Yay or Nay: Wintersong (Novel)

I hope all of your Christmases have gone well, I know mine certainly have, and were so relaxing and rejuvenating for me. It’s been a bit of a rough month and having Christmas and my birthday in the same month has given me a chance to get back into reading again, as well as get some new novels to explore. Wintersong was a birthday gift. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be reviewing some more books that I’ve received for both birthday and Christmas that I’m quite excited to share! 

The Story 

Okay, so have you ever wished Labyrinth became a true fantasy novel? Because that’s what Wintersong by S. Jae Jones is, and I totally pictured the Goblin King as David Bowie. And essentially, with a 18th century, Christina Rossetti-dark and fantastical twist, this is essentially what the story is. 

As GoodReads writes: 

“All her life, Liesl has heard tales of the beautiful, dangerous Goblin King. They've enraptured her mind and spirit and inspired her musical compositions. Now eighteen and helping to run her family’s inn, Liesel can't help but feel that her musical dreams and childhood fantasies are slipping away.

But when her own sister is taken by the Goblin King, Liesl has no choice but to journey to the Underground to save her. Drawn to the strange, captivating world she finds--and the mysterious man who rules it--she soon faces an impossible decision. With time and the old laws working against her, Liesl must discover who she truly is before her fate is sealed.”

So the story is one I’ve been desperate to read for a while. Liesl, as a child befriends the Goblin King, seemingly over time forgetting and growing up to be her family’s young, hidden, plain, and incredibly musically gifted sibling. Her sister, Katherine, is the beauty of the family, betrothed to Liesl’s once crush, and her brother, a gifted violinist prodigy. Warned by her grandmother to heed to the old religion, and beware the Goblin King, who will ride and enchant a girl searching for his bride, Liesl is surprised to discover that her sister has been chosen. Determined to get her back, Liesl undergoes a series of trials, to discover that their is a darker secret behind the fairy tales and creatures that dwell in the “Underground”, one of which, involves her.

Ah. I miss David Bowie. We lost a great legend. 

My Thoughts

It’s like a Jane Austen-Bronte sisters meets Labyrinth and I can’t tell you how much I loved that. And while I loved this book, I was disappointed in it. Contradictory am I right? Well that’s because, to quote many a-comments you’ll read on GoodReads, Part 1 of the story (the first half) is amazing, fast-paced, and intensive, full of magic and originality, and just “unique-ness”. It has that “what” factor that keeps you not only engaged but eager to discover more. The world-building is just simply fantastic, and the character’s trials— absolutely Fae-like, and difficult, just as they should be. But the second-half…well that’s where it goes downhill, or I should say, down a notch. Everything is slowed, dulled, and even though it does that to focus on the relationship between Liesl and the Goblin King, as well as the Goblin Kingdom, it’s just so boring. And that’s a major down vote to this otherwise amazing and original book. 

Connected to that is the relationship between Liesl and the Goblin King, which, as I mentioned, is why the second half of the novel is slowed. To focus on them, and the world of the Underground. Half the time, I just didn’t really feel the chemistry between the King and Liesl. And it’s not because it wasn’t there— I completely get why the King does what he does….somewhat, and why Liesl does what she does…again somewhat. But that’s because their motives go from hot to cold in seconds, or aren’t properly explained, or in some cases, just seem completely repetitive from the first part (even though they were solved), or out of order. And that’s also because the world-building of the Goblin King, and the reason why he is the creature he is, goes relatively unexplained or remains a mystery even towards the end of the book. While the first half of this book was excellent executed fantasy smoke and mirrors, this half the novel is more “all flash and no heat”— and if you’ve read this book, you’ll get that reference. 

In other words, you think that you’ll get even deeper into the lore and relationships that bind these characters but you don’t. And it utterly KILLS the story, and then by the end, oh wait, there’s a sequel. So it seems like the second half, at least to me, was a way of biding time until the sequel. Predominantly, that’s all I have an issue with in this novel, but it’s a major one since it effects not just story— but characters, plot, and world-building. Everything gets either duller, rushed, or just more confusing that you don’t understand. 

My Rating

So yeah, it’s a bit more difficult to rate this one, because you have one part of the book— and myself, saying “absolutely read this book”, but on the other hand, it’s also like “this book gave up and decided to quit halfway through”. So, tough call. I’d say go borrow it first— and then make your decisions. Unless you have some spare cash, then give it a buy— but I do not say that enthusiastically at all. 

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (3 Stars)

~Meghan