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Reviewed by Stephanie Dagg for Readers' Favorite
"Troll or Derby" is a crazy, quirky, high-energy fairy tale that is modern yet traditional at the same time. It has trolls and faes, but not like any you have ever seen before. They have 21st century attitude and attributes. The heroine, and one of the book’s narrators, is Deb. We meet her briefly as a child when in some way she is pledged to the troll Harlow, who becomes her close companion, but most of the action takes place when she is 15. Her hopeless mother expects her to look after her older sister, pretty much full-time, and the story starts fittingly with Deb rescuing Gennifer from a blazing caravan. That is a suitably disturbing opening for a novel about a somewhat dystopian, fantastical society with corrupt cops, crime and disillusionment, stupidity, and a rather stiflingly inbred population. The only place Deb feels happy is on the skating rink. Deb is top-class roller skater, a skill that is going to come in useful as well as keep her sane in her crazy world.
The author has a wicked sense of humour, with skateboarding leprechauns, some exaggerated violence and off-the-wall characters. Add this to the requisite paranormal features of prophecies to fulfil, orphans planted on human families, otherworldly characters, magic and the fight between good and evil, and you get a very entertaining read in a popular genre. Red Tash keeps the pace high, and swaps the viewpoint from Deb to Harlow throughout, which adds an extra dimension to the story. The language is modern and gritty, making it a very original and down-to-earth fantasy.
