Wintersong—S. Jae-Jones

Will you marry me, Elisabeth? the little boy asked, and the little girl did not yet understand his question was not part of a game.

Well, life got away from me and it's taken me approximately a fafillion years since I downloaded this to actually read it. I'm really glad that I finally did, because although it had some stumbles, it was a book I always wanted to read that I never knew I needed in my life.

Nineteen-year-old Liesl has always been in the background of her own family. Her prodigy violin player younger brother is the pride and joy, and her younger sister Kathe is the beauty. Liesl's musician father is also an alcoholic and a gambler, and Liesl's mother is something of an enabler. Rounding out the family is Liesl's grandmother, who is superstitious, constantly warning the family about The Goblin King. Though Liesl is an incredibly talented composer in her own right, she keeps this part of herself secret from her family (all except her brother) because she's afraid of how they, and the world, will react. Over a series of a couple of days, a prominent teacher comes to scope out her younger brother, her sister Kathe is taken by The Goblin King, and Liesl's life is changed forever.

So, this book was reminiscent of so many things that I love. There was some Labyrinth, there was some Beauty and the Beast, there was some Phantom of the Opera, there was some good old Greek mythology feelings with shades of Persephone and Hades. I LOVE ALL OF THESE THINGS. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in those things as well, WITH the caveat that you be prepared for some of the things I mention below.

The language that Jae-Jones uses when discussing music is poetic and lyrical and beautiful, as you might expect it to be when discussing music. I didn't understand quite a lot of it, but I imagine a music nerd would love this as much as I love it for the callbacks to the things I mentioned above.

The book was REALLY strong through the entire first half. The storytelling, the slow build of the back story between Liesl and her family, and Liesl and The Goblin King, was phenomenal. As I got to about the midpoint, things started to slow down a bit. There was a bit of meandering, it got a bit repetitive in parts, and there were some pieces where it felt like she lost the trail of the story altogether or was just vamping for time/space. It's also definitely a melodrama, teen soap opera style piece. Which is exactly the kind of shit I like, so it was right up my alley.

I fully acknowledge that there are definitely some problematic things about this fave. (As there are with the problematic faves I listed above.) The Stockholm Syndrome aspect is no joke, and starting a "relationship," especially a romantic one, based on a what is essentially a bribe, borderline kidnapping, is not a solid foundation. But because I AM a sucker for stories like this, and have been since I was a young teenager, I'm willing to let this be a fave that is problematic. I feel it's also important to acknowledge that, unlike Labyrinth and even Beauty and the Beast, Liesl is an older teenager at 19, and turns 20 while living in the Underground. Not that it makes it SO much better, but a little bit more development that has happened in those several years.

One of the things that I did really appreciate was the consent during the sexy times. As far as I remember, all of the times that they are about to get it on, The Goblin King waits for a very clear "yes" from Liesl before really going for it. So maybe he's a kidnapper but at least he's not a sexual assaulter...?

The sequel to the book, Shadowsong, was just released in February, so I'm definitely going to check that one out. This one didn't QUITE end on a cliffhanger, but it did leave some questions and I want them answered.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.