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, Käthe, 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 Käthe 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.