Shadowing (Wintersong Duology 2)

Shadowsong

S. Jae-Jones

“Once there was a little girl, who played her music for a little boy in the wood. She was an innkeeper’s daughter and he was the Lord of Mischief, but neither were wholly what they seemed, for nothing is as simple as a fairy tale.”

    So…let’s say that I secretly came to post a new review…and I’ll quietly walk away since I don’t think anyone will be noticing a new post coming. 

 Now, let’s get started, shall we? After a long long long time, I finally pick up all my YA novels once more. (Quiet a long reading slump, I get it.) In case you happen to be wondering if I stopped reading or not (please tell me that you do!), the answer is nope, but I’ve been reading looooots of Chinese internet novels, which I won’t be able to share mush in English, after all, most of them are not translated into English. They’re sort of like fantasy, but a mixture of classic Chinese folklore and tales. Hard to explain…but…just go down below and read my other post about those Chinese fantasies! Now back to Shadowsong…I have to say, it’s much different to Wintersong in general. To a certain extend…the pace of Shadowsong isn’t as good as Wintersong, therefore it sometimes feels a bit boring when reading it. But…still a nice book to read.

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 Her younger brother Josef is cold, distant, and withdrawn, while Liesl can’t forget the austere young man she left beneath the earth, and the music he inspired in her.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

“For all that I could not bear my own silence, I wanted the voices of the world around me to disappear. Solitude was different from loneliness, and it was solitude I was seeking.”

Unlike Wintersong that focused a lot of the tales of the Goblin King and music, which are the main subject (holly molly…I sound like I’m writing an essay.), Shadowsong focuses more on Liesl’s personal feeling. This was especially noted by S. Jae-Jones in the author’s note, she would much more like to deal with lots of negative, self-denial emotion in the book…which makes the entire book so dark and heavy. I personally have no problem with that, as far as the story is great. However, when the story focuses so much on Liesl’s personal feeling, I feel like the balance between story plot and characters is not good enough to tempt me. What are people expecting for the second book? More Liesl and the Goblin King right? How they’re going to overcome their barrier between words, and lots of lots of music! Sorry, nothing. Liesl stops composing, Josef no longer plays the violin as he used to play, not a word for the Goblin King. Not. A. Word. 

Most of the time when we saw the Goblin King is about his background story and how he is constantly debating with the old law for not going completely mad. Nothing much with Liesl, I have to say. On the contrary, the story focuses more on how gloomy Josef is. We know that something was happening to Josef, but instead of speaking his experience out, or by using a useful way to deal with his emotion, he kept complaining Liesl for being selfish. Yes, selfish. Everyone in the book is complaining Liesl for being so selfish, except for the Goblin King. 

I understand it is sometimes hard to express our emotions and not to annoy or hurt others…but it somehow took too long? This gives me a feeling that we are constantly dealing with their depression and nothing goes on. 

It was like nothing had changed after Liesl traveled into the underworld. Same emotion, same issue, but this time, there is no more music. I understand that what the author was trying to deal with, just it needs a better arrangement. The readers are expecting fantasy and music and tales…but it turns out that everyone had gone mad in the story. The only two people that are sane are Kathe and Francosis! Surprise! Unlike Wintersong, Kathe had changed so much. I personally really like how Kathe had turned out after her journey. Instead of focusing on how Liesl complains Kathe, Kathe had turned out to be a nice character, caring, and thoughtful for Liesl and Josef, who turned out completely different for some reason. And I love how Kathe turned out to be one of the most important people that pull Liesl back to sanity. 

 Who could ever think that the least loveable character turned out to be one of the most beloved ones? The author absolutely did that. Expect for The Goblin King, who barely did anything in this book, all the characters, including Constanze, Liesl, Josef, and Kathe are given with different personalities as if book one never happened. 

    Is there anything I enjoy? There are. I still enjoy some of the plot twists, they are still great and catchy. And I especially love how The Goblin King’s story is entwined with the story as more secrets are revealed. I love how Kathe had turned out in the second book. I love how Francosis acted in the second book, and I love how kind and caring The Goblin King is (which should not be the reason why I love him!!!!! I need the devilish Goblin King more!!!!!). And, although I hate to admit, I think it is interesting to reveal a darker side of the characters…although we mostly see Liesl on her darker side? 

    As you can feel from this post…I don’t really know how to express my feeling for Shadowsong. I don’t hate it…I enjoy some of the changes…but there are things that can be done better.  If you love the first book as I do, then I would recommend you finish the duology. 

It’s better to have a bitter-sweet ending, compare to the first book…right? But if you feel just so-so for the first book…then let’s not ruin the impression. 

p.s. why doesn't my picture MOVE!!!!!!!!!!