As someone who has read a lot of romance before and was fed up with sappy stories, I didn't think I would be so taken by the characters in Spring Song. The female and male characters with their own beliefs and feelings they try to suppress – made me become enchanted with the unique story.
Especially Clay whose super fan I become from the first interaction. He’s the character who inspired the author to create an entire album of unique tender love songs full of longing and yearning. You can check the Cassia Hall YouTube channel to get the feeling this book will grant you. Especially, "Owling's song" which is mentioned in the book.

Thank you to Reedsy Discovery for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Spring Song is the first story in a novella-esque prequel series. When I first started reading this story, I had no idea it was a prequel, and was understandably confused. The author was kind enough to include a glossary of sorts, which did help me assimilate to the writing style and very specific dialect used by these characters.

This story is first and foremost about fated love, as well as past lives. I really enjoyed watching these characters find each other again in this lifetime, and how they navigated the challenges that came with not only seeing the other person for who they truly were, but accepting them as well. One of our couples includes LGBTQ+ characters, which is a theme throughout the first and second stories in this series.

The author also took the time to compose and record songs for this work of fiction, which made the world building feel complete. After listening to one of the songs on the YouTube channel provided in the book, I felt myself settle into the story and begin to really enjoy the ride.

What I liked so much about this story was that we followed the seemingly mundane day to day lives of certain characters, all the while in the background a major plot point is looming. This world consists of Travelers, who are tasked with duties to different kingdoms. One Traveler brings a High Lord and two wild children to stay with their Grandma (or Grand Aunt). While the children run amok, causing chaos and mini disasters wherever they go, our High Lord discovers the reason he felt compelled to come to this place was a person - a stable lad.

It's my understanding as the reader that everyone in this world has a magical ability to some degree, whether that's communicating with animals, growing plants, healing, music, telekinesis, shape shifting, or traveling between worlds. While we watch two couples find each other again in this lifetime, we're also waiting for the other shoe to drop. The wild children's mothers are missing, and their fathers and unknown (to the reader). The suspense of this mixes so effortlessly with the day to day lives of everyone around the children that the setting becomes idyllic, despite their tantrums and squeals from page to page.

The magic system and language used in this novel could be confusing at times, but I do think it's worth it to push through. I'm very curious about the main series for this story, and hope that readers would pick these books up after reading those for a more enjoyable experience, and easier transition. I really enjoyed the aspects of the love stories, as well as how developed these characters were. Their nuances, faults, and redeeming qualities really shine throughout this story, and blended together so naturally with discussions of music, nature, and animals.

There are so many different aspects to this world I think readers would love, and I hope more people discover this series and give it a chance.

I wanted to love it. . .

This book left my head hurting.. in good ways and bad..

I loved the love stories and the inspiration behind the book.. the made up world and its characters were very intriguing.

However. . .
There were multiple things I did not like about it.
First- Just a personal preference but I do not like the cover.. having images of people on it leave nothing for me to be able to create my ideal picture of the MC in my head while reading.
Second- The "descriptions" should be placed at the beginning of the book.. I want to know what it means BEFORE I read it.
Third- i love the fact the the author was going for a Medieval feel.. but when I was reading i felt like I was talking to someone with a terribly bad accent.

I was only going to give this two stars but I loved the songs at the end and thought it was worth a star itself!
Keep up the passion and im sure there's a right audience for this story.. I just wasn't one of them

Read the full review here:

https://onreviewbysara.com/blog-posts/

What a sweet story. I really enjoyed Spring Song, I'm not always a huge fantasy fan as I get bogged down by world-building sometimes but the author plunges you in to her world and I felt right at home, scurrying alongside these characters in the days coming up to the Spring Song Festival. I loved having the two couples to follow and always am up for a slow-burn in any form so twice as nice for me!
I was a little sad at the end, but having the two couples made a nice balance, and I look forward to more in the series and from this author!