I was unable to finish this book because the download kept on glitching and freezing, but what I read of it was interesting.

I received an ARC copy from netgalley for my honest review,  so thank you netgalley and publishers for offering me this book! ♡
This is the next book after wintersong, which i have not read yet, I would recommend doing so before tackeling this book. This book, however was phenomenal. I adored the characters and the twist and turns this book took me on. If you like heart-wrenching stories of romance and tragedy then this is the book for you! This was my first book by this author,  I absolutely enjoyed every second of it.  It was fast paced and just alltogether an easy read. ♡ I give this book a 4 star rating!

I apologize if my feelings are SPOILERS, but this duology was definitely not for me. I came for the Goblin King, because he was the best thing about Wintersong. I came for an installment of myth and magic, mischievous Elfkin and a dissolved barrier between the Underworld and our own. I came for folklore, and fairy music and a certain wild abandon... Labyrinth meets Amadeus, if you will.

I have no idea what I was imagining.

This...this was definitely not that.

I got Francois as "the black boy".

No.

Just.

No.

I got "O Goblin Queen" mountain of a mess Liesl, (who is honestly the worse combination of dull meets manic.) The Wyld Hunt who hunted boringly. I've already forgotten the lore I was supposed to retain. What I wish I could forget was the awkward moment or two of discomfort when an otherwise "boring" Liesl perks up to "lusty" Liesl after exchanging a couple of sentences with the worst version of her "austere young man." His creepy, gnarly monster self shoots her a couple insinuating remarks and this causes her to dribble? No. Girl. No. Just stop. Take a breath. You're not thinking clearly.

No lights. No action. Just a melancholic mish mash of everything that did NOT interest me in the first book.

And yes, for the record, fans of Wintersong will most likely go "mad" for this installment. For the rest of us, I found this lacking a certain magical world richness. It needed characters with power and personality, other than tart favorites Twig and Bramble. This story definitely needed a protagonist to root for. One who, I thought, would have possessed the emotional fortitude, creativity and the courage to go after the man she loves...or at least compose some powerful, otherworldly, symphonic masterpiece out of it.

I have no idea why I expected what I expected. So I apologize again. Most likely because I'm Canadian!

That being said, I'd like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my very honest opinion!

Shadowsong picks up six months after Wintersong. Liesl is back in the world of the living working in the inn alongside her mother and sister Kathe, Josef is still away with his mentor Master Antonius and his beloved Francois, their father is newly dead, their grandmother Constanze is growing madder by the day, and people in the village are dying off - found dead in their beds without a clear cause of death aside from blue on their lips and frosty slashes on their throats.

Liesl is adrift, mourning the end of her relationship with The Goblin King and she's unable to compose anything let alone finish The Wedding Night Sonata. When the family receives a troubling letter from Josef and another correspondence from a mysterious new benefactor Liesl and Kathe leave Bavaria for Vienna to start their lives over and be reunited with Josef. But Josef is changed, he's no longer the child Liesl grew up doting on but a cold, withdrawn young man full of resentment.

Tensions are high as they settle into life in Vienna and soon questions begin to arise about their mysterious benefactor. Why did the Count bring them all to Vienna? What does he really want with them? Are the things people say about the Count, wild stories about sacrifices and opium laden parties, true?

Liesl, Josef, Kathe, and Francois are about to learn that their unseen patron has a very specific need for Liesl - one that has nothing to do with music and everything to do with the Underground world she left behind.

Shadowsong is beautifully written, lyrical prose that drew me back into the world I fell so in love with in Wintersong. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting of the sequel, it was so much more. Where Wintersong was about Liesl discovering who she is and coming to terms with it (and of course our introduction to the sexy Goblin King), Shadowsong is about the bonds between siblings and the rifts that can tear us about, about love and loss, depression and despair. It felt rich with myth and legends, like the stories passed down from generation to generation to explain mundane things like winter and the changing of the seasons in mythical ways, like I was back in school studying mythology.

Maybe because I love someone who suffers from depression, but this book spoke to me in a way that almost moved me to tears in its realistic beauty. I thought the feelings of Liesl, Josef, The Goblin King, and the people who loved them were well plotted. I felt like I could understand and relate to all of the characters at one point or another.

I loved that this book was written in multiple POVs, in the perspectives of not just Liesl but Josef, The Goblin King, and even occasionally Kathe and Francois and that there were also passages where we could peek into The Goblin King's past. It made for a richer reading experience, at least for me. I also greatly appreciate the glossary at the end of the book. It was the one thing that I had wished I'd had with Wintersong because although I can understand a little French, my German is very limited.

Overall, I really loved this book. It was better than I could have hoped for and the ending was perfect. I wouldn't have wanted it to be any other way.

I thought the writing in this book was absolutely gorgeous! The story line was even really good, and the brother/sister bond was great. My main complaint was lack of the Goblin King. He was my absolute favorite character in the last book, and I was expecting him to play a large role here. But still a great sequel, and I liked the ending!