Shadowsong (Wintersong, #2)

by S Jae-Jones

[nightingalereads]

EDIT: It's been a few months, and I'm dropping this to 2 stars because of just how far below my expectations this book fell - especially when compared to how much I enjoyed the first book. I'm rarely this disappointed in sequels, but this one missed the mark by a long shot.

Review:
I'll start off by saying that I loved Wintersong. It was atmospheric and engaging, and just a great book overall. S. Jae-Jones's writing is beautiful. Seriously, there is something musical about the way she weaves words together. That being said, while the writing in Shadowsong was as visceral as in the first book, I was a little disappointed by this sequel.

First off, there was a serious lack of plot throughout most of the book, with the characters just sort of drifting between a few different locations. Some plotlines and character arcs felt purposeless, and most of the novel is spent muddling through stagnant introspection. My biggest complaint, though, is that the Goblin King was reduced to the fringes of the story. We learn a bit about his background, which is interesting, but he doesn't play a major role in the progressing story like he did in Wintersong. He barely interacts with anyone at all, in fact, let alone the protagonist. A lot of the events of this book also felt cut off from the first one, as if the established relationships and build-up from the first book didn't wind up mattering at all.

In general, I enjoyed the world and the writing, but was a bit let down by this sequel. Like Wintersong, the pacing in Shadowsong was slow, but not in a good way this time around. This time it felt like we weren't going anywhere.