"a collection of essays on being feral and whatnot. was kind of hard to follow in places due to the external references being made, and while they were deffo going places, i was not always along for the ride. some nice points made here and there tho that sort of caught me off guard, but i sort of hoped they'd get fleshed out more"

"This is a difficult book to review because a) I always somewhat struggle when it comes to non-fiction and b) the things I loved the most about this book are also the things I disliked the most about it.

Goblinhood is an essay collection interspersed with poems on the figure of the goblin and how pervasive it is in (pop) culture. The essays are best described as rambly streams of consciousness, packed with pop culture references. Calleja tries to help you there: you know X? X that was in Y? But also in Z, you know, with A? You know A? And if that does not ring a bell, you'll be furiously googling people and films the entire time.

Calleja admittedly wrote this book for herself and it shows. It sometimes feels like you are in a very intense one-sided conversation with a friend who won't ask you how you've been before dunking a massive amount of information on you.

Perhaps the disjoint nature of the essay tickled something in me as a researcher. Perhaps I envy Calleja's freedom, her carefree, opulent, (self)indulgent writing. Ultimately, no matter how I feel about it, her endeavour inspires me.

I loved and hated these aspects in equal parts, leaving me confused but happy to have taken the journey. Perhaps that messy ambivalence is part of the goblin mode of being."