Really excited to continue this series! Can't wait to get to the next book! I cant wait to see what happens next in the series

Unfortunately this book didn’t appeal to me after I picked it up. I’m sure it will be well loved by others, however.

3.5 stars. Probably more like 4 for the first half, but only 3 for the second half, and rounded down just because the second half is more fresh in my memory. (Phew, that was a hard decision.)

I found a lot to love in this book, but also a lot to frustrate. First, let's talk about the love. S. Jae-Jones' writing is gorgeous. It has a wonderful lyrical quality that really supports the fairy tale essence of the story, and I loved it. I also really liked the world-building, which draws heavily on a region of folklore that feels both fresh and familiar. I also liked the mind tricks and the feel that the narrative gives of just how complicated it is to resist magic. This is the kind of thing that I want from trickster-style magic, and it is very well done indeed. Thanks to all of these elements, I basically inhaled the first half of the book.

The family was also something I really enjoyed. I truly liked both Kathe and Josef, and I thought that their presence gives a complexity to the story, particularly the first half, that makes the book very readable. I think that having mixed feelings toward your family is something that's really easy to identify with, and gave the beginning of the story the kind of strong emotional connection that it requires.

On a more mixed note, let's talk about Liesl/Elisabeth. Let's preface this by saying that I really liked Elisabeth. She is a giant bundle of emotion and longing, and I empathized with that a lot. If you've ever felt neglected and overlooked, Elisabeth is a character that you may connect with very strongly indeed. However, she's not a character who is particularly easy to read about. In fact, her emotional journey can be downright hard to read. S. Jae-Jones doesn't shy away from unpleasant emotions like jealousy, and she gives an almost harsh view of how we can act when we don't feel good about ourselves. Especially in the second half of the book, I struggled with Elisabeth's emotions and how they make her act. If you want a simple and pretty romance, Elisabeth and The Goblin King will not give you that. Instead, they will give you something complex and almost painful. For me, I struggled with the second half of the book, not because I thought that Elisabeth's emotions were false, but because they were hard to deal with.

I think that the other reason that the second half of the book was hard was the lack of action. The focus is all on the relationship, and that's not something I have an easy time with. I want my romance to have action, as well as emotion, and although the composing gave it some of that, there just wasn't enough. To be frank, it dragged for me. I do think that the setting was part of the problem. The Underground by necessity creates stasis for Elisabeth, and I'm not really sure where more action could have come from.

In all, I thought that this was a promising debut, but with some notable issues that made it difficult to enjoy in places. I'm definitely interested in the sequel, though, and I hope that it will give a more satisfying conclusion to this story.

Will no longer be reading or reviewing this book due to lack of interest in the title, and the fact that the title has been archived.

I have such mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I was more than excited to read a story inspired by the Labyrinth, with it’s very own Goblin King (who wouldn’t be?!). But unfortunately this book just ultimately left me feeling hot and cold. There were so many things about this that were good, but then there were things that came up and just ruined all of that for me, specifically the romance. I have to say that the romance between Liesl and the Goblin King was mostly just confusing to me at best.

Wintersong is about a girl named Liesl who has spent her whole life living in the shadow of the rest of her family and tamping down her own musical aspirations to instead help further her little brother’s musical career. Set in a picturesque Germanic village where Liesl’s family runs one of the local inns, Wintersong draws you in atmospherically from the beginning. Liesl has grown up on stories of the Goblin King and the Underground her whole life and her grandmother has always cautioned her against falling prey to goblin tricks. But one day, Liesl isn’t paying enough attention and her sister Kathe is stolen by the Goblin King. Liesl must travel to the Underground and rescue her sister from the manipulative King.

I’m not really sure even how to pinpoint the reasons that this story did not ultimately work for me. I think a lot of it has to do with the middle section of the book. The first part of the book and the ending of the book are beautifully done, they draw you in with lush language and Liesl’s unselfish love and care for her family truly make you feel for her as a character. But, throughout the middle of the book (a section that took up far too much of the book in my opinion), the story becomes something totally different and there was an element of confusion to it that I did not enjoy. Liesl longs for the Goblin King with the healthy physical and emotional longing of any young person, but boy does the Goblin King draggggg that longing out! I understood the reasons for it, but sexual frustration once or twice is awful enough, I don’t need to read about it for a good majority of the book! And ultimately the Goblin King and Liesl just did not click for me. There were times where I felt like they had chemistry and then it would just be gone. To make it worse, the whole situation didn’t really do a lot of good for their overall characters. Instead of conveying a fey mystery or trickery, they ending up both just sulking about a lot in frustration, which just in turn frustrated me.

The ending of the story was well done and almost makes me want to pick up the rest of the series, but I haven’t fully decided yet. The writing was honestly beautiful, the setting was wonderful, and I loved the idea for the story. I just think the middle half of the story suffered for being too long and too full of pointless sexual frustration! So I settled on 3 stars for this. I will definitely continue to checkout S. Jae-Jones’s writing though, because I did really enjoy it, I’m just not sure if I will continue with this series.

this story was so unique and i have already bought the second one i can not wait to get around to it!!

This book was so exquisitely written that I found myself wanting to read it again. Filled with dark tales, deep emotions, and wonderful story telling, this was a fantastic read.

(Full review coming soon)

Two very generous stars.

I finished this book quite a few months ago, but never posted a review as it's taken me this long to get past the "WTF did I just read?" stage and on to the critical thinking stage.

This book is clearly inspired by Labyrinth, but also by old folktales and mythology, and classical music. Set in circa late-18th Century German-speaking Europe, it's young heroine, Liesl, is dealing with a different incarnation of the Goblin King than the David Bowie version, although author Jae-Jones has clearly based her version on Bowie's Jareth.

The first half of this book is not all bad. Liesl goes up against the perils of the Goblin City in order to save her sister, all the while thinking too of her absent brother. Both Liesl and her brother are musical prodigies, but Liesl has had to hide her talents due to being a girl in a sexist time and place. One feels for Liesl as she struggles. The writing isn't all bad either, though the author does tend, in a misguided and pretentious attempt to make the writing seem sophisticated, to avoid contractions and to use irritating pleonasms.

The second half of this book is where it just devolves completely. I had already pegged it in my mind as Fifty Shades of Labyrinth before I read somewhere that the author herself has stated that her intention was to write Fifty Shades of Labyrinth. Liesl goes from interesting, strongish heroine to Anastasia Steele. The entire second half of the book is literally sex and guilt, sex and guilt. It is in NO way sexy. And since this Goblin King is so clearly mapped to David Bowie, and this book was published about a year after his death, it's even more weird and creepy than it would otherwise be. I mean, arguably most people who love Labyrinth could interpret the movie at least in part as the tale of a teenage girl's natural confusion over budding sexual desire vis-à-vis letting go of childhood, but when someone tries to make the subtext into text... Well, the story becomes a squicky mess. Maybe it's just me, but it's even more squicky when one considers that the ostensible lust object has only just recently deceased in real life.

So, the first half? Decent fantasy inspired by, among other things, Labyrinth. The second half? Gross, self-indulgent, and kind of anti-feminist Labyrinth fan fiction.

Exquisitely crafted, creepy children’s story tale. This was such a beautiful read but I felt the characters fell a bit short. The romance was questionable and felt...distant. I enjoyed it well enough.

Wintersong is a gem of a story that ties in old Germanic legend, the truly twisted world of faerie, and The Labyrinth into a harrowing fairy tale. While the story isn't perfect, it will capture your heart in unexpected ways.

Liesl can't help but feel like the lesser of her siblings. Her baby brother Joseph is becoming a musical ingenue as her own love for music is being stifled by her father. Her younger sister Kathe is set to marry the young man Liesl's been in love with since childhood. Meanwhile, she's expected to help run the family's inn. But Kathe's rebellious streak gets the better of her in terrible ways and Liesl knows she was taken by the Goblin King of lore. Now it's up to her to save her sister before she's trapped in the otherworld forever.

Upon making the journey into the faerie lands, Liesl makes a haunting discovery: She and the Goblin King have an unremembered history and it's HER he's been after all along.

So begins a game of wit, skill, and deception between Liesl and the Goblin King and surprisingly, something else springs up in between: desire and longing. And as she uncovers what she can about the man that the Goblin King once was, there may even be love. But to be the Goblin King's bride is to be a slowly withering sacrifice. The only way for them both to stay alive is to stay apart. Can Liesl control her feelings and her fate at the same time?

S. Jae-Jones delivers a melodic, whimsical take on the faerie world and goblins, mixing in music and 19th century culture in a way that feels fresh. I really loved the fastastical worldbuilding, the depth and the beauty of the fae world and who it juxtaposed the Liesl's uninspired home life, despite the latter being the much safer option.

Thematically, the novel deals with different conceptions of beauty. In order to push the theme, Jae-Jones makes Liesl horrifically insecure and in constant need of validation. While insecurity is expected, I do wish it was toned down a bit because it made her a little over-the-top and desperate at times. In turn, it made the relationship between Liesl and the Goblin King a little too intense for comfort. A lot of things in this story should be disturbing, but the relationship shouldn't be one of them.

I was very intrigued by the ending, however, and I can't wait to see how things go in Shadowsong!

Wintersong leaves you feeling open. Your base emotions felt. You have a bewitching enchantment. S. Jae-Jones wrote some really cool scenes that feel spooky but completely captivating. This is for a person who appreciates someone having an actual style to their writing.

This haunting romantic tale reminds me of older horror novels. The ones that lead you on a trail into their enigmatic world. I guess it starts with the world building right. There are key scenes in the book like when Liesl can't find her sister in the market, or when she finds her sister eating a forbidden fruit in the goblin grove that were written so stellar that I won't forget. You could almost feel the juices from the fruit yourself just reading about it. There is so many little pieces that make it the story such a good read. The confusion Liesl feels, and the reader's anxiety knowing what she has forgotten. Their grandmother's constant reminder of the tales of the Goblin King.

The characters are set in a different time than us. It is distant but not so distant that it isn't relatable in Germany. Which that caught me off guard. I wasn't expecting that, but I found it appealing. They have a drunk for a father, and a nagging mother. There are three siblings in total. The older daughter is the prized beauty to be sold off into an arranged marriage. The younger, Liesl, is to watch after her old sister and sort of end up the old maid. There is a brother who relies heavily on Liesl's support to maintain his confidence.

Overall I couldn't be happier with reading this novel. It was thrilling to read. I always love a bit of romance to my stories. I really liked that this wasn't as cookie cutter as I was expecting when I initially read the blurb. I am very thankful to have received an ARC copy to read.

When her sister Käthe is taken by the goblins, Liesl journeys to their realm to rescue her sister and return her to the world above. The Goblin King agrees to let Käthe go—for a price. The life of a maiden must be given to the land, in accordance with the old laws. A life for a life, he says. Without sacrifice, nothing good can grow. Without death, there can be no rebirth. In exchange for her sister’s freedom, Liesl offers her hand in marriage to the Goblin King. He accepts.


The short review...

I originally rated this 4 stars but upon thinking about it more (before I sat down to review it) I reconsidered. And really I think most readers probably feel the way I do... caught. On one hand I LOVED the book and was entranced by much of the story (or rather by one particular character)... and on another hand there were some problems that totally ruined the flow of the story so much so they dragged down the good bits. I actually DO NOT regret reading this book! It IS somewhat like a retelling of the movie Labyrinth, that well know David Bowie movie, at least when it comes to the Goblin King part of the story.

And the Goblin King is WHY I enjoyed the book as much as I did. You TOTALLY fall head over heels for him!! At first he's this morally grey fae who is gorgeous but obviously trying to trap Liesl... Then you start to understand why he did what he did... and nothing is clear anymore. Like Liesl we are forced to maneuver our way through everything we know and make judgements for ourselves. Unfortunately Liesl is a bi-polar character, something you don't learn until the preface of the second book, so it makes her seem like a poorly written young woman who can't make up her damn fool mind.

That leads us to that unfortunate end! I can safely say that it ruined the book! This is much better as a standalone romance... there was a damn good reason there was no sequel to the Labyrinth movie!! This has an unreliable main character and NOT in a good way... yet is balanced by a tragic love interest that makes you go from suspicion to love. There is this gorgeous musically inclined fae world... and yet nothing tangible HAPPENS and the few things that do happen, happen easily and without any fanfare. I could talk about more... about her sibling relationships and what she has with the Goblin King too but that would be spoilers... So I will just say that I enjoyed Wintersong but at times became frustrated.


Cover & Title grade -> A-

This is truly a gorgeous cover and I will gladly admit that I stopped to read the premise because of its beauty. I really don't understand the cover though... as a graphic designer I understand that using a violin or a piano would be too literal yet the rose just doesn't say anything to me. It's just a pretty cover to attract the eye...


Why may you enjoy Wintersong?

-The Goblin King.
Seriously this guy is so seductive! He seriously reminded me of a younger version of Jareth... This could be him before he became the movie's villain! From the opening scene where he tempts and draws in Käthe to the back flashes with Liesl when they were children... to the moments between man and wife! It makes your heart melt...

-The Music.
The heavy language of the writing style is not to my taste... it's a little bit of a slog for me to read... BUT the references to the music is divine! I really became accustomed to the writing style after awhile reading because of the way the music was woven into the narrative! So if you enjoy writing on the purple prose end this is perfect for you...

-The Mental Health.
I wish I'd known Liesl was supposed to have bi-polar disorder. I am quite familiar with the mental illness and actually anyone who has it will change their desires abruptly and seemingly without reason. They can stay with that sudden reversal for weeks but many times will suddenly swing right back. This is quite realistic with Liesl, but can be annoying if you don't know ahead of time.

I understand that Wintersong is a fantasy and a historical fantasy at that. So to come out and say Liesl has bi-polar disorder is a bit of a challenge... but its pretty essential to know and still enjoy the story. The book is divided into three parts and for each "part" Liesel wants totally different things at odds with what she wanted in the other two parts!! This is quite confusing and seemed like poor character development or "crazy woman" mood swings... Not a character I want to read about. The mental health angle would have been much more fascinating.

The three books or parts just didn't work for me... The Goblin King was the only element that flowed between the parts. We seen different facets to the character that we don't see with Lisel. In the first he's morally grey and a trickster. In the second he's the tragic immortal that used to be human. And in the third he is the being in love who is willing to let go of the woman he loves for her sake. But the plot doesn't revolve around him. If it did then Lisel would be doable. She'd seem mercurial. But we had to have real plot! It had to be independent of Lisel's mood swings, other wise the whole thing is total contrivance. Hence my rating.

There is much of the fairy tale to Wintersong... it's set in an underground world of decadence and corruption. Music fills its tunnels and imbues the Goblin King and his bride with life and passion. There is love of all kinds and for this love we are moved... its just not in the way we expect!!

***5+++ Stars!!!***

THIS BOOK WAS EVERYYYYYTHHHHIIIIINNNGGGGG!!!!! It's easily one of my favorite books of the year.

The romantic and seductive writing pulled me in right from the first sentence. S Jae-Jones was born to write and tell stories. I think I just found my author soulmate! I got serious Phantom of the Opera vibes while reading this, which is one of my all-time favorite musicals sooooooo yeah. You could say I'm slightly obsessed!

THE GOBLIN KING?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
THAT MAN COULD TAKE ME TO THE UNDERGROUND ANY DAY, NO QUESTIONS ASKED. I WOULD FOLLOW HIM STRAIGHT TO HELL. I loved him so much it drove me insane. Everything that came out of his mouth had me either swooning, laughing, crying, etc. He is my newest book boyfriend. I am obsessed with him and I want to marry him. He was seriously so freaking cute. He tried to be this mysterious brooding man but he was really the softest lil cutie.


And f*cking Elisabeth???????? She could slap me and I would say thank you.
I. LOVED. HER. She is amazing and you will fall in love with her. She learned a lot about herself and how to love herself over the course of the book. Watching her realize her worth and her skill made my heart so full! She is That B*tch. Period. This woman had a temper tantrum and tore her room apart because the Goblin King wouldn't sleep with her. She destroyed her wedding gown to write a song on it. I stan forever.

The sass these two characters exhibited had me dying. EVERY WORD IN THIS BOOK WAS PERFECT AND PERFECTLY TIMED.

"And me? Am I lovely?"
"You are in a mood tonight, my dear."


This book got me out of my reading slump and I will forever buy books from S. Jae-Jones. She's one of my new favorites. Welcome to my list of favorite authors, miss JJ <3

This reminded me very much of The Goblin Market, with even more use of magic. I loved it and read it in one sitting!!!

The one thing I would have to say about this book is that it was definitely slow to start. It was actually so slow that I considered giving it up at one point if it wasn’t for this book tour obligation and in a way, I was glad that I stuck through and finished it. Wintersong isn’t a book with a lot of action or suspense or excitement but it is a book that offers a lot of emotion and feeling. A lot of times when I read books, I like something that is off the bat exciting or full of adventure but Wintersong isn’t like that at all. It’s like a slow burn (just like Liesl!) and at the end, you end up feeling pretty satisfied.

The characters in this book all had a lot of pros and cons to them. Liesl, while fiercely loyal to her dear brother and sister, was very lost for herself. She didn’t know what she wanted other than create music but she lacked the conviction to stand up to her father or to go out in the world. So in a way, without the push of the Goblin King and his games, she would never have actually pursued music on a grander scale. And by that, I really mean, she wouldn’t have just simply dabbled in a few songs here and there but actually wrote a sonata with more than just one movement. However, at the end though, I was disappointed to see that she still hesitated to really further her music inspirations.

The Goblin King was also something I had mixed feelings for. It was obvious how much he cared for Liesl but because of his immortality and eons of being trapped in the Underground as their king, he lost ability to really feel any sort of emotions so he was always very cold in some ways and he couldn’t express his emotions really well. I think the author did a good job in portraying this in a realistic manner. And since he couldn’t express his emotions well, I also couldn’t connect with him at times and found him very cut off. Also, I was shocked to find out who his real identity was. I guess it made sense – why he was always playing the piano – but still. Damn. At least, I think that was who the author was hinting at for his true identity.

As for the other characters: Kathe and Josef, Liesl’s sister and brother – I didn’t really like either of them. Kathe was so immature in the beginning with her impish ways and inability to take any responsibilities that I was shocked to find that she still believed in Liesl after she was erased from the world and would continuously stop by the grove to offer little presents. Josef was also way too dependent on Liesl. In the beginning, he always looked at her to make sure she approved something before saying anything. I just can’t handle people with that kind of mentality. I like independence and Josef was on the opposite end of that spectrum. But I am glad that they were there to make sure that Liesl was not forgotten because apparently love was the factor that allowed you to stay sane in the Underworld.

The plot itself was a little twisty turney at some point mainly because the goblins didn’t want to offer any straight answers and Liesl was either too enamored with the king or too depressed about losing her scenes once she was forgotten or something. There was always something. And a lot of the games in the beginning and at the end were very puzzling which I guess was the main point. But I feel like they were a little too puzzling even for me.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. I found the characters to be of interest with lots of levels in their personalities and characterizations. It’s always good to have characters that are not so one-sided.

A stunningly beautiful book full of wonder and intrigue. I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The writing is beautiful and will sweep you along to the next page!

Super conflicted feelings as it was good until it wasn't. And then it became just unbelievable yucky and bad.

I wasn't able to finish this book, so I decided not to review it on my site or any of the major retailers/Goodreads.

The premise of this Labyrinth retelling is so interesting but unfortunately it didn't work for me as well as I had hoped. The Goblin King was, by far, my favorite part of the book, but that wasn't enough to maintain my interest throughout. Something about the pacing, especially in the second half, just felt off. I would still recommend this for fans of Labyrinth though because I'm sure not everyone will find the pacing as big of an issue as I did.

wow this book was so beautifully written. and lush. i really enjoyed it. The world of the Underground was so intriguing. so creepily intriguing and beautiful at the same time.

This book is apparently a retelling of Labyrinth which i'm not familiar with but i was drawn into this story from the beginning. From the moment Elisabeth and the Goblin King reconnect again at the market I was ready for all the mystery to unfold.

Their relationship is certainly no bed of roses. It's tenuous but that push and pull made for some tension filled scenes which just worked for me.

The bits of past we get about The Goblin King were sooo intriguing i was desperate for every bit of information that unraveled. We still don't get his real name and i'm hoping we do in book 2 because i need it.

AND THAT ENDING WHUUUUT!!! me reading it was feels city because how dare you??? and omg the reveal about Josef!! So yeah i'm gonna need to get book 2 soonish because i got questions.

I for one loved all the music metaphors and how they blended with certain scenes. Music is a major factor in these characters lives. So it was perfect when they saw the world in this way