faerietale

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“Once there was a little girl who played her music for a little boy in the wood. She was small and dark, he was tall and fair, and the two of them made a fancy pair as they danced together, dancing to the music the little girl heard in her head.”

First impressions of this book when I read the blurb was fan fiction... likely to be tacky, unimaginative and to make me pull my hair out in annoyance at my childhood favourite movie the Labyrinth being tarnished.

So I was surprised when it arrived as a 500+ page book with not only a beautiful cover but an enchanting opening to what raised my belief in this books potential. So whilst everyone else was out watching the remake of Beauty and the Beast I'm pretty sure 'Beastly' was probably a better version, but whatever.) I decided to visit the Goblin King. *cue swooning sigh and hand fanning*

Inspired by Jim Henson's Labyrinth movie and poetry from Christina Rossetti, S. Jae Jones weaves together a devilishly sweet take of David Bowie as a Goblin King with the Goblin Market poem morals.

What I loved most about this doting story was not only the take of the Underground where the Goblin King ruled, but the language and emotion that is so easily conveyed through the characters. A roller coaster of passion, desire, hate, regret and loneliness. Jones makes her protagonist Elisabeth a strong minded and spirited woman who lacked outer beauty but not a compassionate soul. The world around her is unkind, and with the people closest to her squashing her dreams of being a composer Elisabeth only truly finds herself in the realm of the goblins, where the Goblin King boosts not only her self confidence but her self worth as well. Not entirely a romance, this novel focuses much of the story on Elisabeth's love of music and her lack of confidence to publish it to the world above, choosing instead to let her brother reap the rewards of her success.

I was surprised that I was actually ready to accept the ending at part three of this fantastic story, mostly because this is the ending I wanted for the movie Labyrinth. And I was reluctant to keep reading as I thought that the author would twist the desperately wanted ending into something that would destroy the Goblin King and have Elisabeth escape back to her family relived to be out of his grasp leaving the ruler of Mischief dead and forgotten... Luckily this is not the case, Jones pulls you into the Underground further and really indulges in the world she creates, using snippets of quotes and settings from the movie, and poetry that inspires her. She weaves a magical tale of the Goblin King that will leave any fan of the Jim Henson classic proud to read.

The ending to this story is bitter sweet and devastating, but in its entirety Wintersong is a wonderfully written work of art that is a steady paced page turner that I really enjoyed immersing myself in.

Here are a couple of Wintersong inspired selfies!