Don’t you just love a cozy fantasy novel? The perfect read to accompany you through torrential summer downpours or bitter winter blizzards, it’s just a year-round sort of gem. This week, we’re serving up the recipe for mini peach tarts and a quick review of S. Jae Jones’s debut YA (teetering on the cusp of being a new adult) novel Wintersong, so hurry to the table, before the tea gets cold:
Plot summary: The last night of the year. Now the days of winter begin and the Goblin King rides abroad, searching for his bride . . .
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.
Worth reading: Absolutely, yes. The Labyrinth-inspired Wintersong got shafted because it doesn’t really conform to YA standards; our nineteen-year-old heroine, Liesl, is pretty upfront about her desire to get freaky with the goblin king, even though he’s kind of a dick, and if this had been an adult novel, it probably would’ve been a hit with people who were old enough to appreciate David Bowie’s inescapable crotch bulge in the movie. Jae-Jones is a provocative writer with a lyrical style, under her deft pen, you really believe in The Goblin King and the Changelings and every other yarn she so wistfully spins. It is an atmospheric, engaging read, and I can’t wait for Jae-Jones’s adult novel to be published (you know there’s probably stuff her editors cut because the book is technically marketed towards teenagers. You know it probably got a lot sexier in The Underground than we’re led to believe).
Flaws: The one thing I took issue with in this book was how desperately Liesl clung to her perceived “plainness” which somehow made her about as attractive as peeling paint to everyone in Wintersong’s world; not even The Goblin King, after falling in love with her, could acknowledge “hey, you’re pretty.” Though he did gently admit she was ugly by telling her it was her soul that mattered, so what if her face isn’t attractive (how she didn’t give him the finger and refuse to smash after that, I’ll never know). I think we can all agree that love tends to seal rose-coloured glasses to your eyes, so even if you’re on the lower end of average, the person you love is likely to think you are beautiful. Provided they, you know, love you back and everything. But I guess I get it. If you feel ugly and everyone tells you you’re ugly, you’re going to believe it. Still, it would’ve been nice if Liesl realized, along the way in her mystical journey: she may not be a supermodel, but she’s not Frankenstein’s monster in a dress, either.
Overall rating: 4.5/5
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