Full review at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books 
 This may be the hardest review I've ever had to write because there are just so many things trying to escape my mind at one time. My love of Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones has been broadcasted on my Twitter and I even made a super delicious cocktail for it. The prose is beautiful, lyrical, and it seems to surrounded you. This is definitely a book that drags you into it. You won't be able to stop reading it until your eyes start to cross and you find yourself reading the same sentence over and over. 
 I'm sure you're picking up Labyrinth parallels. 
 But if the possibility of some David Bowie fantasies doesn't tempt you, Wintersong also has elements of: 
 - The Phantom of the Opera 
 - The Little Mermaid 
 - Hades & Persephone 
 - Beauty and the Beast 
 I feel a little bit like a very shouty man in an informercials. WE'VE GOT BROODING. MORE SEXUAL TENSION THAT YOU CAN SHAKE A STICK AT. ORDER TODAY AND WE'LL THROW IN A BONUS UGLY CRY FOR JUST THE COST OF EXTRA SHIPPING AND HANDLING. 
 Jae-Jones' writing is so descriptive and entrancing. The goblins and the Underground are detailed with this mix of dark romanticism, a twisted glamour where nothing is as it seems. That said, because of the detail, the reading was dense at times. It's like eating a rich meal. You love every bite, but you know you're going to get sick if you gorge yourself on it. You have to slow down and savor. 
 Music also plays a large part in the story in Elisabeth's identity, in the dysfunction it causes between her and her family, in the growing attraction between Elisabeth and the Goblin King. But I am not musically inclined. I took band for one year in 6th grade, where I begrudgingly played the flute after being denied my choice of playing the alto sax. That's the extent of my musical knowledge, so the jargon used to describe various elements of musical composition went right over my head. 
 For those who love Labyrinth or any of the elements I mentioned above, please get this book. It's whimsical, spellbinding, and full of things that will make fairy tale lovers squee. This is Jae-Jones' debut novel and because of Wintersong, you can guarantee that I'll be following her writing closely, whether it's up and down the Escher staircase or knee-deep into the bog of eternal stench. 
 - Amanda