YA Book Review: Shadowsong by S. Jae Jones

Title: Shadowsong

Author: S. Jae Jones

Series: Wintersong #2

Genre: Young Adult Fairy Tale Retelling

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Pub Date: February 6, 2018

Pages: 384

My Copy: Courtesy of NetGalley and Publisher in exchange for an honest review

Book Summary:

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 Her younger brother Josef is cold, distant, and withdrawn, while Liesl can’t forget the austere young man she left beneath the earth, and the music he inspired in her. 

When troubling signs arise that the barrier between worlds is crumbling, Liesl must return to the Underground to unravel the mystery of life, death, and the Goblin King—who he was, who he is, and who he will be. What will it take to break the old laws once and for all? What is the true meaning of sacrifice when the fate of the world—or the ones Liesl loves—is in her hands?

Book Review:

This was an interesting follow up to Wintersong. I found that things have changed for Liesl and everyone in her family since coming back from the underground now that the Goblin King is no more. Her life is never the same after this, there are new challenges for her to face.

We learn that weird and strange things are happening all over the place. I like that we get to see what is happening with Josef as well. There was a little bit with Josef in the book, but we really had no idea what was happening in his life or those of the other siblings. There are consequences for what Liesl, has done. She hasn’t even realized what the consequences are until things happen to other people and animals. Even Josef has problems of his own.

Strange deaths are happening both at Liesl’s home and in Vienna where Josef is studying. These deaths are starting to pile up and take their toll on both of them. Plus things are once again getting bad for their family  financially since there are some bad things happening. Their grandmother is doing insane things to try to protect their family. This causes some serious financial strain on the family due to things coming for Liesl at home and Josef in Vienna. 

I like that there are things coming left and right at both Liesl and Josef. We also get a lot of scenes with Josef as well. Like that Josef gets a lot of exposure in this book. People are dying in Vienna as well. So they both have to deal with their roles and positions in a lot of different ways than if they were living in the same place. Plus things are getting dangerous in other ways we learn. Then we get to see some of Josef’s life in Vienna and it’s far more different than we were led to believe. Plus Josef asking for help is something that was a surprise. 

Like how the two of them interacted when rescued by their benefactors who make their lives easier in some ways, but reveal some hard truths about things that no one could expect or see coming. We get to learn that Liesl and Josef are special. That Liesl can seal the realms between the underground and the plane where they live. So of course the relationship has changed with Josef. Everybody has something at stake, mainly their lives, but so much more. Josef learns that Liesl did a lot more than he originally thought. I thought that their anger was written very realistic between the two of them. 

This book had a lot of turns and twists in it. I really found myself kind of wondering what was going to happen. The ending was something that i never expected. It was something that was a good ending for this story. Thought it was going to end another way. I really did enjoy the way that Liesl made the decision to do what she did. 

Overall a good conclusion to this book. 

Rating:

4 Hearts