Fotinoula and the Christmas Goblin - R.G. Fraser-Green - ★★★★.½

AUTHOR: R.G. Fraser-Green

GENRE: Middle-Grade Fantasy.

RATING: 4.5 stars

In a Nutshell: An amazing middle-grade dark fantasy novella based on Greek lore. Perfect for its age group, and even for those adults who forgot to grow up.

Story Synopsis:

Eleven-year-old Fotinoula has just received a weird warning from her grandfather: never trust a Kallikantzaros, and take care that it never catches hold of Mirtoula, Fotinoula’s four-year-old sister. Has her grandfather lost his mind? After all, Kallikantzarai are just mythical creatures. Why would they enter a busy place like Athens and want to grab her sister?

However, soon Fotinoula realises that some myths do have a base in reality. With her father away at sea and her mother not willing to believe in such ‘superstitions’, it is up to Fotinoula to save her sister, with just her grandfather’s old journal for help.

The story comes to us in the first person pov of Fotinoula.

Bookish Yays:

😍 The story is just perfect for its young readers. As it narrates the happenings from a child’s perspective, we get to see the age-appropriate emotions coming up in her thoughts, from confusion to fear to vulnerability to determination. The story veers towards the darker side of fantasy, but the fear factor is kept at the right level so as to create nervous tension but not nightmares. (Think ‘Coraline’.)

😍 Fotinoula as the protagonist is courageous, intelligent, independent, and yet asks for help when she needs it. Moreover, we don’t see her as the perfect child. Her thoughts are not always goody-goody, and that makes her even more relatable and loveable. Loved her!

😍 The sibling relationship between Fotinoula and Mirtoula is so, so realistic! Mirtoula is a typical four-year-old and I loved her little tantrums as much as her cuteness. The alternating love and squabbles between the sisters reminded me of my own two little ones and their love-hate relationship with each other.

(On an aside: I loved the girls’ names. They are so authentically Greek!)

😍 I loved learning about a new mythological creature. While I have read a little of Greek mythology, I hadn’t ever heard of the Kallikantzaroi and what exactly they do during Christmas. They make for outstanding villains and the spook factor of the story gets the right amount of boost with their presence.

😍 Loved the ending! Happy in many ways and yet so atypical, it was the perfect finale for this story. Unlike most MG books, it doesn’t go out of the way in ensuring HEA but goes with the flow of the narrative.

😍 The writing is quite vivid, ensuring that every scene comes alive in our minds. It is so much fun when a story becomes easy to visualise due to the author’s skill in transferring his imagination to paper with precise words.

😍 The myriad points connected to Greek culture, myth, music, superstitions and food were thrilling to read, but more importantly, they seemed heartfelt. All the Greek references were infused with an underlying tone of regard and honesty. I discussed this aspect with the author, and he revealed to me his efforts behind making the portrayal of all Greek details genuine, including using a Greek friend as a beta reader for further verification. I truly, truly appreciate his hard work. It is rare that a writer who is penning a story about another culture is so courteous and faithful to its representation and avoids stereotyping it. Respect!

😍 At just 180 pages, this novella is the perfect length for middle-graders. The language is suited to the age range, and wherever there are longer Greek words, the meaning is incorporated into the content. Furthermore, the book doesn't insult the intelligence of its readers by spelling everything out. A few things are left off the page for us to read between the lines and figure out with the clues given – an excellent decision to ensure active reading.

😍 This is one debut work that doesn’t go overboard in terms of its themes. The plot restricts itself to the core problem rather than incorporating a dozen other minor details.

😍 The cover art left me confused at first, but reading the book revealed to me what exactly Fotinoula is doing in that sketch. I won’t tell you the details, but I’ll just say – it suits the story beautifully. It was an unusual choice to highlight Fotinoula on the cover instead of the Kallikantzaroi, but I think I like it better this way – the artwork stands out due to its simplistic beauty.

Bookish Nays:

Honestly, no major Bookish Nay at all. There were one or two trivial points that could have been tackled better, but on the whole, these were so minuscule that they didn't affect my enjoyment at all and I am not even going to bother mentioning them.

Bookish If Onlys:

The only major change I would have made, given a choice, would have been to add illustrations to this novel. It's a story that lends itself to so many vivid sketches that an opportunity was missed by keeping the content just textual. Middle-grade fiction doesn't always need illustrations, but they do help as this age group is right between illustrated/picture books and text-oriented novels.

I would have also liked an author’s note to be included, though these aren’t common in MG novels. This feedback wasn’t a part of my original review, but after my chat with the author, I appreciated his writing choices even more because of his passion for Greece. If he includes whatever he told me as an addendum to the book, it would be the icing on the cake. It was so fascinating!

All in all, I loved Fotinoula and her little adventurous tale. I still can’t believe that this is a debut work! I never intentionally meant to join in the ‘Christmas in July’ theme that a few of my reader friends are following this month, but guess what? Christmas itself found me in July!

Definitely recommended. This middle-grade novella hits most of the right notes, and can serve not only as a wonderful addition to your kids’ home libraries but also as a worthy classroom resource for discussions.

My thanks to author Robert Fraser-Green for providing me with a complimentary copy of “Fotinoula and the Christmas Goblin”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

The book is available for free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers.