A quick disclaimer before we start: I have no idea what Labyrinth is, outside of "David Bowie" and "The 80s". So if you are looking for a comparison.... you won't find one here. All I can tell you is that David Bowie isn't in this book? Okay, moving on.
Wintersong hooked me from page one. The writing is gorgeous, lyrical, and just kept drawing me into the story. I really liked Liesl as a character. She was incredibly honest and flawed at times, and I felt like there was something about her that was just so... authentic. I could sympathize with her struggles even though I didn't always share them. I liked how she wasn't afraid to say that she wanted to know the feeling of someone being attracted to her, to show her attention the way people did to her sister.
Speaking of her sister, there is so much focus on family relationships in this book, which is another thing that I loved. So much of the plot revolves around Liesl trying to determine what is best for her family, finding a place in her family, her duty to her family. And I really loved her siblings, and even her mother and grandmother! I could have lived without her father, but I suppose his indifference toward her talent was probably pretty realistic for the time period.
Oh, and her talent! Yes, Liesl and her brother Josef both have quite an affinity for music, but in different ways. Josef plays, Liesl writes, only no one ever knows that she is behind the music. Usually, music in books for me is tolerable at best but in this case, I actually found myself caring about it! Which... I don't know, it says quite a bit about the author's ability to draw me into a subject I am usually apathetic toward. It fit into the story in a lot of really perfect ways, and I appreciated that.
The romance was slow to start, but once it did, I shipped it a lot. There were a lot of swoon-worthy moments. A. Lot. I don't want to say much more about the romance because it would be spoilery, so I am just going to say that I really liked it and move on. There was one aspect I wasn't as fond of, and that was that (and this is a spoiler, so... I will tell you guys not to read it but you will anyway. I know how you all operate!) Liesl says that sex like, changed her whole world. It was... odd. Like, she says:
"My life was divided into two neat and perfect halves: Before and After."
"I emerged from our tryst a different woman: no longer Liesl, but Elizabeth. I tested the edges of this new identity, slipping it on, seeing how it fit."
Like... I get that it might have been good sexy times, but should sex really be identity changing? Not sure how I felt about that as a message.
There are slower moments, and sometimes they were completely fine- like I said, the writing is so stunning, the character development so well done, that I didn't mind most of the slower moments. But there were a few times, especially in the second half of the book, that I felt that maybe speeding things up, or perhaps just not including a few repetitive parts, would have helped.
Bottom Line: This was such a lovely book, with characters that I grew to care deeply about and a magical story that had me hooked throughout. I was so happy to hear that there would be a companion novel, as I cannot wait to jump back into the characters' lives, the world, and the writing!
*Copy provided by publisher for review