Review: Troll or Derby by Red Tash

In Troll Or Derby, fifteen-year-old Roller Deb is singled out by town bullies for both her skates, and her sexual orientation. When her popular homecoming queen of a sister is kidnapped by a scuzzy drug dealer, Deb must flee the trailer park in which she's grown up, and rescue her. Along the way, Deb becomes enmeshed in the magical realm of trolls and fairies, and the blood-thirsty version of roller derby at which these beings excel. But spending too much time among the fairies comes with a price. Will Deb choose to save her sister, with the aid of a mysterious troll? Or will she be lost to the lures of roller derby, and the blonde temptress April, forever?

My Review:

I received a copy of this book for review from the author.  This book was a well-written fantasy story.  The world, the plot, and the characters were all well-developed.  This book is narrated in dual POV from Deb's and Harlow's perspective.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

The protagonist of this book is Roller Deb.  As the synopsis says, people make fun of her because of her sexual orientation and because she likes to skate.  She has a mom who drinks a lot, and her sister is dating a guy named Dave.  Deb has to rescue her sister, Gennifer, near the beginning because she is at Dave's house, and it is on fire.  She saves her sister, but Dave unfortunately finds Gennifer and takes her away.  She becomes mixed-up in the world of the fae and trolls when she goes to find her sister.  The other main character is Harlow.  He is a troll, and he is Deb's Protector, and Deb is her sister's Protector.  Deb and Harlow were promised to each other when they were young, but she doesn't remember that.  She doesn't know that the mom she knows isn't her real mother.

The villains in the book were well-developed and evil.  McJagger is the troll king, and he is extremely evil.  The rightful troll king is Harlow's father, Othello, but he abdicated, so he is kept in a jail.  McJagger has two children, Dave and April, who are evil as well.  April gets Deb to fall for her and join roller derby.  This troll family makes faeth (a drug).  They even allow humans to use this drug in certain doses.  Dave keeps Derek, a human, as his slave.  Derek doesn't have any free will against Dave.

The world in this book is well-built.  The fae and pixies are not sweet, innocent creatures.  There is a scene that involves Deb, Harlow, and some pixies.  Pixies are rather difficult to handle.  The trolls and the fae are involved in drug-dealing, and they keep human slaves, as I mentioned above.  Humans don't want to get mixed-up in the fae world, because it is a very dangerous place.

If you like YA fantasy, read this book.

Katie