Wintersong
Part of the Wintersong · Book 1
"Wintersong is a maze of beauty and darkness, of music and magic and glittering things, all tied together with exquisite writing. This is a world you will want to stay lost in." --Marie Lu, #1 New York Times bestselling author
Dark, romantic, and unforgettable, Wintersong is an enchanting coming-of-age story for fans of Labyrinth and Beauty and the Beast.
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, her spirit, and inspired her musical compositions. Now eighteen and helping to run her family's inn, Liesl 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. And with time and the old laws working against her, Liesl must discover who she truly is before her fate is sealed.
Rich with music and magic, S. Jae-Jones's Wintersong will sweep you away into a world you won't soon forget.
"This was Labyrinth by way of Angela Carter. Deliciously romantic, with a nuanced Goblin King and a strong heroine, this story was rife with fairy tales, music, and enchantment." --Roshani Chokshi, New York Times bestselling author of The Star-Touched Queen
• Ships in 2 to 3 days.
About DRM
DRM stands for Digital Rights Management and is the term for the anti-piracy protections most publishers require to be applied to their ebooks.
DRM-Free titles can be downloaded and transferred to your reader app or device of choice.
DRM-Protected titles must be read on either Bookshop.org’s Apple or Android app, or via a web browser.
Wintersong
Why It Passed
No author paid to be here. The shelf is not sponsored. Every book is read in full before it ever reaches you, then weighed against four things we refuse to bend on. Here is how this one held up.
writing
The prose does the work without showing off. You forget you're reading and just fall in.
characters
Nobody here is only a love interest. Even the side characters have a pulse and reason to exist.
pacing
The slow burn is genuinely slow. It earns every inch of tension instead of stalling for length.
payoff
The ending lands. No cheap cliff just to sell you the next one. (Okay. Maybe a small one. You'll survive!)
Know Before You Start
The Book
The Tropes
The Spice
A few things worth knowing before you start. We would rather you choose with eyes open than get blindsided forty pages in.
The Content Warnings
The Criteria Score
The Reviews
Finished it? We want to know what you think
We vetted this one. Here's what happened when readers got their hands on it.
What to Read After This
5 shared tropes
The Never List (Deluxe Limited Edition) (The Never List Series — Book 1)
by Jade Presley
5 shared tropes
Kiss of the Basilisk (Split or Swallow Series — Book 1)
by Lindsay Straube
5 shared tropes
My Thorns For Your Roses (The Cairnwood Reel Series — Book 1)
by Kristen Argyres
5 shared tropes
The Games Gods Play (The Crucible Series — Book 1)
by Abigail Owen
5 shared tropes
Throne of the Fallen (Prince of Sin Series — Book 1)
by Kerri Maniscalco
5 shared tropes
Throne of Nightmares (Prince of Sin Series — Book 3)
by Kerri Maniscalco
5 shared tropes
Tattoo of Crimson (Blood of the Fae Series — Book 1)
by Sarah Chislon
5 shared tropes
A Bargain of Smoke and Vines
by J.L. Tomlinson
The Corner Membership
The shelf you've been looking for.
Members get the shelf before anyone else, a seat in every discussion, and the quarterly magazine. No algorithm. No noise. Just books that passed, and people who actually finish them.
- Store credit toward your next read, every year.
- Free annual gift sent straight to your door.
- The Corner quarterly magazine, included.