Who remembers reading Christina Rossetti's "Goblin Market" in high school/college? Well, take that poem and smush it together with a Hades and Persephone myth and you have the epic tale of Wintersong. It was magical, and it was slow-paced. And while that can be a bad thing, the slow pace of a novel, the captivating prose proved to be this story's number one selling point to me.

While the story arcs through the trials that Liesl fighting to return her sister from the clutches of the Goblin King, to throwing her life away to become the Goblin Queen, to understanding the real nature of the Underworld, the goblins, and her life down in this hellish kingdom, it does go through a slow churning cycle. I found myself checking my percentage counter at the bottom of my kindle screen just to see how far I progressed, and every time it didn't feel like enough. What made up for the molasses-slow plotline happened to be the elegant and magical prose rather than the characters themselves.

Now I liked Liesl when she wasn't throwing tantrums or falling for the goblin glamours, but I found myself more captivated by her when she was with the Goblin King in the end. She has a blind eye, and doesn't do as she is guided to do. Her grandmother told her to watch out for her sister and what does Liesl do? Not watch out for her sister. Sister of the year. As far as relationships are concerned in this book, and how Stockholm Syndrome goes, Liesl had it bad, in a steamy sort of way. And I dug it. Not condoning SS through. Had some tears in the eyes by the last page. I would definitely read a novel just on the Goblin King alone for his character was strange, but in a good way. Strange like multi-faceted/ multi-personality and I want to know more about the lore and tale of The Goblin King.

4.5 Wine Glass #Review for Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones

Crystal's Thoughts:
S. Jae-Jones sweeps readers away on a enchanting journey through the court of the Goblin King where nothing is at it seems, and reality is but an illusion. Where time passes in years, not in hours, and a young woman must battle her way through the darkness in order to find the light within her, and the song that lives in her heart.

Liesl is a young woman who spent her childhood dreaming in the woods and entertaining a woodland boy with her music and her spirit. As Liesl grew though, the more burdened she became by her responsibilities to her family and each new load slowly whittled away at her soul. She soon forgot the woodland boy, and her promises to him. In time, she also forgot her music and those magical pieces of herself. That boy never forgot her though, he waited everyday for her to remember him until finally he could wait no more...

"Once there was a little girl who played music for a little boy in the wood."

A poetically beautiful tale full of magic, music, darkness, and light, Wintersong captivated me with that first sentence. Exquisitely written, S. Jae-Jones creates a rich and vibrant world set around enchanting characters that will capture you, heart and soul. While the first half of the story is fast and chaotic, a whirlwind of settings and emotions, the second half of the story is sedately paced, and more intimate as Liesl discovers all of those hidden facets of the Goblin King...and those within herself that she has kept buried for some many years. The Goblin King is a frightening, yet seductive creature with many layers to his persona. At first you hate him for his ruthlessness, his heartlessness...but then you begin to understand him and hate Liesl for her selfishness and intolerance. A riot of emotions encompass Liesl's trek through the Underground and above. Bursting with passion, and heartbreak, you can't help but empathize with Liesl as she falls down the rabbit hole, and the Goblin King with his centuries of loneliness and forced traditions.

While Liesl is not your typical sultry heroine, her beauty comes from within, once she allows it to shine. Like I mentioned already, my feelings for her tottered throughout the story, and while I enjoyed that her character was so different then most, it was laminated on quite a lot throughout. I pitied the poor girl for it. That doesn't stop the Goblin King from seeing the internal beauty that shines from within Liesl though, and this leads to some interesting adult situations. I say interesting, because not all of them gave you that happy, swoony feeling. However, it added a few tender and passionate aspects to the story-line.

The only thing keeping Wintersong from 5 stars is the ending. It's not one that you could call a, "Happily Ever After". It left me with an ache in my heart, and a yearning for so much more. I really hope that this is not the end of Liesl and the Goblin King. I will definitely be keeping an eye on this author for more stories in the future. If you loved the movie, Labyrinth, then you're going to fall in love with this enchanting retelling of the Goblin King. Though it is entirely different at it's core, it has enough magic and mayhem, as well as some of the alluring David Bowie in the Goblin King's character, that made that movie such a sensation. Young adult, new adult, and fans of fae inspired tales should not hesitate in picking up Wintersong today!

This book was absolutely beautiful and completely intoxicating; it left me feeling breathless, like I was spinning and dizzy and knew I should stop, but couldn’t put it down. It spoke to me in ways a book never has – and I’ve been a reader all my life, so that’s a LOT of books that never spoke to me such as this one did. I was completely absorbed in the world, writing and characters.

Liesl is passionate, rash and impulsive, prone to fits of rage, to highs and lows. To self-sabotage and self-doubt. The author said something about Liesl in her newsletter and I can 100% see it. I won’t say what it is for fear of spoilers, but it explains so much and I think it fits perfectly. This thing, it’s a part of her and makes her who she is.

The Goblin King. The Lord of Mischief. The Ruler Underground. He was a complete mystery, yet he was fascinating. I wanted to know everything about him and, though I finished this book ages ago, I still do. I can’t get him out of my head. One second, he was the Goblin King – distant, cold, foreboding. And the next, he was the boy Liesl used to know – kind, caring, passionate. He was also stubborn and his moods mirrored Liesl’s, causing them to butt heads quite often. Yet even when they were butting heads, there was undeniable chemistry between them.

The writing in this book is so gorgeous and elegant. It has an old-time feel to it that I love. It was described as being based on the movie Labyrinth, but it also seems to hint at a certain Greek Myth. I don’t know for sure if I’m right or not on this, but if I am, then I’m even more in love with this book than I originally thought I was. You guys know I love Greek mythology more than anything! (I also won’t say which Greek Myth I think it is to avoid spoilers – you’ll have to read the book and see for yourself!)

I can understand why some people didn’t enjoy this book – Again, it was described as being a Labyrinth retelling and I think many people expected something closer to the movie. But in my opinion, this book is loosely based on the movie and if you think too much of the movie while reading this, you might feel a bit let down. I urge you to go into this book knowing it’s not exactly the movie. It has hints of the movie, but it is its own thing entirely, as well. If you do that, I think you’ll really, really enjoy it.

So.. *Takes shuddering breath.* I really can’t even think what else to say. This book really just blew me away, more than I ever imagined a book could. More than I thought this book could. I expected to love it, but I didn’t expect it to speak to my soul. I never thought any book would ever do that. This is one I will cherish for many years to come. One that I have a feeling I’ll want to re-read often. I (obviously) absolutely can’t wait for the second book. For more interactions between Liesl and the Goblin King. For more background and history regarding the Goblin King. For the reveal of his true name. And for so much more than that, which I can’t even put into words.

Obviously, I MORE than recommend this book. It’s the one I’ll be telling EVERYONE they should read. It’s by far one of the most amazing books I’ve read in a long time. It’s up there with Harry Potter and with Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses series, of which I recently finished A Court of Mist and Fury – another book that I gushed about and highly recommend. These two were by far my favorite reads of 2016 (because even though Wintersong is a 2017 debut, I read it in 2016) and I will never stop recommending them, as you can see in my 2016 End of Year Book Survey, in which you can see how often I recommended these two books!

So… Go buy this book! Go read this book! Go LOVE this book! Seriously, I can’t recommend it enough!

Labyrinth and Legend(young Tom Cruise & unicorns) were two movies on my watch 500 times list as a kid. I’ve always loved that eerie, fantastical feeling those movies captured and likely when Bowie passed away I saw Labyrinth in the theater so it’s fresh in my mind.

Wintersong definitely captures so many things that I loved about Labyrinth itself. There were even parts in the book that reminded of particular scenes….

The peach
The Ball
The Chase

Even though I saw the similarities, I also felt like this story stood on it’s own. I loved the writing, it felt very lyrical. Being that so much of the story is rooted in music, it makes sense. Also the story continues on after the rescue. I started to see more stories interwoven in like Hades and Persephone or Beauty and the Beast. It really felt like it was multiple stories in one book even though they flowed into one another. The book felt rich, vivid and imaginative.

I loved the music tie-in. It really gave the story it’s uniqueness as the characters experience their emotions through their songs. I liked how it was the key to so many things.

Liesl is the daughter of a musician but often overlooked as she takes on the role of protective older sister. She has Josef, her brother who she considers the other half of her musical soul and who she has rested her hopes on that she herself has given up. Kathe, her younger sister, the beauty she wishes she had. She wants to make sure she marries well and again gives up the love she wishes she had so her sister can take it. So when Kathe is taken to the underground, it’s no question that Liesl will follow to save her. I really enjoyed her character the first two parts of the book but when it came to the third. I often found myself frustrated with her. She just kept tearing herself apart and taking everything that the Goblin King did as a negative. I understand that she is lost and trying to find her way in this new existence of putting herself first but sometimes I wanted to shake her and just be like. Play your music! The second part of the story is probably where she experiences the most growth.

I loved the Goblin King. I wanted to whisper...is your name Jareth? He was mysterious, clever and everything you would want from a Goblin King. It’s interesting to see Elisabeth peel back his layers to find what is actually underneath. As more and more of his lore comes to light you really see what he was before.

I really loved the story and even the bittersweet end, that felt like it was the only direction the story could go. Although Elisabeth mentions something that gives me hope. Her song is not finished.

This was very beautiful and magical! It reminded me of Holly Black's dark fairy tales but in like, Olden Mozart Times. There's a lot of beautiful description of music--playing, composing, listening--that would probably land even better on readers who aren't totally tone deaf like me, but I still appreciated them.

3.5 stars
As a fervent fan of the Labyrinth movie, I was very excited when I found this book and read it's description. My hopes for this book was that it would be the equivalent of a novel-length Labyrinth AU fanfic, and that was pretty accurate. If you're not a big Labyrinth fan, i'm sure this book would still be enjoyable. But the small allusions to the movie throughout the book were a treat to me. However, my feelings about this book overall are mixed. Sometimes i had trouble understanding the reasons behind things that were happening, or the importance of the situation that the author was trying to convey. I felt like she sacrificed some clarify for the sake of poetry or romance.
[
I also felt like most of the second half of the book was really melancholy, and I was particularly bummed by the ending. If the ending didn't make me so sad, I would probably give the book 4 stars. (hide spoiler)]

However, I take it as a good sign whenever I find myself thinking about a book the next day. I'll certainly keep an eye out for Jae-Jones work in the future.

I happen to have a thing for Goblin Kings...so no surprise that I would be drawn to this. I became enthralled with the Underground immediately and stayed in love with it until the end. I really enjoyed most of the characters and the story but I did get sick of all the musical metaphors. It was a bit much. Other than that, I really enjoyed this one. I have heard that there is going to be more...I hope so, I really really want more!

Thank you Netgalley and Thomas Dunne for the opportunity to read the book and review it honestly.

This marvellous tale is set at the turn of the 19th century. Liesl is known for being quite plain, she is overshadowed by her brother in music and sister in beauty. Their Grandmother follows the way of the old laws and has been telling Liesl and her siblings stories about goblins and fey ever since they were little. It was Liesl's duty to watch over her sister and make sure she wouldn`t be tempted by the Golbin King. Plans go astray when Kathe is taken by the Goblin King and Liesl knows that she must go after her. To retrieve her sister she has to travel to the Underground, but the Goblin King is also known as the Lord of Mischief and he will not make it easy for her.

After I finished this story I heard that it was inspired by the movie Labyrinth. It has been many years since I have seen that movie and it didn`t impact my enjoyment of this story at all. I flew through this book, it had me gripped from the beginning to the end. S. Jae-Jones writing is magical, the way she describes the Underground brings it to life. I feel like I just watched a movie, I could picture everything perfectly. Sometimes when stories have a lot of description it can be really overwhelming, but that wasn`t the case for this story. Liesl reminds me a bit of Sofi from Howls Moving Castle. Mainly because they both view themselves as plain and figure they will never amount to anything, but they go through a huge transformation and discover who they are. Liesl cares so much about her family and sacrifices a lot of herself for them. The main part of this story is Liesl taking the time to figure out who she is as her own person. I loved the relationship between Liesl and the Goblin King, though sometimes they did annoy me. There are a couple scenes between them that are pretty steamy and might not be fitting for a younger reader. There are so many things happening in this book and I don`t want to mention all of them, some should stay a surprise. I loved this book so much and I would highly recommend it. It was enchanting and dark, beautiful and ugly. It is a wonderfully written story and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did if you decide to read it.

A seductive, richly woven story. S. Jae-Jone's WINTERSONG is a book that will sweep you into a dark, enchanting story, and leave you wanting more. Jones's writing is mesmerizing. I love the poetic, and romantic tones to her storytelling. Together, these elements compliment the setting perfectly.

I am a sucker for a dark, romantic, and fantasy, and this book was just what I needed to break my reading slump. There are so many elements to this book that I thoroughly enjoyed. One of my favorites is the mystery of The Goblin King, and the history he and Liesel have. There's this romantic notion between the two, and a relationship that is complicated by the laws that govern The Goblin King's world. It's one that makes them at times friends, and then enemies, as they play a dangerous game that has all the odds stacked against Liesl.

This story has a love-hate relationship that I enjoyed. It worked. I loved what it grew into. It's a bittersweet one that makes you wish there more to come after this book ends, and leaves you feeling a little heartbroken for each character. I really liked how music ties into this story. It reminded me of another dark, romantic story I love, The Phantom of the Opera.

I really enjoyed the strength Liesl gains on her character journey. I also liked how she, and The Goblin King are able to see past the walls they both put up. It was interesting to see how vulnerable they both were in a few scenes together, and how each of them reacted to it. I fell in love with The Goblin King as much as Liesl does during those scenes. It was easy to feel compassion for him, and his situation. Something he's not able to control, but has to endure.

I loved this setting. It really set the mood for the story. This world is dark, mysterious, intriguing, and magical. It is as dangerous as it is enchanting. It's one I enjoyed being lost in right along side Liesl. I loved the way the real world, and the fae world are blurred. The Goblin King's world is definitely ruthless.

The slow pacing, something that often annoys me in books, worked great for this book. I loved that there was more showing vs telling. Had it been a fast paced book, it would have lost the showing this story needs. The showing is what pulled me into this book. I get that some readers won't enjoy it, but this book definitely wouldn't have worked had it had more telling.

While I did enjoy much of this book, there were a few things I wasn't a fan of. Towards the last 1/3 of the book Liesl becomes very hot, and cold. So much so I re-read part of the part just to make sure I didn't accidentally skip a page or two. Thankfully that confusion didn't last too long, but it was enough to pull me out of the story, and wonder what the heck was going on.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. From the writing to the setting, and everything in between. S. Jae-Jones gave me a story I hoped for, and one I look forward to re-reading again. I know this won't be a story everyone will like, but it's one I absolutely loved spending the afternoon reading.

New writer S. Jae-Jones makes an excellent impression with her dreamlike Wintersong. A gorgeously-written novel retelling of Christina Rosseti's famous Goblin Market poem, this debut is smooth, enticing, and darkly romantic. A deft mixing of the mundane and the magical worlds made for a layered, original, and interesting take on the myth of the unknowable, mischievous Goblin King. The atmosphere of Liesl's life is a rich one, and the plot surrounding her is creative and enterprising, tying together themes of love, duty, family, and independence.

Wintersong is an easy recommendation to make for any reader who appreciates ambitious storytelling, authorial sleight of hand, antihero love interests, eerie supernatural worlds and creatures, and/or multifaceted characters. There is a lot going on in these pages, all capably rendered in Jones' truly lovely prose. The romance itself is somewhat problematic given the fluctuating nature of Liesl's situation, but the author is persuasive, clever, and makes her Goblin King undeniably mysterious and alluring to both her heroine and her audience.

Somewhat similar in tone to Naomi Novik's Uprooted, S. Jae-Jones breathes new life into an old favorite and additionally creates several new story elements to make the resulting novel hers alone. Wintersong is the rare kind of debut that makes readers hope for a long-running series.

*Book Received in Exchange for Honest Opinion/Review*

This author has a way with words, that much is clear when you read so many poetic lines throughout the story. I was drawn to read Wintersong and begged for a chance to be on this tour because I had to know what the hype was about. I mean really, I saw the cover and heard the mention of a Goblin King and goblins...and I was like, "sign me up". Such a unique story, I have never come across goblins in all my years of readings. This is not your typical YA, and disclaimer, there is no HEA in my opinion, and S. Jae-Jones is bringing something completely new to the genre.

I loathed Kathe for being such a selfish character. I also felt alot of sympathy for Liesl for having to bear the weight of her diminished hopes and dreams. The Goblin King is charming and still a mystery to me that I yearn to know more. Overall, up until the last 10%, the story had me hooked. I wanted to know more, I was curious as to how selfish or selfless these characters would be.

I had a few issues with the book, there were parts of the story that lacked fluidity, it seemed like I was jumping around at times. In addition, the last 10% of the story felt really rushed and I was kinda disappointed as I came to the end on my Kindle, because I still have unanswered questions. There were just a lot of gaps in the story about secondary characters and I wanted closure. I also really wished that there was an HEA...I could have totally seen that happening but the ending left me with alot to be desired.

Labyrinth is one amazingly weird, gorgeously seductive movie, and as its retelling, Wintersong stayed true to those elements while delivering a beautifully written tale with unforgettable characters. The book is a treat for those who love their stories full of imagery and lush writing, and combined with stellar world building, unexpected twists, and a plot that keeps you on edge, the end product is spectacular. Liesl—our protagonist, whom I’ll call a perfect antiheroine—is extremely flawed and totally relatable. The journey we go through with her is dynamic, just like herself. The Goblin King dazzled, seduced, confused, and made me cry. Their romance was so bittersweet and so real. The limited but well portrayed minor characters added harmony to the perfect song that was the story. A little darker and more sinister than your regular YA fantasy, Wintersong reminded me of a seductive symphony, which I’ll definitely recommend to everyone who loves to get lost in an enticing and beautiful fantasy.

Wintersong is a retelling of Labyrinth (which I've had no previous experience with). The cover is absolutely stunning it's one of the reasons I wanted to pick this book up! The main reason, however, was because the story line was very similar to Danielle L. Jensen's Malediction Trilogy which I loved. For those of you that have read the Malediction Trilogy this novel was nothing like that. Wintersong is definitely unique in the way this story is presented.

This story takes place with Elisabeth and the Goblin King. Elisabeth is a composer of piano sonatas. The Goblin King is a violin virtuoso. I enjoyed the classical music aspect to this story. For those of you reading this story that have no musical background this could potentially be difficult to get through.

Wintersong is a very slow burn. If you like action packed stories this wouldn't be one for you. The story was able to keep my interest even though there wasn't a lot of action. I didn't like how often Elizabeth put herself down and compared herself to her sister. This story constantly reminded you how Elisabeth was not beautiful and she therefore seen herself as worthless. Eventually, Elisabeth began to gain confidence in herself.

So I will admit I am not a Labyrinth fan. Blasphemy I know. But I really really enjoyed this book and I didn’t need any knowledge or liking of Labyrinth to get there.

This is the story of Elisabeth, called Liesl. She is the oldest of three and the sparrow to her sibling’s beauty and talent. Liesl dreams of composing but she must hide her music away to care for her family. When Kathe is taken by the Goblin King to be his bride, Liesl goes after them and makes the bargain of her life.

This is a take on the old legends of the Wild Hunt and the Goblin King and changlings. I adored it. Wishes have consequences, even unspoken ones. Names have power. You are everything you could be and nothing at the same time. Memories are possibilities and music can be dangerous.

The writing of this book is so lush. The descriptions are perfect, there is enough detail to capture the imagination but not every nook and cranny described. There is dirt, glamor and out of season dangerous fruit. Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market was visible and so gorgeous. I found this book the perfect homage to that poem.

Music was an integral part of this book and I was in love with it. I feel that the setting of Bavaria was perfect, because of the music. There were points in the book when I could almost hear the notes and I finished with my head full of melodies.

I did have two reservations. There a couple spots in the text where the narration switches from past tense to present tense. I did not like it. I don’t know if it was part of the ARC I was reading and the format is different in the published book but it threw me out of the story every time it happened.

My other problem was with the ending of the book. When I finished this book I was so mad. I hated the ending because it was an ending but it left everything expect one major plot point up in the air. But then I found out that there is a second book. Which is a huge relief because I was so angry. My savage beast soothed, this review is a lot better than the angry rant it almost became.

I am looking forward to the next book because I want to know what is going to happen with Josef and Kathe and the Goblin King. I want to know his name.

I will add a tiny warning. There is sex and it was more explicit than I expected for a YA book. Think Court of Thorns and Roses.

**** Thank you to Thomas Dunne for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review****

Okay so I know not a lot of people have been loving this book and when I first started reading I wondered why because it was so good! Unfortunately that didn’t last and I’m left somewhere in the middle with mixed feelings on “Wintersong”, it had both good and bad.

PLOT

With the way this book started out I would have thought it was for sure a 4 or 5 star book but once I reached 50% it all went downhill fast. I loved that at the beginning of the story we are drawn in immediately when Kathe, Elisabeth’s sister is kidnapped by the Goblin King and she must play a game against him in order to win her sister back. Now I love when there are wagers of life or death in books and the main character has to be cunning in order to beat the mythical/powerful “bad guy” and this was interesting and even a little dark too, however, as I said once I reached 50% this was all over. The sister’s kidnapping conflict is resolved at the half way point of the book and that’s what kept me reading to start with so with that done there wasn’t much of a plot left and definitely no more action.

The last half of the book is hellishly slow and tedious and focuses more on the characters of Elisabeth and the Goblin King than any real action or plot. Now character driven stories are all well and good but it only works when I’m not confused out of my mind, there just seemed to be a lot of plot holes and things missing so I never really understood the characters are what was happening and why. Sooooo many plot holes, I was left with so many questions at the end of this book!

Then that ending…..what? Remember the plot holes I mentioned? Those really came into play for the ending of “Wintersong” because I was really confused about a lot of things including why the story ended the way it did. Also the question “how?” comes into mind a lot too. It didn’t end the way you’d expect and I liked that it was unpredictable but overall it was unsatisfactory.

Another thing that kind of took away from the experience were the constant in depth descriptions of playing and composing classical music, now I was in band and choir while I was in high school so it’s not like all of it was flying over my head but it got really old really fast. They were CONSTANT and there is such a thing as too much detail…..

I’d also like to mention that this book is marketed as a retelling of the movie “Labyrinth”, which I personally have not seen but know the overall gist of. Keeping that in mind I would like to say that this book doesn’t seem to have much in common with the movie other the character of the Goblin King really.

The writing was very pretty and poetic which I liked and is honestly probably one of the few reasons I even made it through the second half of the book. I’d still be very interested in reading future books by this author.

I did like that while this book is YA it never really feels like your typical YA book while reading, it feels just a little more like an adult book or maybe even new adult. However, it’s nice to see a “YA” book that isn’t full of the usual cliches.

characters

As I mentioned earlier “Wintersong” is more of a character driven story, especially in the second half, so the characters are very important. Unfortunately as good as they were there was still a lot that I felt was missing and in the end I felt they felt a little flat, distant, and confusing. I did still like them overall though!

I really did enjoy Elisabeth’s character because she is plain but very talented. Not something we usually see in YA, which I liked. However, I didn’t like being reminded just how “plain and ugly” she is all the time….got a little annoying.

The we have the Goblin King and while I loved him for the most part throughout the whole book his character changed quite drastically from the first half of the book to the second half. We started out with the mischievous, dark, sexy, and mysterious Goblin King and then we got the mushy, almost kind of spineless Goblin King who also had a lot of problems making up his mind about stuff. He does however still remain pretty mysterious at the end of the novel which kind of frustrated me but also I appreciated it because I didn’t want the image of the mythical, immortal Goblin King being ruined.

The other characters that really made any other appearances were Elisabeth’s family in which only the siblings and grandmother were important. Each family member had a different and important effect on Elisabeth’s self esteem, the grandmother believes in the old myths (the Goblin King) and raised her grand kids to as well, Kathe is pretty and vain but still very much wants her sister to love her, Josef is her musical muse and helps her grow her talent, her father and mother both kind of put her down though. I still loved that after all her family puts her through, Elisabeth still loves them fiercely.

romance

The romance is a major factor in this book and while I really supported it and wanted it in the first half of the book, I found myself really doubting it in the second half. Overall I just sort of found it to be…..okay. Which it could be worse.

While this is not necessarily insta-love since the Goblin King and Elisabeth used to play together in the Goblin Grove I still feel that it resembles insta love because of the fact that we don’t really receive any backstory on this relationship they had before the current timeline in the book. There also seems to be a lot of angst and tension between the two characters and it kind of got old after a while and again I will say because of the second half of the book.

in conclusion

I REALLY LOVED THE FIRST HALF OF THIS BOOK! Seriously if the second half would have been anywhere near that level of goodness I would have easily rated this book higher but alas that wasn’t the case. The second half only dragged on tediously, made me start to question if I really liked the characters or romance at all, and just overall really confuse me. Seriously the confusion was real. I was given information that was never again talked about or resolved.

So in the end I can only give this 3 stars and that extra star is only because of how much I loved the first 50%.

What I Liked:

All of the characters were pretty well done including Elisabeth and the Goblin King
Did I mention the first half of the book was amazing yet?
The dark atmosphere
The romance was alright and I shipped it
The writing
Not a typical, cliched YA book

What I Didn’t Like:

Slow pacing
The second half of the book was soooooo boring
Over detailed explanations of music
Lots of plot holes and things left unexplained
Also lots of confusion in general about certain plot points
No real backstory on the Goblin King
Kind of unsatisfactory ending

RECOMMEND

Overall I can’t say I have an opinion on recommending this book, if there was a way I could recommend only reading the first half I totally would in a heart beat. I thought this turned out to be a little disappointing but the writing was very nice and if you can look past some of these negative points then give “Wintersong” a try!

Gorgeous writing, yet, I confess to being less enthusiastic about the plot. Perhaps its because I'm not a classical music fan, but I personally found Wintersong to be a little too slow moving for my taste. The characterization of Elisabeth was lovely as was her progression from quite mouse to independent young woman. Considering how much I enjoyed the characterization, I was surprised at my lack of interest in the plot. For me, there was too much focus on music and its creation and not enough exploration of the world and the other characters in it. As that is my sole issue with the book, I suspect that Wintersong will appeal to fans of lyrical writing and have a high interest in music. Sadly, that reader is just not me. There will also be huge appeal for fans of fairy tale retellings since this very much evokes that tone.

This is going to be a really quick lil' review because I honestly don't have a lot to say because I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this book.

Let me start off by saying this is one of the most unique books I've read in a while, which I appreciated. That being said, this book was weird af and I didn't understand half the shit going on in it. It was very... weird. Yeah, weird. I didn't particularly connect with any of the characters and the romance was just really unhealthy and creepy to me and made no sense. Like seriously this girl goes from taking her sister's place and thinking of the Goblin King in a negative light to constantly wanting to have sex with him and be the apple of his eye. She becomes quite needy and their whole dynamic is just off to me.

As a violinist, I kind of appreciated the music aspect that was stitched throughout the entire novel, but it just seemed overexcessive at times and even though I know music, I feel like those who aren't musically talented wouldn't understand the terms and language being used.

Damn this more than I thought I had to say... So overall, I thought it was alright, but it didn't blow me away. It left me with a weird feeling.

Originally posted on Forever Young Adult on 2017 February 8

NOTE: I do not reveal any specific plot details in this review, but I do talk candidly about my feelings on certain parts, especially the ending, which could be considered a spoiler by inference. Please read on at your own discretion.

I feel very conflicted about this book, and I think partially that may be because this book seems conflicted in what it is.

Wintersong is gorgeous in its rendering, lush in its detail and aching in its emotions. Basically, this story is pretty all the way around: beautifully written and wondrously atmospheric. Elisabeth's home in historical, provencial Bavaria is enchanting. The theme of music is woven through the entire tale in a breathtaking way. Our narrator Elisabeth (sometimes Leisl), is written with care and complexity, as is The Goblin King, though it takes visible effort to get below the surface of him. I especially loved Leisl's brother Josef, and her relationship with him, and though she could be selfish and self-centered, even their sister Käthe grew on me. I can understand the hype for this book, for so many reasons. That said, I also have a lot of questions about this story, and it feels unsettlingly incomplete to me at this point.

At some point in the story, Elisabeth says, "I would appreciate if the Lord were a little less mysterious and a little more straightforward." And I felt that a lot while reading this. I get that these are the very things that make work, a story about a mortal girl and a Goblin King, lord of mischief and lover of all games and tricks. And the mystery was part of the magic, but it also served to obscure the point of this story a little bit for me. Eventually, I just wanted everyone to start speaking plainly and give some answers. I know this is a labyrinth retelling, and perhaps I've missed something in not knowing that tale well. But frankly, I was confused while reading this and I still feel that way.

Part of the trouble for me is that this book seems to be several things at once, and not all of them fit for me. The story is basically split in two halves (you could call them rescue missions). 1) Leisl finds and rescues her sister Käthe from the clutches of the Goblin King, and forfeits herself to the King in her sister's place. 2) Loosely, "Elisabeth finds and rescues herself." This half about Elisabeth awakening to herself. Finding her strength and voice, when she's always been seen - and sees herself - as small, ugly, less than). It's also where the romance comes in, and that's where I became muddled.

As I said, the personal awakening part of this narrative is heavily romance focused, and that's where I start getting confused about the point of this story. If this story is a romance, it doesn't much make sense to me as it stands with this ending (which came abruptly, and which I didn't like). Although this is part of a duet, so its hard to make a judgement about that at this point.

The romance also doesn't make sense to me in a YA book, and I think that confused me a bit too. I know this book was originally sold as an Adult fantasy and then later changed to YA (the author talked about this in her newsletter), and the story has a maturity to it - not just in content, though that is mature - that doesn't match the way it was ultimately sold. I can see why it was changed to YA - the first half especially fits, as does Elisbeth's general road to 'finding herself'. But some things in here seem better suited to staying Adult Fiction, especially the fact that Elisabeth and the King wed and there's a huge theme of surrendering fully to each other - emotionally, mentally and physically. Also the metaphorical ways in which sex was used in the story: to awaken Elisabeth's abilities and also the consequences she faced from it, were very mature. I don't know what was cut from the story to make it YA, besides certain detailed scenes, but if these mature themes were going to be in here, I wanted them to be explored a little more. I think it would have helped with my understanding of the story.

This has more to do with characterization, but I struggled to figure out the Goblin King through most of this and that heavily affected how I saw the romance. The power imbalance between him and Elisabeth appeared so great at first that I was uncomfortable and struggled to read the story as romantic until the last quarter. I just couldn't figure out his perspective at all and it made it hard to trust him. However, I'm glad that we started to get answers about the Goblin King by the end, and I ended up liking him even more than I did Elisabeth.
Still, I have many questions about him and what was happening to Elisabeth in this book, and pretty much everything else going on. I'm very curious about what the sequel will entail.

I feel like I can't come to a full conclusion about this installment until I have a full picture of where it's going. Especially because if this were The End, I would have been deeply disappointed, because what's the point? As a story of self discovery, it makes sense. But the romance is decidedly unfinished and unsatisfying (at least in the way I prefer), the ending is rushed and Elisabeth just seemed selfish to me at the end. Also, no overall, large scale problems have been solved in this book, although many are teased - if obtusely. (For instance, can the Goblin King ever escape his role? Is there another way to reorder the Human and Goblin worlds so that things change from how they are now?) These questions were teased but completely left undone, and I'm hoping the sequel will take up the role in answering them.

Tl;tr: Wintersong is beautifully written, but I felt conflicted about many elements of it, especially the way the romance was presented. I'm very curious about what the sequel will entail, and sort of wished I'd waited  to read this book until I knew more about it.

Love Triangle Factor: None - ultimately it is all Goblin King/Elisbeth, although you have to cut through a lot of clutter to see that (as in his feelings are hard to decipher). I thought the part at the beginning where the Goblin King takes Käthe he would bother me the most, but that did not at all. Elisabeth does fancy a local boy at the beginning, but that is not dragged out, and not an issue at all when she goes to the Underground.
Cliffhanger Scale: The ending tries to make you think the story is over, but this is the first in a duet, and I was unsatisfied by this ending in a way that felt like a cliffy to me. So Low/Medium depending on your perspective.