I adored the first book in this duology, Wintersong. It ended on such a cruel but perfect note, and I immediately requested the sequel to review. I was confident that it would be just as good, if not better, than the first book.


Jae-Jones' writing is stunning. It is purple, but it's effective and it means something. It's...purple with a purpose, I guess. And considering I'm not generally a fan of purple prose, I'm surprised and delighted that Jae-Jones' style won me over. I just love her graphic choice of language.
Shadowsong is just as atmospheric as its predecessor, but in a different way. The story is darker, heavier, and it takes place in some breathtaking new settings. We get to see Liesl and her family adjusting in the wake of their experiences with the Goblin King, and Jae-Jones looks at their story from a different angle. It's enlightening and it's fresh.

The plot is slow, but it's tight. I love how the story focuses inward, focuses on the characters' internal struggles more than their external ones. There's little to no romance, and instead it's a story about Liesl's relationship with her brother and how they both - as broken people - are struggling to find themselves, heal themselves, and come to terms with who they are. It's heartbreaking, but it's beautiful and thought-provoking. There's a lot more backstory and history relating to the Goblin King's past, as well, which is needed.
I also love the strong themes of identity; how the characters face theirs, and all Jae-Jones says about the subject. I adore how the ending zooms in on exactly that, to the point of Liesl saying who she is - what makes her "Elisabeth, entire". It's a maelstrom of everything come before it; it's a catastrophe of heartbreak, of love, of sacrifice, and of identity. It is numbing, but it's perfect.

We see so much more of these gorgeous characters in the sequel. We see more of Kathe and François, and there are two new characters as well: the Count and Countess. Everyone is vivid and three-dimensional, and the recurring characters are more fully realised. Liesl and Josef are each struggling with demons, and I love love love the development they each get. Liesl is one of my favourite YA heroines ever.
I also adore the dynamic sibling relationships between Liesl, Kathe, and Josef. They're so well written, so human, and Jae-Jones is not afraid to dig deep.


Shadowsong is a soul-stirring piece of psychological poetry taut with raw emotion. I personally prefer the first book because it's more romantic and gripping, but this sequel is still incredible.

This is the second book after Wintersong and you really need to read that one first to be able to follow this one. It's a good book so I would recommend reading it anyway. So we revisit Elisabeth after she returns to her world. She of course does go on with her life but really it's only a half life as her heart is still with the Goblin King. A lot happens in this book to get us to the end, some ways it is very convoluted on how we get to the end. I do think that everything that happens and brings us to the end is how it should go, otherwise we would not get there.

After being kind of on the fence with wether or not I really liked the first book or not I still had very high hopes that the second book might do it more for me. Sadly it just didn’t meet my expectations...

Ehh... TBH this was kind of disappointing because I LOVED the first book and I expected to love this one even more. But sadly I didn't love this book. I don't have much to say about this book, because the stuff I liked about it is very similar to what I loved about the first book. :D DON'T GET ME WRONG - I really enjoyed reading this. I just didn't love it.

<b>Why I didn't love this as much as Wintersong</b>

•I NEED MORE GOBLIN KING

•WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO KÄTHE AND JOSEF??? THEY TOTALLY CHANGED!

•90% OF THE STORY'S SET IN THE REAL WORLD (I MISS THE UNDERGROUND)

•JOSEF DIES. I NEED MORE JOSEF + FRANÇOIS MOMENTS THEY'RE SO CUTE

•I GOT KIND OF CONFUSED BECAUSE I COULDN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE DREAMS LIESL HAD OF THE GOBLIN KING AND REALITY

Again, JJ's writing is so overwhelmingly beautiful <3 SO MANY QUOTES I WANT THEM TATTOOED ALL. OVER. ME.

<i>For love is our only immortality, and when memory is faded and gone, it is our legacies that endure.

There was ever a part of me that loved to face danger, to stare it in the eye and dare it to do its worst.

Yes, this is oblivion. This is heaven, and this is hell.

"Madness is not a gift," I said angrily.

"Nor is it a curse," the Count returned gently. "Madness simply is."</i>

Dear S. Jae-Jones,

You know what?

<img src="https://media0.giphy.com/media/7vnLYLzwY9c8E/giphy.gif?cid=dc79c3575a7ed00746796a6c679b2fde"/>

Sincerely yours,

Chloe

<b>Overall rating</b>

★★★★

Welp, I'm kinda disappointed, but STILL. This is really good. GO READ IT.

Things I liked:

- Liesel is bipolar, and I loved that the author included a content warning in which she discusses how she, like Liesel, lives with bipolar disorder and how difficult and rewarding it was to write a character who reflected many of the mental and emotional struggles she has faced in her own life. The author is upfront about that fact that this second part of the series "contains characters who deal with self-harm, addiction, reckless behavior, and suicidal ideation,” which I felt set up the book’s emotionally more chaotic and darker tone. I felt that being aware that Liesel is intentionally a character dealing with bipolar disorder added another layer of richness to the story that I may not have experienced if I hadn’t read the author note.

- On that note, I also felt that Liesel's uncertainty over if she can trust her own mind created an interesting tension within the story itself. We, the readers, struggle with Liesel as we try to decide if what she’s seeing/experiencing/remembering are accurate depictions or if they are influenced by unreal elements (and whether or not that makes the story less ‘true’).

- The lyrical prose that I loved in Wintersong continues in Shadowsong, however it takes on a much darker and introspective tone. The story felt more fragmented than the first book, and there was a great deal more time spent examining Liesel's interior landscape than the outside world. However, these introspective moments were interchanged with stories about the Goblin’s past as well as action sequences.

- I enjoyed that the focus of this book was less on Liesel’s relationship with the Goblin King (though he does appear in this book) and more on the fallout Liesel experiences upon leaving the Goblin world and the way it affects her relationships with her siblings, especially Sepp. I wanted to give Jae-Janes a round of applause for including the touching scene between Kathe and Liesel in which Kathe calls out Liesel for expecting Kathe to continue to do all the emotional work in their relationship, and the negative emotional toil this expectation has had on Kathe, and the damage it has done/will do to their relationship as a whole unless Liesel steps up and starts putting in effort. Emotional labor is labor y’all, and I love that Jae-Janes took the time to discuss the value of shared emotional labor in having healthy relationships.

Things I didn’t like:

- Kathe’s storyline felt underdeveloped. She disappears from the story, and then re-emerges only to fulfill plot points. You are told that she’s doing BA things, but you never actually get to see her doing them or watch her develop as a character.

- Not a lot of the Goblin King. So this wasn’t a deal breaker for me, but it did catch me off guard that the Goblin King was so absent in the book. If you are thinking Shadowsong is going to have more of the passionate romantic moments that were in Wintersong, think again because there are none to be found here.

In summary, I really loved this darker installment of the Wintersong duology. I loved that the multiple characters deal with mental health issues in this book, including the main character, and that this second book explores what “living for herself entire” really means to Liesel. In many ways, this book is an study of Liesel’s journey to self-actualization and self-love. It takes her lack of self-worth (what caused her to take her sister’s place in the first book) and digs into the root of the issue. I also really appreciated the the book explores the effect depression and other mental health issues can have on an individual and on their relationships with others. Honestly, I felt that Shadowsong was in many ways a stronger book than Wintersong, and that Jae-Jones did a great job subverting the expectations of the readers while still creating a captivating second installment to this duology. If you are looking for a hauntingly lyrical romance, the Wintersong/Shadowsong books are for you!

Disclaimer: I was given an electronic ARC copy of this novel from the publisher (via Netgalley) in return for an honest review.

I received a free copy for an honest review. 

More accurately three-and-a-half stars. 

Shadowsong is a sequel to the popular young adult fantasy novel Wintersong, with a story revolving around a young musician-composer and the tales about Goblin Kings and old nature laws. The story picked up sometime after the conclusion of the first book, with our protagonist and heroine, Elisabeth, better known as Liesl, trying to survive back in the world of the living after her father's death sometime between book one and book two. 

In my last review, I stated how I saw great potential in the book and its ideas, and that I said if the author makes the story-line stronger and more fast-paced in book two, it will greatly improve the series in my opinion. I will also definitely enjoy it more.

Well, that didn't happen. 

This book had the exact same problems that I stated and wished for improvement in book one, with no changes at all. The story had the same slow pace that actually kind of feels like it's in slow motion with our same...Liesl.
I really, really, actually don't know what to say about her. I don't know how can I describe what I'm feeling right now without making this review a complete jumbled mess. 
The only reason I didn't give this book a worse review than book one is that I am conscious about the fact the same problems only felt worse this time because of the combination from suffering from book one added on to this book, not because any the problems in Shadowsong was actually worse in any way. But that is not good. There should've been improvements. It's understandable when the first book is slow due to the world buildings, story build-ups and character introductions, but if book two is still just as slow, there are no more excuses for that. 

The second books are always the point in a series where the story is supposed to be picked up. This is why there is even such a thing as the second book syndrome. It's caused because authors tried too hard to make the first book interesting, resulting in the second book to be slow. The correct way should be slow, fast, medium to fast. It's just like running. When writing a series, authors must look at the entire picture - the whole story arc in order to properly plan a series so that the timings would be right. If you run too fast the first lap you'll get so tired before even reaching halfway. If you run too slow the first lap you'll never catch up to the required pace. If you run slow the entire time you have just failed PE class mile time. 

Looking at this series now, it most likely would run a twenty-minute mile by the time the series ends with book three. 

I think the story's slow pace is actually its biggest problem. I may have mentioned about Liesl being part of the problem, but thinking of it now I think it's that way because of the slow pace. Its slowness really made me annoy about everything in the book, including Liesl. Not like she was better or worse. She still feels like the desperate heroine from Wintersong, but...it's not entirely her fault. Lots of books have heroines like Liesl, but they didn't annoy me as much as Liesl did because their books didn't give me so much time to be so fed up with her (because the other books weren't so slow paced). 

It's such a shame because it's really not like this book/series is a complete unredeemable train wreck that makes my eyes bleed when I read it. It literally only has one problem, and if the author just does one thing and this entire series would be so much better. The review probably makes it seems like I loathe the book, it's actually not exactly like that. I didn't really enjoy this book/series as much as I should've, but I can still see through all those problems and recognize that this is not a  bad book. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Everything about this book was great - the world building was on point, the ideas weren't like they were a mess, and the characters weren't (too) bad. I can still see why it was so popular. I am just so sick of how slow it is. 

I would recommend this book (kind of), but for those with a book purchase budget, I'm warning you: borrow this book, don't buy it. You'll really hate yourself later for it. At least for me anyway.

Wintersong was one of my favorite reads of 2017 so I was beyond excited when I was given the opportunity to read this as an advance copy. Unfortunately, this second installment in the duology did not live up to the expectations set by the first novel. I wanted so much to love this book, but I found myself feeling bored by the plot and wishing Liesl could just get back to the Underground to be with the Goblin King. Their relationship was such a huge part of the first book that having so little interactions between them in this novel felt strange. I did enjoy getting to see Liesl and her siblings together, and the descriptions of the world were as beautiful as they were in the first novel. In the end, I would still recommend this to fans of the first book, but perhaps tell them to go into it without the really high expectations that I did.

It is rare that I enjoy a sequel more than the first book in a series. It is even rarer that I finish a series completely content and satisfied by the ending.

Shadowsong managed to accomplish both.

From the very first page it is clear how much more confident S. Jae-Jones became as a writer from Wintersong to Shadowsong. That is not at all to say I didn’t enjoy Wintersong–I absolutely adored it–but Shadowsong is notably stronger. She found her voice and she ran with it, and the final product is gorgeous.

Shadowsong gave me so many things I live for in my fantasy. Morally gray characters. Honest mental illness rep. Dilemmas with no good solutions. It is unapologetically dark and twisty and brutal and raw. I never wanted to put it down, and if I hadn’t been reading during my lunch breaks at work I probably never would have.

The mental illness rep, in particular, was so, so well done in ways I’m struggling to articulate. It was honest, yes. I loved the moments where Liesl was reflecting on her own illness, openly struggling to control her moods despite being so aware of them.

I knew I was insufferable, yet my irritability was a force both beyond and beside me. Even I found my own whining exhausting at times. I vacillated between rage and despondency, furious I couldn’t force happiness on myself.

I related to this line so much it hurt. Oh. And I see all you reviewers badmouthing Liesl as being whiny, or annoying, or inconsistent and unrealistic. I see you hating on a character for her mental illness. It’s been very disappointing and hurtful seeing this, but especially from people claiming to be diversity advocates. Those of us with mental illnesses know we’re your last priority, but you could at least pretend.

Anyway.

More than all of that, what really struck me about the mental illness rep was how seamlessly it was woven into the greater plot. This duology is dark, but in Shadowsong S. Jae-Jones really forces you to stare that darkness in the face. Liesl’s story is not just about a girl trying to run from her past, it is about a girl trying to run from herself. And seeing her learn to embrace her madness as part of herself, even if it is a part she hates, was incredibly empowering.

The character relationships are also incredibly well done, especially Liesl’s relationship with her siblings. We get to see much more of Kathe and Josef in Shadowsong than we did in Wintersong. We also frequently get chapters in third person that follow Kathe or Josef when they are not with Liesl, so we get to see how they develop both in relation to Liesl and on their own. Kathe becomes much more of a character in her own right than I remember her being in the first book. She’s grown up a bit, and I really loved getting to see the relationship between the two sisters.

I think that choosing to have some chapters follow other characters in third-person rather than sticking to Liesl’s first-person narration was a risky move that paid off big time. It provides so much of the story’s tension by giving you little snippits into what is happening elsewhere. It also slowly delves into the Goblin King’s past, which were some of my favorite chapters. The shifts never felt sudden or disorienting. It was handled masterfully, and makes the book so much better than it ever could have been from Liesl’s perspective alone.

There is a content warning in the beginning of the book that I strongly encourage you read before starting Shadowsong. Characters have suicidal thoughts, exhibit reckless behavior, deal with addiction, and there are references to self-harm. Everything is handled very well, in my opinion, but they can still be triggering.

I will also add a warning for my fellow ace-spec babes: there is a line near the end of the book that seems to imply that one of the ways changelings are different from humans is that they do not desire physical intimacy. I think the line is meant to explicitly state that this character is ace (though again please always remember that asexual does not equal sex adverse thank you), but it definitely suggests that his being a changeling is the reason he is ace. The book makes it very clear that love without interest in sex is not a lesser form of love, but the fact that sexual attraction was used to differentiate changelings from humans did catch me off guard.

All in all Shadowsong is a beautiful, haunting story and I loved absolutely every second of it. I have no doubt that this will be one of my favorite 2018 reads, and I hope you all love it as much as I did.

I struggled with the first book in the series because I did not form a connection to any of the characters. The main character was a quivering mass of contradictions and those surrounding her just felt flat. Unfortunately, those opinions haven't changed for the second book but I feel like I appreciate the story more than I did the first time. I realize that I was a little harsh in my first rating.

The writing itself was very well done. It was poetic and impactful, drawing the reader in through written depictions of the music and the magical landscape. It is there that the author flourishes, despite what I still believe to be a lack of character development overall it is certainly improved from the first book.

The story's focus in both books is on Liesl and I feel that we received an abundance of character development for her. As readers, we spend so much time inside her head that we intrinsically know manic mood swings and lack of self-worth. I believe that is what makes me feel that the other characters like her brother and sister are so woefully under developed. I want to know so much more about them and their motivations. I felt this was better addressed in Shadowsong and was so happy to see the characters given more depth. We even get to know Liesl's "austere young man" more, which was something I specifically wanted from the first book.

Despite the fact that this is a retelling of the Goblin King and a fantasy novel, there is an element of mental health in it which is nice because you don't normally see that in fantasy. It is also own voices as the author has struggles with some of the same things that Liesl has.

Overall, after taking a step back from the story I found myself less critical of it. It is not the richly populated character piece that I would have prefered, but I ended up enjoying the author's writing immensely. I still believe that this series is suited more to older teen and adult readers as a result of the poetic nature of the author's writing.

When I read Wintersong last year, I was so impressed with the lovely writing and vivid imagery. I am pleased to say that I enjoyed Shadowsong just as much! It's quite a different book from its predecessor, however. To me, this was absolutely fine, I loved the direction the story went in. It felt logical to me to have the characters focusing on the aftermath of the previous book, and ultimately trying to find themselves and their places in the world.

The tone is dark, in a different way. The main character, Liesl, is dealing with mental health issues- a rarity in fantasy, and I applaud the author for including it (this is also #ownvoices, make sure you read the author's note!). She's also trying to put her family back together, all while dealing with her own broken heart. I absolutely felt for her during the course of this story.

I realize that some people will be a bit unhappy that the romance isn't front and center of this book as it was in the last book. But I think it was quite important for Liesl to work through her circumstances, and to figure out who she was and what (or who) she was willing to fight for. And of course, the Goblin King is involved, no worries!

There was a point in the middle that the plot felt like it was meandering a bit, but the beginning and end were quite strong and definitely made up for some of the slowness in the middle. I also do need to mention, the formatting of the eARC was a disaster- and that sometimes that took me out of the story a little. Obviously I'd never fault the book for that, but... it was some of the messiest formatting I have ever encountered. I assume my trouble was perhaps part that the story was a bit slower in the middle, but also that I was trying to decipher stuff and that made it feel even more so? It's as good a guess as any, right?

Ultimately, this book completed the series nicely. I had feelings during the course of the story- happy, sad, swoony, all the things. And I felt that it was a strong conclusion; not too many loose ends, nor too neatly wrapped up. Definitely one of the best series ends I've read in awhile!

Bottom Line: With completely enchanting writing and fabulous character development, this sequel provided a very satisfying ending to a lovely series!

This review appears on Goodreads and will also appear on my blog later this month.

I think this book may have suffered slightly from being a sequel.

I don't mean that it wasn't as good as the first book, because I do actually think it was an enjoyable book. Had I read it in a different context, I probably would have given it four stars, and walked away from there satisfied with what I'd read. However, what I was looking for was a sequel to <i>Wintersong</i> -- and this book is just very different from the first one.

There were a few reasons I loved the first book. It was a very <i>me</i> book -- one where I wondered why I hadn't read it earlier. It had music and Christina Rossetti and otherworldly beings and angsty immortals, and while it had plenty of romance, it managed not to put me off by virtue of being strongly focused on music, which I could relate to without caring about kissing. The Goblin King gave me a ton of feelings about a couple of my own characters, which always biases me towards liking a book.

This book, however... well, it still had music, that's true. In some ways, it had more focus on the music world, although I think slightly less on the actual processes of creating music, mostly because Liesl and Josef are not in the most productive stage of their life.

However, it wasn't really a book about angsty immortal otherworldly beings. They briefly came into it, but not to anything like the extent that I'd hoped. It was, essentially, a book about mental illness. The author says as much in a note at the beginning. And it was a good book about mental illness! I enjoyed reading the emotional journeys of the characters and seeing how they handled their ups and downs. I had a lot of feelings about Liesl's relationship with her brother and how much she cared about him.

In fact, that relationship was definitely central to the book, and you would think that, objectively speaking, I should have liked it more than the more romance-focused first book, since sibling relationships are much more my thing. I'm not entirely sure why I didn't. Josef gives me many feelings, it's true, but he's got a while to go before he can occupy the 'angsty immortal' space in my heart, since he's still only a teenager; maybe that's just what it was.

Overall, though, the issue was that I was expecting a fantasy novel in the same vein as the first one, and I got a very different book about family and mental illness, with a fantasy veneer.

That said: this book doesn't only suffer from my expectations and the fact that it's a sequel. It also suffered because I read it instead of going to sleep becaues I was having an existential crisis at the time and was existing in a state of terror about the inevitability of mortality. I was not in a good place. No book read while feeling like that is ever going to have positive vibes associated with it.

I did also have a few unrelated problems with it. I wasn't a big fan of how Josef's feelings towards Francois were treated. It felt a little... no-homo-ish? Althought there are very real reasons why Josef doesn't exactly experience love in the same way as everyone else, there were a few statements about it being a love of the minds or a relationship between their creativity or whatever, and that just seemed to detract from it as a canon queer pairing, which I wasn't a fan of. Just because Josef isn't interested in physical intimacy doesn't mean he can't love Francois as much as the next person; after all, ace people exist. So those lines felt odd to me, and I wasn't a fan of them.

On the whole, this is a book you need to go into without expectations. Did you read the first book a while ago, and have now forgotten what happened in it? Good, that'll help. If you go into it expecting something like that, you'll be disappointed, and that's a shame, because this book doesn't deserve to be a disappointment. It's a good book, and like I said, in another context it would have got four stars. But it's not a great sequel, because it so completely avoids the things I cared about in the first book, and so I'm only going to give it three.

That said: there were still feelings. Different feelings to the ones I expected to be feeling, but many feelings regardless.

Once again, I have been bewitched and consumed by S. Jae-Jones words and “elf-touched” world that is illuminated in the conclusion of her duology known as Shadowsong. While much of Wintersong focused on Liesl and her ventures in the Underground, Shadowsong provides an emotional layer to Liesl’s life outside the Goblin King’s realm—in a real world where chaos ensues from both the supernatural and human order. Shadowsong is so emotionally driven and parallels so many classic literary themes, which made me love this story and conclusion so damn much.

One of my favorite aspects of Shadowsong is that the story focuses a lot on Liesl and her strong relationship with her brother, Josef, and also her sister. The bond between Liesl and Joseph is solid and so emotional that it makes my heart ache. And what I adore about their connection is that even the secondary characters can see and feel that selflessness and love between these two.

Although he flickers in and out of Liesl’s life in Shadowsong, I obsessed over every page the Goblin King was present. The Goblin King is much like the brooding Mr. Edward Rochester of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. Both males see themselves as selfish and monsters; but I love that both still hold a spark of hope to be with their beloveds. Like Mr. Rochester, the Goblin King can be found beckoning Liesl through haunting whispers of her name. He may wear the wicked smirk of a wolf, but his love still burns so bright and hot for his true Goblin Queen (Elizabeth/Liesl).

Similar to the Victorian novels that I adore so much, I itched for the dramatic reuniting scenes between the Goblin King and Liesl in Shadowsong. And let me tell you, I was not disappointed with how much their flame burns and sizzles on the page. Their love story is truly the essential piece that had me continuously turning every page for a reunion of passion, heartache, and sacrifice.

Shadowsong reads like a beautiful sheet of music. The words form a melody that enchantingly carries the reader through the grittiness of hopeless dreams, yearning questions, and unattainable passion. And as the tempo quickens, the pacing of the story throws the characters into a whirlwind filled with burning desires and unsettling fears. For me, reading Shadowsong, was like meeting with an old friend—at first, there is that instant panic that your connection will no longer be present, but once you are in each other’s presence, everything clicks like no time has ever passed. While reading Shadowsong, it felt so natural and blissful to be back in this goblin-infested world again, and now that the story has concluded, I just want more.

Originally posted on Forever Young Adult on 2018 February 07

BOOK REPORT for Shadowsong (Wintersong #2) by S. Jae-Jones

Cover Story: Breaking Through
BFF Charm: Confused
Swoonworthy Scale: 1
Talky Talk: In Her Head
Bonus Factor: Brothers and Sisters
Relationship Status: One Date Too Many

Danger, Will Robinson! Shadowsong is the second book in the Wintersong duology. If you have not read the first book in the series—Wintersong—turn away now. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. If you have read the first book, however, feel free to continue below.

Trigger Warning: There are instances of suicidal thoughts and evidence of self harm in Shadowsong that might be triggering for some readers.

Cover Story: Breaking Through

Where the cover of Wintersong is extremely wintry and frozen-feeling, this cover is warmer, and the shattering of the snowglobe along with the poppies makes me think of spring.

The Deal:

After becoming the Goblin Queen and falling in love with the man behind the Der Erlkönig myth, Liesl left the Underground without looking back. But just because she didn’t literally look behind her doesn’t mean that her thoughts aren’t still with the Goblin King. She’s trying to move on, but it’s hard when part of her doesn’t want to.

When she gets a letter, supposedly from Josef, telling her to come to Vienna immediately, a chain of events sets off that will tests Liesl’s strength—body, mind and soul.

BFF Charm: Confused



Liesl and I got along well enough in Wintersong, but she spent much of Shadowsong wrapped up in her emotions and in her own head. She barely had time for her siblings, much less friends. I’d certainly want to try to help her work through her demons, but as I’m not a professional, I’m not sure I’d be much help.

Swoonworthy Scale: 1

Shadowsong was a drastic departure from Wintersong in more ways than one, but nowhere was it more apparent than the lack of swoon. Liesl and her “austere young man” are separated, and she’s preoccupied with figuring out her relationship with her siblings, how to keep her family’s head above figurative water, and what to do about her growing internal struggle. I missed their enemistry greatly

Talky Talk: In Her Head

Although Shadowsong is once again a historical fantasy novel, this time taking place in Vienna and the nearby countryside, the world building and atmosphere took a backseat to Liesl’s identity crisis. Because of this, the plot kind of wandered and plodded along, and the resolution happened too quickly in the last 50 or so pages. Shadowsong is missing a lot of the magic of its predecessor.

Bonus Factor: Brothers and Sisters



Liesl’s relationship with her sister Kathë and brother Josef is sometimes strained, sometimes beautiful. I’m an only child, so I have little practice with sibling relationships, but theirs felt quite real.

Relationship Status: One Date Too Many

After our first date, Book, I was enamoured and satisfied; I didn’t really see the need for a second. But I gave it a go, and I’m honestly a little bummed that our second date has dimmed my find memories of the first.

What are monsters but mortals corrupted?

I was blown away after reading Wintersong last month and was thankful for the relatively short wait for the follow-up book. I applaud the author's acknowledgment page and the honesty about her struggles with mental illness. It answered many questions about Liesl's character, so don't skip over it prior to reading.

While this book contains the lyrical beauty of its predecessor, Shadowsong felt more raw and desperate. There is a romantic tone, but the theme of family and unconditional love remains at the forefront. Liesl undergoes such heartbreak as she attempts to fulfill promises made at the end of Wintersong.

"You can be running toward something or running from something, but you cannot do once at both,"

Liesl and Kathe's relationship continued to blossom, and I appreciated how much they grew to rely on one another. Josef's story is more prevalent, and I admired how much he is loved by his sisters. The ending is beautiful, and nothing I predicted. This appears to be a duet, but I would happily read anything from this world again.

For love is our only immortality, and when memory is faded and gone, it is our legacies that endure.

This is somewhat dark for a YA/fantasy, but it's one I'd recommend to any seasoned reader of the genre. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

First and foremost, this book felt disjointed. It may be the content or the will of the author or perhaps it was because my e-book had jumbled letters and misplaced sentences. Either way for this reason alone, I will be rereading the physical copy of this book to see if that changes my opinion at all.

I can tell this was a very personal project for the author. Not only because of the author’s note in the beginning but also because the characters felt so real. They were complex and complicated and dealt with real life emotional issues. Nothing was black and white for the characters. Everything was deep and complex.

I must admit, I did not like this book as much as the first. I felt as though many of the chapters could have been left out and much of the action didn’t happen until the last 5 percent of the book and happened all too quickly for my liking.

That said the things I did like about the book was of course the ending. I felt, as the reader, the story came full circle and had a satisfying resolution. Notice I didn’t say happy but rather satisfying. This does not imply that the ending was happy but rather I felt resolution. I highly enjoyed the characters, and I loved getting more backstory on the Goblin King. His story was both intriguing and heartbreaking.

Now for the things I did not like. Again this may be because of the jumbled ebook or because it was the story itself, but some of the plot points felt muddy, unexplained, and often times confusing and conflicting. But (and I am not speaking for experience as I do not have bipolar disorder) I imagine that’s how the mind of someone with bipolar disorder feels. So if that was the author’s intention, then job well done.

Again like the first one, this book is not for everyone. There are trigger warnings of self harm, mental disorders, and suicidal thoughts so please heed caution if these things effect you. I gave this book three stars not because I didn’t like it but at times felt it was difficult to read (again may be the formatting) and confusing. I think once my hard copy comes in I will give it a reread to see if my mind is changed.

While I enjoyed Wintersong, I felt that Shadowsong was, at times, confusing. The Wild Hunt was not a well-formed antagonist and the concept of "elf-struck" and "elf-touched" just seemed to be thrown into the plot. I think the overall idea was for the changeling be sacrificed in order to appease the Wild Hunt but it could have been written in a clearer way.

5 stars are not enough to rate this beautiful, wild and soul scorching novel. S. Jae-Jones brought back two beautiful and untamed characters in Liesl and the Goblin King, that capture your attention and keep you engaged throughout the entire novel. When they are lost and agonizing, ever searching for their true self and what it means to be whole, you are lost, searching and longing, ever privy to the wildness and their story. The journey of the main characters in the book, and the more in-depth exploration into Josef's story, is dark and wayward, and heart wrenching. In no time at all expect to be emotionally invested in this second installment. If you read Wintersong you'll understand what I mean.

This tale is proof that beauty is more than what you see on the surface. True beauty can be dark, disheveled, and uncanny. Loving yourself can be even more challenging than loving another. The writing is so vivid and bewitching, I found myself lost in this novel for hours at a time and when she describes the earthy scent of the Underworld, I smell it too.

One-Line Summary:

So much more than the romance in the first book, Shadowsong weaves together lore, history, mystery, and powerful themes in a book that’s as dark as it is lyrical.

Summary:

Once there was a little girl, who played her music for a little boy in the wood. She was an innkeeper’s daughter and he was the Lord of Mischief, but neither were wholly what they seemed, for nothing is as simple as a fairy tale.


It’s six months after Wintersong ended, and nobody is living happily ever after. Upon their father’s death, Liesl and Kathe inherit a crippling amount of debt, struggling to make it by. Even worse, Josef seems to be missing in action, and no one’s heard any news of him. Until they receive a cryptic letter:

Master Antonius is dead. I am in Vienna. Come quickly.

But Liesl is facing more than just concerns about her estranged brother. There’s a sinister force that’s been released into the world. People are dying at an alarming rate, found with frost on their lips and a silver line across their throat. Elfstruck, they’re called. Victims of the Wild Hunt.

At the center of all of this is the former Goblin Queen, who forsook her marriage vows for her Changeling brother. But the closer they get physically, the more the distance between Liesl and Josef grows, and she’s no longer convinced that love will be enough to save him. It hasn’t been enough to save her king, der Erlkonig, who has become corrupted by the old laws.

More and more, Liesl is convinced that the key behind all her problems lies in the secret of the first Goblin Queen, who left the Underground alive and returned to save her beloved.

The Positives:

- Every bit as lyrical as the first book. The prose has the same musical quality to it, the same beautiful descriptions and imagery, and a tone that’s evocative of a proper dark fairy tale. There are moments that blur the edges of reality and potential insanity or hallucination, and I felt these were done particularly well. Clear enough to follow, yet written in a way that gets across how surreal the scene is meant to be.

- Action, intrigue, and secrets, oh my! Where Wintersong felt every bit more a romance, Shadowsong feels more like a dark lore mystery, which was a refreshing approach to the sequel. Honestly, I fangirled so hard at the romance in the first one that I was concerned I couldn’t handle more, and I didn’t have to worry about that. Yes, there’s still overviews of romance, but it takes a back seat to the rest of the plot. As it should when, you know, the world might very well be ending.

- Oh, what beautiful themes you have, my dear. Of course, the music is still the underpinning motif of the story. It wouldn’t quite feel like a sequel if it wasn’t. The themes, however, stood out so much to me in this. They were strong and brilliant and relatable. Selfishness, sacrifice, love, self-discovery. There was so much depth to this novel, so much soul-searching, and everything was incredibly relatable. I found myself thinking about my world and my relationships, and OMG, DO YOU KNOW HOW DANGEROUS THAT IS?

- CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE GOBLIN KING, THOUGH? Woven throughout the story (in a rather superb way that conjures all the wonder of a dark fairy tale) are scenes about the Goblin King. He has a backstory, to some extent, an origin story. There is still plenty of mystery (after all, you can’t expect all the answers, now can you), but he’s more fleshed out in this book, more alive, more real. I absolutely loved delving into his backstory. It was marvelously done. There were so many more reasons to love and empathize with his character.

- THAT ENDING. Oh gosh, that ending. It was nowhere near where I saw things going. There were a lot of revelations in the last 10% or so that made perfect sense in the scheme of things, that were hinted at but I hadn’t completely put it together. As it’s said many times, nothing is as it seems, and life is not as simple as a fairy tale. The ending does feel complete, though, and it’s a happy ending, which I didn’t necessarily expect from a dark fantasy, so I enjoyed that. I won’t say too much more because spoilers, but suffice it to say, even though this the conclusion of the duology, there is still plenty of things left for imaginative fans (or fangirls/fanboys, more specifically, maybe) to dream and wonder about, which is the sort of ending I like.

The Negatives:

- The Prochazka story feels incomplete and open-ended. Considering they played such a big part of the book and were hinted at possibly having a very important role in the book, they just kind of … disappeared. There’s no closure about them or what they really wanted with Liesl and Josef (I can guess at a few things, but I’d rather not guess, considering what a big plot point this was). There was a lot of backstory dropped about them and their ancestors, and I feel like it had the makings of a very good story, but it wasn’t seen through, nor was their relationship with each other explored.

- I’m sorry, but where do the Faithful fit in again? Like the Prochazkas, this is a pretty big deal and an important plot point, or so it feels. Also like the Prochazkas, it completely disappears when Liesl no longer needs it. I want to know more about them, their history, their little troupe. I want to know about Bramble and how his life as a changeling is so different than Josef’s (because it clearly is, in very significant personal ways).

- The old laws just don’t work for me as a character. Which is what they basically are in Shadowsong. I had a qualm with the old laws in Wintersong being used as an end all, be all, even though I have no idea what they are, except an annoyance. For something that’s all important and apparently has the power to destroy the world (and no reservation doing so), nobody actually seems to know what the hell the old laws are. Shouldn’t that be important? I mean, I’m not expecting a manual to be passed around or something, but shouldn’t there be a crash course? Like hey, now that you’re Goblin Queen, don’t leave the Underground or the world will be plunged into endless winter? I have a really hard time understanding why, if these things so crucial and powerful, they’re not more well-known among der Erlkonig’s own and imparted to others rather than being kept all secretive and not shared.

- Great that Liesl and Josef’s story ended, but what happened to everybody else? The other characters just sort of fall to the wayside (re: The Prochazkas). What’s become of Kathe? Francois? The troupe? They’re all mentioned in passing in Liesl’s final letter to Kathe, as are the Prochazkas, dismissively, in a way that ties up nothing. Such a big deal was made between the two books about Kathe and Francois and how they’re tied up in everything between Liesl and Josef that it sort of irks me that they get a fade-to-black sort of ending where they appear to be mostly forgotten. Maybe it’s not important and I’m harping on something that doesn’t matter, but for me, I really wanted their impressions about everything. Liesl spends so long thinking about them in this book and wanting to reunite with them that it feels like they’re just left hanging.

Overall:

I actually really enjoyed this. More so, even, than the first one. While the first was focused more on dark romance, this was focused more on the dark fantasy aspect and the lore. It delved deeper into the characters and their stories and upped the stakes substantially for everybody involved. There was a blurring of lines between “good” and “bad” and exactly what someone might be willing to do for both love and selfishness. It felt like a fitting conclusion for the duology, and left me plenty to think about (and maybe fangirl over? I’m not ashamed of it) after it was done.

Disclaimer: I received a free ARC copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was so incredibly excited when I was asked to do a review of Shadowsong for the tour. Having recently read Wintersong (my review can be found here) and LOVING it, I wanted to get my hands on Shadowsong as soon as possible. I was hoping for something as overwhelming and epic as Wintersong was and not only was I not let down, but it blew my expectations away. Before we continue, I do want to go ahead and let y’all know that there are spoilers in this review for Wintersong.

I do need to mention that there was one secondary theme in the story that is aro/ace-misic. I don’t think it’s something S. Jae-Jones did on purpose and it might or might not have been run past a sensitivity reader. While reading it, I came across a single line that felt like it crawled under my skin and made this theme clear, but I thought I might have been over-reacting or over-thinking it. But then when a friend, who is also on the tour, came to me about that same line, I knew I had to include this tw/cw in my review just in case. I’m not going to put the line here just in case it’s spoily, but if you’d like for me to send it to you privately I would be more than happy to. On to the rest of the review!

The characters of Shadowsong are mostly those who we got to know in Wintersong with a few new and sinister additions. I really like how the character arc of Leisl went in this one because she is allowed to be uncertain while still trying to hold it together. Each character is given enough development to be realistic enough to converse with, though there were a couple I would as soon stay away from. They were all really well done and largely individual, save for a few of the secondary characters who we didn’t see as much and, thus, didn’t need to know as well.

I do want to go back to Leisl’s arc specifically really quick because her arc in Shadowsong gave me something I didn’t recognize until I started writing this review. At the beginning of Shadowsong, Leisl is still reeling from having to leave behind Der Erlkönig in order to stay alive. She’s unable to compose because each time she plays, she’s mentally thrown back into the Underworld. This, in some small way, made me feel like Leisl’s arc is decent representation for PTSD.

She was forced to leave behind the man she loves to be trapped in an eternal prison to continue living and working on a piece of music that is not only mainly about their relationship but that they worked on so closely together up until that point. She tries holding it together and putting on a good face, and she believes she is doing a decent job of it until she’s disillusioned of that belief. Music and composing are such huge parts of who she is that suppressing the need to compose pushes her further into her depressive state. And yet, when she does compose, it’s clear that it triggers a deepening of that depressive state as well. I just really enjoyed seeing this play out in the story, no matter how subtly it was done.

Shadowsong is set in a few different places because there are more than one point-of-view and they travel a bit. The Underworld didn’t receive as much world building as it did in Wintersong, but as this is a sequel I don’t feel like it really needed it. I was still able to picture the world and understand the way it functions from reading Wintersong. In Leisl’s home in the small town of Bavaria, we didn’t get much development either because, again, it was developed thoroughly in Wintersong. If its been a while since you read it a re-read wouldn’t be out of order and might help with this.

The two locations that received the most world building were Vienna and Snovin. Vienna is a bustling city, which is not what Leisl and her family are used to, having come from a small town inn. Snovin is an estate with a dark and magical background. Of all the places in this story, Snovin is probably my favourite. It’s the first place since the Goblin Grove and the Underworld that we get to see a good bit of magic but it was a bit twisted, which became clearer as the story revealed the backstory of the estate.

The story itself was so incredibly elaborate that it almost dares you to put it down, which is, of course, impossible. From beginning to end, there is something happening or something learned about the characters and their arcs. It flowed relatively well and everything came together so nicely at the end. Reading Shadowsong was basically eight hours of having my heart torn out, set on fire, and then replaced again. Burn, rinse, repeat. The ending of Shadowsong was so incredibly bittersweet and all loose plot lines were closed up so neatly.

The only thing that kept this from being a single sitting was the fact that I’ve had to work almost every day, a fact that I was still not prepared to let get in the way of me reading this digital galley. Late into the night, on the way to work (bus sickness be damned), on my breaks, and on my lunch break, I was deep in the world of Shadowsong and refused to come out. My coworker, who insisted I read Wintersong in the first place, only encouraged this, understanding when my only response to “how is it so far?” was “I HURT.” Shadowsong could easily be the finale of a duology, but I’m not sure I’m ready to let go. I look forward to reading more of S. Jae-Jones’ work in the future!

Shadowsong is the second installment in author S. Jae-Jones's Wintersong duology. Shadowsong picks up 6 months after the ending of Wintersong. My recommendation? Read the books back to back. That way you can keep your memory sharp at what happened in the previous book, and where things are at the moment Shadowsong opens. Once upon a time, there was a little girl who played music for a boy in the woods. Girl just happened to be an innkeeper's daughter who had the brilliance of a composer like Mozart and was raised listening to stories about Der Erlkönig.

The boy became the Lord of Mischief aka the Goblin King. For years, the boy waited patiently for the girl to make a choice and become his bride. When she finally did wander into the Underground the Goblin King let his Queen leave and return home to her family. By doing so, he cheated the old laws of their sacrifice and now everyone is paying the price until the sacrifice is made. The most scary part is that the Wild Hunt is on the loose bringing death with them and Liesl is the prize.

This is a strange, and dark story that actually takes place mostly above ground in places like Bavaria and Austria. Elisabeth Vogler isn't the character we met in the previous installment. She doesn't know who she is any longer. She's working for her families inn, she hasn't written anything of any consequences since her return from the Underground, her mind is running in several different directions at once, and she is puzzled as to why her brother Josef hasn't been in contact. Then several things happen. First, she receives a curious letter from Joseph telling her to come to Austria, and later, she receives an unbelievable offer that a patron has agreed to help her move to Austria to be with her brother and his love Francois.

For those who understand Bipolar, you know that person exhibits characteristics that tend to be extreme hot and extreme cold with emotions. The author pretty much admits that she has written Liesl with that in mind. But, let's not forget about Josef. Josef gets more than his fair share of the storyline while the Goblin King sits in the background having to deal with his own issues. In this world, you can't escape the madness if you are Der Erlkönig's own. In this world, you have to give up something in order to gain something in return. What will Elisabeth have to give up when all is said and done? In the end, will Elisabeth be able to walk away and have a happy ending, or will the Wild Hunt make her one of their own?

"I lived in the in-between spaces. Between the pretty lie and the ugly truth."
"The mad, the fearful, the faithful, those who dwell with one foot in the underground and one foot in the world above."
"You can be running toward something or running from something, but you cannot do both at once."