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A review by charspages
Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones
2.0
I don't know how to feel.
I wanted to like [b:Wintersong|2476362|sophrologie une révolution en psychologie, pédagogie, médecine?|Henri Boon|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|2483559]. I wanted to love it so fiercely I'd weep with joy and disbelief at the ending, I'd talk about the characters nonstop as though they're real life friends, I'd have to lie down for an hour and a half in order to process what just happened.
But I just didn't.
In fact, I didn't even like it that much. On the contrary, I feel more like I did when I found out who Gossip Girl was: vacant, listening in because I've nothing better to do, slightly bored. I wanted a book that would devastate me like Zayn leaving One Direction devastated 16-year-old me, but I got a snoozefest and an endless array of bland characters instead. I am so thorougly underwhelmed, I don't even care strongly enough to be upset about finding such disappointment in a book I'd genuinely anticipated.
PLOT: 2 / 5
This story had so much potential. I mean, I love Goethe's ballad Der Erlkönig fiercely. I will forever be grateful for the fact that I can read that masterpiece of poetry in all its German glory. It's creepy, and slightly unsettling, and overall marvelous.
Which is everything [b:Wintersong|24763621|Wintersong (Wintersong, #1)|S. Jae-Jones|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1479206906s/24763621.jpg|44394042] tried - and failed - to be. Like Golden Oreos, it was built on a promising idea, but the overall execution was a let-down.
I loved the whole Goblin aspect: Young Adult fantasy revolving around creepy and ugly creatures of the forest instead of your standard werewolf/vampire party? Sign me up. I'm a huge fan of anything that's a little out of the ordinary, just past the border of your comfort zone.
What [b:Wintersong|24763621|Wintersong (Wintersong, #1)|S. Jae-Jones|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1479206906s/24763621.jpg|44394042] did was beat me with a broom so I would stay inside my comfort zone, where it could properly underwhelm me.
The goblins that I held such high hopes for turned out to be quite boring and not all that creepy, save for that one moment where they all speak as one messed-up goblin entity. Other than that, they were pretty nondescript.
I mean, if you're going to write about magical creatures of the forest that feel nothing but disdain for humans, I want to feel it in my bones. I want to keep checking over my shoulder every time I go outside in fear of being mauled by a goblin. I want to sleep with one eye open; I want to feel the trees watching me when I pass the forest.
So much for what I wanted.
Sadly, the world is, as John Green put it, not a wish-granting factory. What I got was ultimately a carbon copy of [a:Sarah J. Maas|3433047|Sarah J. Maas|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1269281353p2/3433047.jpg]'s equally interchangeable and boring servant creatures that tend to a bland, whiny heroine. Disappointed doesn't even begin to cover it.
There were some parts of this book that gave me the creeps. Such as the scene at the market, when Käthe buys the peach from the goblin vendors, or when the little changeling tried to convince Elisabeth to take him to the world above. They were well-written, with just enough confusion strewn in to make me question everything I ever thought I knew. Sadly, those two or three silver linings weren't nearly enough to balance out the endless stretches of boredom in between.
This book stretches on for all infinity, and because there is no justice in the world, the mildly interesting plot kind of just dwindles away after the first half and leaves you with a messy, exceptionally boring collection of Liesl-and-the-Goblin-King-have-cringy-sex-scenes. Yawn.
I liked the part where Liesl went into the Underworld to retrieve Käthe. I liked the riddles and the festivities. I liked how Liesl herself ended up trapped underground, how nothing was what it seemed.
I did not like how the entire second half of this had no plot whatsoever. The most exciting thing was Liesl using her wedding dress to write a song even though she could have easily wished for paper, which was exciting only because I couldn't quite believe how dumb Liesl was being.
What's more is that all of the plot points from the first half - the ones that were promising so much potential, the ones that could have been fashioned into shocking twists that would have made me hang on for dear life - were predictable and, as such, no longer surprising. Which kind of subtracts the whole point of a plot twist.
I did not like this messy, boring, and random story line that was thrown at my feet like poor bait.
CHARACTERS: 2.5 / 5
HOO BOY, do I have a lot to say about these characters. Y'all know by now that I could care less about a boring plot if the characters make me want to get married right there and then. (Point proven: The Raven Cycle doesn't have the most exciting plot in the world, but I would willingly die for any of its characters.)
Sadly, Wintersong's characters could not outbalance the utterly boring plot, which tips the rating scale further towards two stars.
The protagonist, LIESL, also known as ELISABETH VOGLER, has approximately two character traits: whining about her boring life and being jealous of literally everyone around her. Combine that with her favorite hobbies - giving the Goblin King shit for not wanting to sleep with her and drowning in self-pity - and you'll have the most frustrating character on earth. I was meant to feel empathy for Liesl, to want her to have a better life. I did not.
Aside from being jealous of her sister and writing one song for five hundred pages, Liesl also loves shitting on other girls for being prettier or sexier or generally more fun than her. This includes her sister, whom Liesl seems to despise. Why she would go to the Underworld to rescue Käthe is beyond me.
My least favorite part has to be when Liesl throws an absolute tantrum because the Goblin King refuses to sleep with her when she's drunk and whines over the course of four pages about not being desirable. Someone end my suffering and tell this chick that her worth doesn't depend on whether or not she's having sex.
KÄTHE held a fun connotation for me, because my aunt has a pug who is also called Käthe. Dog-Käthe and Human-Käthe have a lot in common, actually: they are both easily excitable, rush into everything headfirst, and need attention constantly.
The difference is that Dog-Käthe is lovable and adorable. Human-Käthe is not.
Her entire personality revolves around making dumb comments and caring for glittery jewels, like a magpie with the attention span of a goldfish. That might make for a fun dialogue here and there, but mostly it just made me roll my eyes into the next dimension. Who cares whether or not Käthe returns from the Underworld?
What I am most annoyed about, however, is that while Liesl might be boring and annoying, the Goblin King is straight up garbage.
THE GOBLIN KING had so much potential - or so I was led to believe. I personally love a good anti-hero twelve times as much as I love your average good guy. The problem is that the Goblin King's entire potential was wasted on playing the violin and telling Elisabeth he wants "her, entire" instead of, you know, ruling the Underworld, as kings do. What a tragically underdeveloped character.
The few parts of his personality that actually were developed all pointed strongly towards him being an Abusive Fuck rather than a tragically cool anti-hero. I mean, what kind of man kidnaps somebody's sister, then holds her captive because she stopped playing cards with him? If everyone to whose message I've never replied held such vengeful ambitions, I'd be dead by now.
The other goblin characters did nothing for me, either. They blended into one single creature I vaguely recall as creepy at times, but mostly just overly annoying. Cerridwen and - pardon, Twig and Thistle, of course - were pretty much Feyre's fae servants' twins and equal parts annoying and bland. I don't care if they want to eat Liesl. By all means, let them.
The only characters I cared for in the slightest were JOSEF and FRANÇOIS, who each deserve a star of their own. Wherever they are, I hope they're happy and cozy and making music and being gay. Bless.
WORLD BUILDING: 3 / 5
You've got to give it to [a:S. Jae-Jones|13414088|S. Jae-Jones|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1507328860p2/13414088.jpg]: her world building is intricat, interesting, and well executed. [b:Wintersong|24763621|Wintersong (Wintersong, #1)|S. Jae-Jones|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1479206906s/24763621.jpg|44394042] is set in historical Bavaria, a fact I was over the moon about because few books are set in Germany. Her depictions of Liesl's litte hometown felt real and vivid enough.
I also adored the Underground and how infinitely confusing it was. It tricked me as many times as it tricked Liesl; I could never figure it out completely and I loved it. What I loved even more was the vague sense of unsettledness it coaxed from the pit of my stomach with every page.
My problem was that I just didn't feel as invested in this world as I would have liked to be. It lost its grip on me as quickly as it developed it.
DIVERSITY: 3 / 5
I was pleasantly surprised to see the diversity that S. Jae-Jones included in her work without making it seem try-hard or over the top.
Of course, the book wasn't as diverse as others, but considering it was set in historical Bavaria that felt rather accurate. And for what it was worth, I think Jae-Jones made a decent effort.
In Wintersong, there are two gay characters: Liesl's brother Josef and his mentor's other apprentice François. François also so happens to be black. They're not a huge part of the story, but whenever they are, their love for one another is clearly stated and examined as much as Käthe's infatuation with being liked and Liesl's and the Goblin King's relationship is.
WRITING STYLE: 3.5 / 5
S. Jae-Jones strong forte is definitely her writing style. She uses enchanting and hauntingly beautiful descriptions that read more like music or poetry than an average YA-novel. I am impressed.
"He had lived in my mind for so long; now I wanted to hold more than just the idea of him."
Ultimately, there were still some things about her style that I found off-putting and distracting: for example the random tense switches. For no discernible reason, the narrative slips from past tense to present tense whenever Liesl and the Goblin King begin getting it on. I am mildly annoyed.
Or the fact that Jae-Jones has a problem with recycling her descriptions. I mean, I actually counted the times the words "tall, elegant stranger" were used in reference to the Goblin King (twenty-two times, if you're interested.) We get it. He's tall. He's handsome. We're not impressed.
Another thing I, who couldn't be further from being a musical prodigy, felt annoyed by was the avalanche of musical terms. Adagio this, bagatelle that. I really can't be bothered.
The factor that bothered me most, however, was the German that was used in between. Extra points for being so consistently wrong.
As a native speaker, I understand that German might not be the easiest language in the world. We have a lot of nonsensical rules that are difficult to grasp. Sometimes I'm not even sure we have rules at all. German feels less like a language and more like it's dancing naked on the table, flipping you off cheerfully as everything you thought you knew crashes and burns around you.
What I don't understand is why S. Jae-Jones didn't think of asking a native speaker to read over her lines. I mean, unless they speak vastly different German in Bavaria - which I don't think is the case - and have even less regards for grammatical structures than we Northerners do, I'm pretty sure that no one bothered to point out to the author that her usage of the German language was incorrect almost 80 % of the time.
Like this sentence, which is repeated throughout the book:
"Für meine Lieben, ein Lied im stil die Bagatelle, auch Der Erlkönig."
Let's look past the fact that her capitalization is completely off: (Stil is a noun and must therefore be capitalized) the meaning of this sentence is beyond me. Yes, it's the title of a piece of music composed by Liesl for her family. Yes, I can guess it's written as a bagatelle and that its title is Der Erlkönig. But this entire sentence is so grammatically incorrect I can't even think of a way to rephrase it, and I passed thirteen years of German class with nothing but straight As.
Side note: Dear S. Jae-Jones, it's called Guglhupf, which is a delicious type of cake (a bundt cake.) I don't know who told you it's called GuglhOpf, but it's really not.
I am exhausted.
OVERALL RATING: 2.5 / 3
Look, I didn't hate this book. There were a lot of parts I enjoyed. This isn't the worst book I've read this year, either. But I just didn't find myself interested - or emotionally invested - in the story or its characters. The last few chapters were a struggle to push through. I read this entire thing through a haze of polite disinterest, like when you're on the train watching a fly repeatedly hit the window, searching for a way out. It's entertaining for about twenty seconds, but then you start feeling half-bored and half-pitiful due to the fact that this poor fly is doing that all to itself. Everything I disliked here, Wintersong did to itself.
In short, I simply did not care about this book, even though it had a promising premise and a solid start.
I wanted to like [b:Wintersong|2476362|sophrologie une révolution en psychologie, pédagogie, médecine?|Henri Boon|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|2483559]. I wanted to love it so fiercely I'd weep with joy and disbelief at the ending, I'd talk about the characters nonstop as though they're real life friends, I'd have to lie down for an hour and a half in order to process what just happened.
But I just didn't.
In fact, I didn't even like it that much. On the contrary, I feel more like I did when I found out who Gossip Girl was: vacant, listening in because I've nothing better to do, slightly bored. I wanted a book that would devastate me like Zayn leaving One Direction devastated 16-year-old me, but I got a snoozefest and an endless array of bland characters instead. I am so thorougly underwhelmed, I don't even care strongly enough to be upset about finding such disappointment in a book I'd genuinely anticipated.
PLOT: 2 / 5
This story had so much potential. I mean, I love Goethe's ballad Der Erlkönig fiercely. I will forever be grateful for the fact that I can read that masterpiece of poetry in all its German glory. It's creepy, and slightly unsettling, and overall marvelous.
Which is everything [b:Wintersong|24763621|Wintersong (Wintersong, #1)|S. Jae-Jones|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1479206906s/24763621.jpg|44394042] tried - and failed - to be. Like Golden Oreos, it was built on a promising idea, but the overall execution was a let-down.
I loved the whole Goblin aspect: Young Adult fantasy revolving around creepy and ugly creatures of the forest instead of your standard werewolf/vampire party? Sign me up. I'm a huge fan of anything that's a little out of the ordinary, just past the border of your comfort zone.
What [b:Wintersong|24763621|Wintersong (Wintersong, #1)|S. Jae-Jones|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1479206906s/24763621.jpg|44394042] did was beat me with a broom so I would stay inside my comfort zone, where it could properly underwhelm me.
The goblins that I held such high hopes for turned out to be quite boring and not all that creepy, save for that one moment where they all speak as one messed-up goblin entity. Other than that, they were pretty nondescript.
I mean, if you're going to write about magical creatures of the forest that feel nothing but disdain for humans, I want to feel it in my bones. I want to keep checking over my shoulder every time I go outside in fear of being mauled by a goblin. I want to sleep with one eye open; I want to feel the trees watching me when I pass the forest.
So much for what I wanted.
Sadly, the world is, as John Green put it, not a wish-granting factory. What I got was ultimately a carbon copy of [a:Sarah J. Maas|3433047|Sarah J. Maas|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1269281353p2/3433047.jpg]'s equally interchangeable and boring servant creatures that tend to a bland, whiny heroine. Disappointed doesn't even begin to cover it.
There were some parts of this book that gave me the creeps. Such as the scene at the market, when Käthe buys the peach from the goblin vendors, or when the little changeling tried to convince Elisabeth to take him to the world above. They were well-written, with just enough confusion strewn in to make me question everything I ever thought I knew. Sadly, those two or three silver linings weren't nearly enough to balance out the endless stretches of boredom in between.
This book stretches on for all infinity, and because there is no justice in the world, the mildly interesting plot kind of just dwindles away after the first half and leaves you with a messy, exceptionally boring collection of Liesl-and-the-Goblin-King-have-cringy-sex-scenes. Yawn.
I liked the part where Liesl went into the Underworld to retrieve Käthe. I liked the riddles and the festivities. I liked how Liesl herself ended up trapped underground, how nothing was what it seemed.
I did not like how the entire second half of this had no plot whatsoever. The most exciting thing was Liesl using her wedding dress to write a song even though she could have easily wished for paper, which was exciting only because I couldn't quite believe how dumb Liesl was being.
What's more is that all of the plot points from the first half - the ones that were promising so much potential, the ones that could have been fashioned into shocking twists that would have made me hang on for dear life - were predictable and, as such, no longer surprising. Which kind of subtracts the whole point of a plot twist.
I did not like this messy, boring, and random story line that was thrown at my feet like poor bait.
HOO BOY, do I have a lot to say about these characters. Y'all know by now that I could care less about a boring plot if the characters make me want to get married right there and then. (Point proven: The Raven Cycle doesn't have the most exciting plot in the world, but I would willingly die for any of its characters.)
Sadly, Wintersong's characters could not outbalance the utterly boring plot, which tips the rating scale further towards two stars.
The protagonist, LIESL, also known as ELISABETH VOGLER, has approximately two character traits: whining about her boring life and being jealous of literally everyone around her. Combine that with her favorite hobbies - giving the Goblin King shit for not wanting to sleep with her and drowning in self-pity - and you'll have the most frustrating character on earth. I was meant to feel empathy for Liesl, to want her to have a better life. I did not.
Aside from being jealous of her sister and writing one song for five hundred pages, Liesl also loves shitting on other girls for being prettier or sexier or generally more fun than her. This includes her sister, whom Liesl seems to despise. Why she would go to the Underworld to rescue Käthe is beyond me.
My least favorite part has to be when Liesl throws an absolute tantrum because the Goblin King refuses to sleep with her when she's drunk and whines over the course of four pages about not being desirable. Someone end my suffering and tell this chick that her worth doesn't depend on whether or not she's having sex.
KÄTHE held a fun connotation for me, because my aunt has a pug who is also called Käthe. Dog-Käthe and Human-Käthe have a lot in common, actually: they are both easily excitable, rush into everything headfirst, and need attention constantly.
The difference is that Dog-Käthe is lovable and adorable. Human-Käthe is not.
Her entire personality revolves around making dumb comments and caring for glittery jewels, like a magpie with the attention span of a goldfish. That might make for a fun dialogue here and there, but mostly it just made me roll my eyes into the next dimension. Who cares whether or not Käthe returns from the Underworld?
What I am most annoyed about, however, is that while Liesl might be boring and annoying, the Goblin King is straight up garbage.
THE GOBLIN KING had so much potential - or so I was led to believe. I personally love a good anti-hero twelve times as much as I love your average good guy. The problem is that the Goblin King's entire potential was wasted on playing the violin and telling Elisabeth he wants "her, entire" instead of, you know, ruling the Underworld, as kings do. What a tragically underdeveloped character.
The few parts of his personality that actually were developed all pointed strongly towards him being an Abusive Fuck rather than a tragically cool anti-hero. I mean, what kind of man kidnaps somebody's sister, then holds her captive because she stopped playing cards with him? If everyone to whose message I've never replied held such vengeful ambitions, I'd be dead by now.
The other goblin characters did nothing for me, either. They blended into one single creature I vaguely recall as creepy at times, but mostly just overly annoying. Cerridwen and - pardon, Twig and Thistle, of course - were pretty much Feyre's fae servants' twins and equal parts annoying and bland. I don't care if they want to eat Liesl. By all means, let them.
The only characters I cared for in the slightest were JOSEF and FRANÇOIS, who each deserve a star of their own. Wherever they are, I hope they're happy and cozy and making music and being gay. Bless.
WORLD BUILDING: 3 / 5
You've got to give it to [a:S. Jae-Jones|13414088|S. Jae-Jones|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1507328860p2/13414088.jpg]: her world building is intricat, interesting, and well executed. [b:Wintersong|24763621|Wintersong (Wintersong, #1)|S. Jae-Jones|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1479206906s/24763621.jpg|44394042] is set in historical Bavaria, a fact I was over the moon about because few books are set in Germany. Her depictions of Liesl's litte hometown felt real and vivid enough.
I also adored the Underground and how infinitely confusing it was. It tricked me as many times as it tricked Liesl; I could never figure it out completely and I loved it. What I loved even more was the vague sense of unsettledness it coaxed from the pit of my stomach with every page.
My problem was that I just didn't feel as invested in this world as I would have liked to be. It lost its grip on me as quickly as it developed it.
DIVERSITY: 3 / 5
I was pleasantly surprised to see the diversity that S. Jae-Jones included in her work without making it seem try-hard or over the top.
Of course, the book wasn't as diverse as others, but considering it was set in historical Bavaria that felt rather accurate. And for what it was worth, I think Jae-Jones made a decent effort.
In Wintersong, there are two gay characters: Liesl's brother Josef and his mentor's other apprentice François. François also so happens to be black. They're not a huge part of the story, but whenever they are, their love for one another is clearly stated and examined as much as Käthe's infatuation with being liked and Liesl's and the Goblin King's relationship is.
WRITING STYLE: 3.5 / 5
S. Jae-Jones strong forte is definitely her writing style. She uses enchanting and hauntingly beautiful descriptions that read more like music or poetry than an average YA-novel. I am impressed.
"He had lived in my mind for so long; now I wanted to hold more than just the idea of him."
Ultimately, there were still some things about her style that I found off-putting and distracting: for example the random tense switches. For no discernible reason, the narrative slips from past tense to present tense whenever Liesl and the Goblin King begin getting it on. I am mildly annoyed.
Or the fact that Jae-Jones has a problem with recycling her descriptions. I mean, I actually counted the times the words "tall, elegant stranger" were used in reference to the Goblin King (twenty-two times, if you're interested.) We get it. He's tall. He's handsome. We're not impressed.
Another thing I, who couldn't be further from being a musical prodigy, felt annoyed by was the avalanche of musical terms. Adagio this, bagatelle that. I really can't be bothered.
The factor that bothered me most, however, was the German that was used in between. Extra points for being so consistently wrong.
As a native speaker, I understand that German might not be the easiest language in the world. We have a lot of nonsensical rules that are difficult to grasp. Sometimes I'm not even sure we have rules at all. German feels less like a language and more like it's dancing naked on the table, flipping you off cheerfully as everything you thought you knew crashes and burns around you.
What I don't understand is why S. Jae-Jones didn't think of asking a native speaker to read over her lines. I mean, unless they speak vastly different German in Bavaria - which I don't think is the case - and have even less regards for grammatical structures than we Northerners do, I'm pretty sure that no one bothered to point out to the author that her usage of the German language was incorrect almost 80 % of the time.
Like this sentence, which is repeated throughout the book:
"Für meine Lieben, ein Lied im stil die Bagatelle, auch Der Erlkönig."
Let's look past the fact that her capitalization is completely off: (Stil is a noun and must therefore be capitalized) the meaning of this sentence is beyond me. Yes, it's the title of a piece of music composed by Liesl for her family. Yes, I can guess it's written as a bagatelle and that its title is Der Erlkönig. But this entire sentence is so grammatically incorrect I can't even think of a way to rephrase it, and I passed thirteen years of German class with nothing but straight As.
Side note: Dear S. Jae-Jones, it's called Guglhupf, which is a delicious type of cake (a bundt cake.) I don't know who told you it's called GuglhOpf, but it's really not.
I am exhausted.
OVERALL RATING: 2.5 / 3
Look, I didn't hate this book. There were a lot of parts I enjoyed. This isn't the worst book I've read this year, either. But I just didn't find myself interested - or emotionally invested - in the story or its characters. The last few chapters were a struggle to push through. I read this entire thing through a haze of polite disinterest, like when you're on the train watching a fly repeatedly hit the window, searching for a way out. It's entertaining for about twenty seconds, but then you start feeling half-bored and half-pitiful due to the fact that this poor fly is doing that all to itself. Everything I disliked here, Wintersong did to itself.
In short, I simply did not care about this book, even though it had a promising premise and a solid start.