Reviewing Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones

After finishing this book today, it climbed up to the list of my top favorites mainly due to its profound and eloquent language. The way the book described music as something that was so impactful and beautiful was absolutely wonderful and hooked me in to the end.

*This post may contain spoilers; honestly I don’t think it has any major spoilers. I really only talk about one scene and that scene is super generic because I skipped it lol.

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Title: Wintersong
Author: S. Jae-Jones
Series: Wintersong Series
Rating: ★★★ (3.5)
Re-readability: ★
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Beware the goblin men and the wares they sell.

All her life, nineteen-year-old Liesl has heard tales of the beautiful, mysterious Goblin King. He is the Lord of Mischief, the Ruler Underground, and the muse around which her music is composed. Yet, as Liesl helps shoulder the burden of running her family’s inn, her dreams of composition and childish fancies about the Goblin King must be set aside in favor of more practical concerns.

But 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.

Down in the Underground, Liesl discovers that the Goblin King still inspires her—musically, physically, emotionally. Yet even as her talent blossoms, Liesl’s life is slowly fading away, the price she paid for becoming the Goblin King’s bride. As the two of them grow closer, they must learn just what it is they are each willing to sacrifice: her life, her music, or the end of the world.

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Thoughts:

Wintersong was a slow-paced book that unraveled the adventure before you. Jae-Jones’s word choice was absolutely wonderful, as it brought out the fantastical world of the goblins, and contrasted it with the all too real human world. A few major aspects of the book were music, love, and illusions, which were thrown against the backdrop of an inconceivable world where pleasures run rampant.

Why I Loved It:

I love music so much, and I really enjoyed how the author talked about music every time it was brought up, since it was a consistent motif throughout the novel. The book resonated with me and it gave me a lot of hope, since I’ve been going through various phases when I think that my music is not enough. Music is enough, and it lives forever, through our souls.

“As long as the world above remembers you, as long as you have a reason to love, your taste and touch and smell and sight and sound shall remain to you.”

“As long as the world above remembers you.

My music. Of course. All things on this earth and beneath it passed away, but music was immortal. Even if I was dead to the world above, a part of me would live each time my music was heard.”

The chemistry between the two leads was undeniable, and I loved the lush background that the author set from the very beginning, starting with the main female lead’s grandmother’s folktales that eventually brought the main female lead to the place where her journey really began to kick off. The way the story was introduced was also extremely mystifying, which pretty much hooked me in from the start.

Here’s a small excerpt of the very beginning:

Once there was a little girl who played her music for a little boy in the wood. She was small and dark, he was tall and fair, and the two of them made a fancy pair as they danced together, dancing to the music the little girl heard in her head.

Her grandmother had told her to beware the wolves that prowled in the wood, but the little girl knew the little boy was not dangerous, even if he was the king of the goblins.

Will you marry me, Elisabeth? the little boy asked, and the little girl did not wonder at how he knew her name.

Oh, she replied, but I am too young to marry.

Then I will wait, the little boy said. I will wait as long as you remember.

And the little girl laughed as she danced with the Goblin King, the little boy who was always just a little older, a little out of reach.

As the seasons turned and the years passed, the little girl grew older but the Goblin King remained the same. She washed the dishes, cleaned the floors, brushed her sister’s hair, yet still ran to the forest to meet her old friend in the grove. Their games were different now, truth and forfeit and challenges and dares.

Some Meh Parts:

I’m pretty sure this is just personal preference, but I’ve been deterred by the new YA trend of focusing on the sensual aspect of a relationship- taking entire pages to describe a single kiss and how it makes you feel. This entire novel revolved around a single relationship that happened to be tangled with a few other relationships with some minor characters. Since the novel focused so much on one relationship, there was bound to be a focus on passion, etc. There were a few chapters where it was getting extremely unbearable. The female lead basically wants to consummate her marriage ASAP and she WON’T WAIT. The male lead keeps holding back. After they do lie with each other, she suddenly changes. I don’t know if it’s just me but I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT’S SO GREAT ABOUT SENSUALITY, especially going to the point of how a lot of YA authors describe it nowadays.

Wrappin’ It Up:

This book was great to me because it connected with me on a personal level and then intertwined that connection with a brand new world. I really loved the author’s diction and the chemistry between the two leads, and would definitely recommend this to anyone who loves uncovering unreal worlds where anything can happen~ There were a few plot-twists here and there, but overall, after I finished reading this novel, I felt it was absolutely perfect, with a few chapters that I did skip cough cough lol.

Recommendations:

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

• Strange the Dreamer was similar in that another world also unfolded within it, but instead of focusing completely on the romance, Strange the Dreamer was all about dreams, power, and a lost city, with romance intertwined within it seamlessly.

The recommendations list will continue being updated as I discover more and more books! And if you guys know any books similar to this book, I can also add it to this list 🙂

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Thanks for reading this first review haha! Please let me know if there is anything I can do to improve and talk to me in the comments if there’s a book you recommend or if there’s a book you would like me to review! 🙂 I will read/review YA novels or Chinese novels/translations!