I thought Liesl was very likable, even though I found her irritating at times. I did like it but I just never really connected to it in the way that I thought I would. Authors I like were giving it high praise as well. SO many people were saying how fantastic it was months before it was published. Reviewed from a copy received from Netgalley.

Jae-Jones’ richly imagined debut spins a spellbinding tale of music, love, sisterhood, and a young woman’s search for self-actualization.

Set at the turn of the 19th century, when young upstart composers like Beethoven were forever altering the sound of music, S. With time and the old laws working against her, Liesl must discover who she truly is before her fate is sealed. Drawn despite herself to the strange, beautiful world she finds-and the mysterious man who rules it-she finds herself facing an impossible choice. When Käthe is stolen by the Goblin King, Liesl knows she must set aside her childish fantasies to journey to the Underground and save her. But Liesl finds refuge only in her wild, captivating music, composed in secret in honor of the mysterious Goblin King. Sensible and plain, Liesl knows it’s her duty to keep her beautiful sister Käthe safe from harm. Her grandmother has always warned her to follow the old laws, for every year on the longest night of winter, she claims, the Goblin King will emerge into the waking world in search of his eternal bride. Deep in his terrifying realm underground, the cold and forbidding Goblin King casts a dark shadow over nineteen-year-old Liesl.

S jae jones