Title: Wintersong
Author: S. Jae-Jones
Published: February 7th 2017 by Thomas Dunne Books
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Retelling, Fantasy
Stars: 4 Content Rating: 5
Synopsis:
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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Hello dear readers! I want to start off by saying how much I enjoyed this book. It surpassed expectations. I have been doing a book exchange with a friend and she sent me this book last October? November? I honestly can’t remember it was F O R E V E R ago. I felt so bad that it was taking me so long to get to it but it wasn’t one I was looking forward to. Gin… if you are reading this, I’m sorry! I’m sorry that it took me so long and that I wasn’t that excited about it. Because, I loved this book. I didn’t really know what it was about, but the Goblin King? Um.. okay. Ha ha.
This book is a Persephone and Hades retelling and it is all about the music. All you musicians out there that know all the musical terms will enjoy it because I feel like the analogies went over my head a little bit. I still felt like I understood what was being conveyed and thought that element was a fun addition to the story. Elizabeth is a sweet girl. A plain girl that loves music but her talent is over shadowed by her brother and just because of the fact that she is a woman. She can play the violin and piano but loves to compose. Her grandmother is always reminding her of the old laws. The big one being that the Goblin King needs a bride and the veil between both worlds will be soon at hand. Elizabeth believed in those stories when she was young but now, with growing up and the added responsibility of helping their family’s inn, she has all but forgotten those stories.
When her sister is taken to be the the Goblin King’s bride she alone ventures into the underground to play the game with the King to set her sister free. She is surprised to remember she knows the Goblin King and the games they played as children, but they are no longer children and he still needs a bride. Will she be smart enough to best him? She only has to sacrifice her music, which really is her heart. But maybe that isn’t such a bad thing if the person you are making the sacrifice to loves your music as much as you do.
I’m telling you this book is amazing. It is dark and hauntingly beautiful. It has the feel to it like a Bronte novel. Dark and Gothic their love isn’t practical or pretty but it’s heartbreakingly true all the same. I loved reading this story and wondering at how it was going to end. Lucky for you, the sequel has just come out. I am definitely going to read it, since this ending left me with something of a mystery to figure out.
Thanks for reading!
xoxo,
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