WINTERSONG by S. Jae-Jones is a book I have wanted to read since the first time I laid eyes on the cover and read the blurb. Yes, even, despite the fact that it's young adult, a genre that I don't often read, did I feel the need to read this book. I found the description of the book, about a young girl that has to save her sister from the Goblin King, fascinating and I was very happy to get the chance to read WINTERSONG.
Right from the start this book entranced me. I was fascinated by the story, about young Liesl who kept on seeing the Goblin King. How she tried but failed to protect her sister, Kรคthe, from being taken and having to bargain with the Goblin King to save her sister. Often while I was reading WINTERSONG did I feel that the story has characteristics from the stories of Hades and Persephone, Orpheus and Eurydice, and of course the movie Labyrinth. It was not at all hard to picture David Bowie as the Goblin King. And, since I love the stories I mentioned because they are so wonderfully tragic, I like this book so much more. I'm very impressed with S. Jae-Jones style of writing, it's easy to picture the world and the characters she writes about. It was very hard to put WINTERSONG down.
WINTERSONG may be a young adult novel, but it definitely feels a lot more mature than the typical young adult book I'm used to. As I wrote in the beginning of the review, I do not read that many young adult books, but this one feels much more erotic than others I have read. And, I'm glad for it. There is a lot of chemistry between the Goblin King and Liesl. Frankly, this book would have been poorer without the sexual tension between the Goblin King and Liesl that almost oozes from the pages. Besides, I love how as the story progressed more is revealed about the Goblin King and why a young maiden must be sacrificed. Personally, I have to admit that I prefer the first half of the book when it's all so mysterious. It's not that I did not like the second part of the story, but when so much is the riddle, the mystery is so much more intriguing when one doesn't know the answers and all you can do is speculate.
In the end, I did find WINTERSONG to be a book that I wouldn't mind reading again some day just for the beautiful way it was written and to once again read about the Goblin King and Liesl.
Dark, romantic, and unforgettable, Wintersong is
an enchanting coming-of-age story for fans of Labyrinth
and Beauty and the Beast.
Deep in his terrifying realm underground, the cold and
forbidding Goblin King casts a dark shadow over
nineteen-year-old Liesl. Her grandmother had always warned
her to follow the old laws, for every year on the longest
night of winter the Goblin King will emerge into the waking
world in search of his eternal bride. Sensible and plain,
Liesl knows it's her duty to keep her beautiful sister safe
from harm, but she wishes only to indulge in her wild,
captivating music, composed and played in secret in the
Goblin King's honor.
When her beautiful sister Kรคthe is stolen by the Goblin
King, Liesl knows she must set aside her childish fantasies
to journey to the Underground and save her. Drawn despite
herself to the strange, beautiful world she finds--and the
mysterious man who rules it--she finds herself facing an
impossible choice. With time and the old laws working
against her, Liesl must discover who she truly is before her
fate is sealed.
Set at the turn of the 19th century, when young upstart
composers like Beethoven were forever altering the sound of
music, S. Jae-Jones' richly imagined debut spins a
spellbinding tale of music, love, sisterhood, and a young
woman's search for self-actualization.
No excerpt available.
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