Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
I am really glad that I'd read other books by Maggie Stiefvater first, as I do like her novels, because "Ballad" was really not good. I'm guessing some of it might have to do with this is one of her first novels, and so her writing and character development skills aren't as strong or well-developed as someone who'd been writing for longer (although there are many new writers do possess those skills right out of the gate). What bothered me the most was how one of the main characters, James, and a main secondary character, Deirdre, were completely untrue to who their core selves were in the first book, "Lament." So much so, that they might as well have been completely different people. I was also highly disappointed that the female author had the main character James (a cisgender male character) make sexist "period" and "girl" jokes, because that is so out of character for him from the first novel, and also because, why would she contribute to sexism and misogyny in this way? If these "jokes" had been said by a character who was in fact a sexist misogynist, that would be one thing because it would be true to the character; but they weren't, so it makes absolutely no sense.
Additionally, Halloween and Day of the Dead ARE NOT the same thing! Let me say it again louder for the people in the back: Halloween and Day of the Dead ARE NOT THE SAME THING! Día de los Muertos is an important spiritual/religious holiday, and we're well past the point (even when this book was written) of authors not being responsible and doing their research and conflating the two.
If it isn't clear, overall, I was very disappointed in this book.
Additionally, Halloween and Day of the Dead ARE NOT the same thing! Let me say it again louder for the people in the back: Halloween and Day of the Dead ARE NOT THE SAME THING! Día de los Muertos is an important spiritual/religious holiday, and we're well past the point (even when this book was written) of authors not being responsible and doing their research and conflating the two.
If it isn't clear, overall, I was very disappointed in this book.
Content note: fae, rape, sexual assault, love triangle,
I liked this one better than Lament, partially from there being less angsty love triangle, but more so from it being more fae than the first. Rather than Deirdre learning about her gifts, James is trying to avoid the attention of the various Fae, and in particular Nuala. Nuala is the girl of his dreams (if the girl of his dreams is not Deirdre), and wants to be his muse - for a price. Throw in The Horned Lord, a prep school for musicians, many of whom can sense the presence of the Fair Folk, and it is a mad time until Samhain / Halloween.
There is an attempted rape by one far towards another, with the character's thoughts as to the perpetrator not seeing anything wrong in their actions, “a ravishment” (in keeping with folk faerie tales where fae “enchant” or glamour a human for the evening to have their way - essentially date rape via magical means, although in this case, there is no attempt at magical coercion, just the perpetrator feeling that the character should feel honoured by their attention and a sense of entitlement to follow their desires) especially character's position on the fringe of the court as a solitary fae.
Character development to me seemed excellent, with characters realizing they can be more than they thought / more than others think of them. I especially liked Nualla.
I liked this one better than Lament, partially from there being less angsty love triangle, but more so from it being more fae than the first. Rather than Deirdre learning about her gifts, James is trying to avoid the attention of the various Fae, and in particular Nuala. Nuala is the girl of his dreams (if the girl of his dreams is not Deirdre), and wants to be his muse - for a price. Throw in The Horned Lord, a prep school for musicians, many of whom can sense the presence of the Fair Folk, and it is a mad time until Samhain / Halloween.
There is an attempted rape by one far towards another, with the character's thoughts as to the perpetrator not seeing anything wrong in their actions, “a ravishment” (in keeping with folk faerie tales where fae “enchant” or glamour a human for the evening to have their way - essentially date rape via magical means, although in this case, there is no attempt at magical coercion, just the perpetrator feeling that the character should feel honoured by their attention and a sense of entitlement to follow their desires) especially character's position on the fringe of the court as a solitary fae.
Character development to me seemed excellent, with characters realizing they can be more than they thought / more than others think of them. I especially liked Nualla.
"The most dangerous and wonderful creature alive is the human."
A really satisfying squeal to 'Lament' that I really enjoyed! I enjoyed the shift in perspective that this novel had! Viewing the story through completely different people than the first book made the story all the more interesting!
I highly recommend that you read this series!
A really satisfying squeal to 'Lament' that I really enjoyed! I enjoyed the shift in perspective that this novel had! Viewing the story through completely different people than the first book made the story all the more interesting!
I highly recommend that you read this series!
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
You know, I know a lot of people, A LOT, really like Maggie Stiefvater's books. A lot. I'm not one of them. I think they're superfluous, overwritten and disingenuous to the characters she writes. I somewhat enjoyed her lyrical writing in Lament although I wished she would have gotten to the point faster. In Ballad I was completely over it and still wished she'd get to the damn point already.
There's a lot of pining in this one: James for Dee, Dee for Luke (whom she knew for like 2 weeks before he got sucked back into Faerie, yeah, totally believable for utter love, thanks for that SMeyer, you wench). And it's unenduring. SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY! I get you. You want Dee but she doesn't see you that way. You want Luke but you're probably never going to see him again, not to mention your emotions are completely unfounded and you use that rejection as a means to use James in an attempt to fill a void that only backfires on you. God I'm so sick of this emo crap.
Nuala was a cool chick and probably the only one that remained true to herself in terms of writing. I loved her spunk and her snark and her all around attitude. You know, if I was burned every 16 years, I'd probably be bitter too.
But with James, Stiefvater just couldn't help going all lyrical and describing things in a way that, from what I've gathered of him, he would never say. His great personality shined through in most of his dialogue but his rambling diatribes of inner monologues just screamed to me "WRITER FLEXING FINGERS!" than being believable as really coming from the character's head.
The good thing was that Nuala's and James's relationship is so much more believable. It develops so much more naturally and while it still happens in what I see as a short amount of time (2 months), it's still developed longer than Dee's and Luke's was, not to mention it was actually developed. I actually felt for James at the end when he had to make a decision between Dee and Nuala. I truly believed that his heart was torn between the two. Him and Nuala are such better characters than Dee and Luke, I just wish Stiefvater would let the character speak for himself instead of inserting her language into his head.
I feel the book could have easily been half the length and still maintained the intensity of the story than what it is now. It meanders too long on the details, on the intricacies. We could have gotten all of that information in a much more compact setting and still maintained the feelings for the characters. In fact, I think cutting out a lot of that needless verbiage would have done a service for the characters. I hated being in James's head because all he did was pine for Dee for 3/4 of the book. God how boring that got. I get it. Move on with the story. Nuala was interesting albeit just as redundant at times. Just say it and move on. I found myself not really wanting to pick the book back up because for most of the book, it's more of the same. It's a lead up to the final battle that ended just as quickly as it did in Lament and, for me, it left the same kind of dissatisfaction that it was all resolved a little too easily. Granted it was more painful for the characters this time around and it affected them more but the grand picture, the big production, wrapped rather nearly for my taste.
I really commend Stiefvater on her knowledge of Irish fey. She doesn't go into grand detail on them and her research doesn't show, which is a really good thing (her superfluousness hangs around characters as characters) and I liked what she included in her mythology. It just made me that much more interested in fairies and the fey. The balance between having enough of them to understand what's going on and not being an overkill was expertly held. I just with she did that with her characters and the plot as a whole.
The only reason I read this book was because I had it sitting in my pile from BEA. I wouldn't have bothered otherwise.
There's a lot of pining in this one: James for Dee, Dee for Luke (whom she knew for like 2 weeks before he got sucked back into Faerie, yeah, totally believable for utter love, thanks for that SMeyer, you wench). And it's unenduring. SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY! I get you. You want Dee but she doesn't see you that way. You want Luke but you're probably never going to see him again, not to mention your emotions are completely unfounded and you use that rejection as a means to use James in an attempt to fill a void that only backfires on you. God I'm so sick of this emo crap.
Nuala was a cool chick and probably the only one that remained true to herself in terms of writing. I loved her spunk and her snark and her all around attitude. You know, if I was burned every 16 years, I'd probably be bitter too.
But with James, Stiefvater just couldn't help going all lyrical and describing things in a way that, from what I've gathered of him, he would never say. His great personality shined through in most of his dialogue but his rambling diatribes of inner monologues just screamed to me "WRITER FLEXING FINGERS!" than being believable as really coming from the character's head.
The good thing was that Nuala's and James's relationship is so much more believable. It develops so much more naturally and while it still happens in what I see as a short amount of time (2 months), it's still developed longer than Dee's and Luke's was, not to mention it was actually developed. I actually felt for James at the end when he had to make a decision between Dee and Nuala. I truly believed that his heart was torn between the two. Him and Nuala are such better characters than Dee and Luke, I just wish Stiefvater would let the character speak for himself instead of inserting her language into his head.
I feel the book could have easily been half the length and still maintained the intensity of the story than what it is now. It meanders too long on the details, on the intricacies. We could have gotten all of that information in a much more compact setting and still maintained the feelings for the characters. In fact, I think cutting out a lot of that needless verbiage would have done a service for the characters. I hated being in James's head because all he did was pine for Dee for 3/4 of the book. God how boring that got. I get it. Move on with the story. Nuala was interesting albeit just as redundant at times. Just say it and move on. I found myself not really wanting to pick the book back up because for most of the book, it's more of the same. It's a lead up to the final battle that ended just as quickly as it did in Lament and, for me, it left the same kind of dissatisfaction that it was all resolved a little too easily. Granted it was more painful for the characters this time around and it affected them more but the grand picture, the big production, wrapped rather nearly for my taste.
I really commend Stiefvater on her knowledge of Irish fey. She doesn't go into grand detail on them and her research doesn't show, which is a really good thing (her superfluousness hangs around characters as characters) and I liked what she included in her mythology. It just made me that much more interested in fairies and the fey. The balance between having enough of them to understand what's going on and not being an overkill was expertly held. I just with she did that with her characters and the plot as a whole.
The only reason I read this book was because I had it sitting in my pile from BEA. I wouldn't have bothered otherwise.
I really enjoyed this book, i think i may have even enjoyed it more than the 1st book even though Luke had gone! I felt i could really connect with some of the characters and, I'm sorry, but i really love James' sarcasm! This book has a little bit of everything: romance, magic and fantasy. I cant wait to read the final book in this trilogy and i will be extremely happy if it also is just as good ^-^
The only thing I really liked about this book was James's characterization. I didn't read the first book, so I didn't really feel connected to the character of Dee, and found her quite annoying. I do appreciate Maggie trying to retell Faerie mythology, but it just didnt' work for me.
I prefer James over Luke. James is funny. Dee pissed me off in this book.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual harassment
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes