the beginning. Aiden, Teagan’s brother, was probably the most interesting character in the book. He actually had a personality, interests and hobbies which were clearly put across.

I didn’t find Hamilton’s writing to be very compelling. While the goblins and other creatures were wonderfully described, there was not much said about the characters’ actions and this made it hard for me to follow the story. Again, it started out very well, but after seventy pages or so, it started to become annoying, and even boring. I really had to push myself to finish this book, and I think this is mainly due to the writing style. Also, the amount of new words was, for me, a bit overwhelming. Lots of Gaelic was mixed in with normal, everyday speech, and then other things were referred to by their native names, and I had to constantly go back and check to make sure I hadn’t missed out any explanations. Also, the pronunciations of a lot of the words were not explained, which I did not like because I ended up spending a lot of time over these strange words, and it really took away from the story.

Overall, I give this novel 2/5 because I really didn’t enjoy it and I will not be reading the next books in the series.

[Charli G.]

When I received an email message from Kersten Hamilton asking me if I'd ever used/considered using NetGalley and if so, if I would take a look at her newest release (well, soon to be released) novel, I jumped at the chance.

Teagan is a wonderful, likable character. She loves animals, she has a plan, and doesn't want to be swayed from it. That, to me, is a great character. I love a character who knows who she is and what she wants. That is definitely something that I often find lacking in the YA books that I read, and I am definitely glad to find that in Tyger Tyger.

Another thing I like is the fact that the book gets right down to business. While there is some background given in the first few chapters, it isn't a major amount of background that bores the reader. Instead, you get right to the action, which is definitely a plus in my book.

Finally, a book that centers on something other than vampires or fairies. I love both, but this one centers on goblins, and I love it. It is so great to finally get a book that breaks away from the norm!

Another great thing is the mythological type of background that actually shows up in the middle of the book as opposed to showing up in the beginning of the book. It's nice to get some of the action then get some background to explain some of the weird things that are going on.

Even better - the fact that I actually told my roommate that I needed to purchase a copy of this book when it comes out so that she can read it as well. This book is that amazing and you will want to tell your friends about it.

The book did start out, to me at least, reading like something a 4th or 5th grader might read, but that quickly disappeared into the realms of a flat out YA novel. It is so well written, it flows beautifully, and it is seamless. You aren't left wondering what is going on.

This book is a definite must read!