A review by annatherbook
Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones

2.0

“That one,” the merchant said, pointing to Käthe, whose head lolled against my shoulder, “burns like kindling. All flash, and no real heat. But you,” he said. “You smolder, mistress. There is a fire burning within you, but it is a slow burn. It shimmers with heat, waiting only for a breath to fan it to life. Most curious.” A slow grin spread over his mouth. “Most curious, indeed.”

I'm not sure what I think about this book. I'm disappointed and not a little bit confused but I didn't hate it. In fact I enjoyed some of it. I'm confused because I had a problem understanding what happened in some parts of the book. Maybe it's a language thing but big parts simply did not make sense to me. I get that in some folklore tales parts might be weird, eerie or obscure but then you know that its suppose to be that. You're not supposed to be confused about it. I found myself rereading som pages because I thought that I had missed something or that I misinterpreted something but usually rereading the page gave me no answers.
Some parts I really liked and some parts I did not enjoy at all. A lot of mixed feelings about this.

I love settings and stories about folklore but this lacked the feeling that folklore tales usually have. Maybe I'm a critic because I was raised on Swedish folklores about goblins, elves, Skogsfrun, changelings and so on. This book had a lot of promise but I just didn't get it.

What I liked
* I liked the Goblin King, Der Erlkönig. I liked the legend about him and the mystery surrounding him. I would have wanted more of the legend about the mysterious King of the Goblins.
* I liked the German setting. The woods, the Goblin Grove, the inn and the Underground! I would have wanted more of the eerie woods but it was still good!
* A lot of beautiful writing that remind me of legends and myths.

“There is music in your soul. A wild and untamed sort of music that speaks to me. It defies all the rules and laws you humans set upon it. It grows from inside you, and I have a wish to set that music free.”

What I didn't like
* I did not like Liesl as a character. She was being portrayed as the selfless older sister looking out for her siblings (Sepp more than Käthe) but I just found her to be extremely selfish and I had a hard time connecting with her. She constantly referred to herself as ugly, unlovely, unwanted and untalented. It got on my nerves. Especially since she had a lot of musical talent and kept putting herself down. It got really annoying.
* A lot of the characters had too many names!
Our main character Elisabeth was also called Liesl, Katharina the little sister nickname is Käthe and her brother Josef is also called Sepp and Sepperl. The Golin King is also called Der Erlkönig, Lord of Mischief and Liesl had different ways of referring to him as well. It was very confusing in the beginning.
* The way Liesl look at her sister was sometimes disturbing. I think Käthe was over sexualised and mostly in a negative way. And I got the feeling that Liesl resented her sister for being beautiful. I didn't like that being beautiful was what defined Käthes personality. Because she was beautiful she was also reckless, silly and stupid. There were a few small moments that she was given space to be something else but it was not enough.

She fluttered and flirted outrageously, carefully oblivious to the stares she drew like moths to the flame. Both men and women traced the lines of her body, the curve of her cheek, the pout of her lip. Looking at Käthe, it was difficult to forget just how sinful our bodies were, just how prone we were to wickedness

* I don't really know what the story wanted to accomplish. After reading it I felt: What was the point of this?