Title: Wintersong, Shadowsong
Author: S. Jae. Jones
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Pages: 436, 384
Synopsis (from GoodReads):
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.
Rating: ⅘
Wintersong was my last read of 2017 in preparation for reading an ARC of book two,
Shadowsong, that we had received. It was a different style than what I normally
read but I still enjoyed it, I seem to be on a kick of books with strong female leads!
Liesl is a young woman and things from her childhood keeping coming back to her,
some good, some bad, such as no longer heeding her grandmothers warnings of lining
doorways and windowsills with salt to protect from the goblin men. Liesl realizes what
has occurred because of her lack of concern, her sister Käthe wanders off while they’re in the
market and eats an appealing peach from the innocent looking, goblin men. All of this happens
in the short period of time Liesl is frantically looking for her sister, all the while being watched
by a tall, elegant stranger. When Liesl finds Käthe, it’s too late, she’s already eaten a peach, Liesl
hurries both of them home for their brothers audition for Master Antonious. While Liesl helps
her brother prepare and then watches his performance with Master Antonious’ apprentice, after
that doesn’t do his playing justice. She jumps in to accompany him in a piece that will. Käthe
disappears, and Liesl notices a tall elegant stranger in the shadows. Liesl rushes to try and
find Käthe in the Underground World, and do whatever she has to to return her to the world above.
In order for Liesl to save her sister she offers the Goblin King her hand in marriage, as well as
sacrificing her music, returning her sister to their home, and leaving her as the
Goblin Queen in the underground. Liesl settles somewhat into what her life as the Goblin Queen.
But she soon must return to the world above for her family, and for her brother.
The Goblin King does something that’s unheard of, and lets her go, he ends
their marriage and returns her to the world above. However Elizabeth returns as
a different person than she was when she left.
**** SPOILERS******
Synopsis: (from GoodReads)
Six months after the end of Wintersong, Liesl is working toward furthering both
her brother’s and her own musical careers. Although she is determined to look
forward and not behind, life in the world above is not as easy as Liesl had hoped.
Her younger brother Josef is cold, distant, and withdrawn, while Liesl can’t forget the
austere young man she left beneath the earth,
and the music he inspired in her.
Rating: 5/5
Liesl is back in the world in the world above but she is different than when she left.
Her grandmother stays locked in her room, her father is dying, and she receives a letter
from her brother, saying that Master Antonious has died, and that her brother
needs her in Venice. Liesl then receives a letter from the Procházkas, stating that
they will sponsor her a trip to Venice to allow her the opportunity to compose and play
her music, as well as to see her brother. So, she and Käthe pack their belongings
and travel to Venice. Upon their arrival they’re greeted by their brother Josef, and
Master Antonious apprentice, François, and not as warmly as expected by Josef.
Liesl grows slightly wary of their sponsors, being that they had been in Venice for
a bit and had heard hide nor hair from them, until they receive and invitation to a
black and white ball at their estate. And then everything takes a turn towards suspicion,
Josef and Liesl are separated from Käthe and François, drugged and then taken to
Snovin Hall by the Procházkas. Liesl learns more about the Underground, and
her austere young man, and her brother Josef. Liesl and Josef come to find
out that the Procházkas and Snovin Hall is a trap, and the must follow the red
poppies to find The Faithful and escape from what the Procházkas
have planned for them.
~ Mackenzie
