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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
I actually enjoyed this a lot more than Lament, and it made me wonder if perhaps my problem with Lament was not so much the story or the characters, but that Dee was a bad protagonist. I did feel with Lament that it was a story that wanted to be in third person being squeezed into a first person narrative. I didn't feel like we gained anything extra from being in Dee's head, and indeed I think it detracted from the story a bit. Meanwhile, Ballad was improved by being told first person from the point of view of James, who frankly is a much more interesting, much more likable character. James' personality added to the story, where Dee's took away from it. And frankly Ballad made me like Dee even less than I did before. I would have much rathered that her minute part in this book was just cut entirely. Sadly, this did mean that all of the impact of James' unrequited love for her felt empty and under developed because not only was Dee hardly present, when she was, she was just whiny and awful.
The plot of Ballad was very similar to Lament - talented human meets not-quite-a-faerie, falls in love, has danger from other, proper faeries. Honestly I wish I had read Ballad without having read Lament - I think I would have enjoyed the plot a lot more, as it was done much better here than it was in Lament. There was still a sad lack in the Stiefvater-ness of it, but I could see where hints of it were starting to come through and reveal themselves a bit more clearly. James was a much more "Maggie" character than Dee, and I did enjoy spending time with him.
Overall, better than Lament, but not as good as any of Maggie's later books. Still, we all have to start somewhere?
The plot of Ballad was very similar to Lament - talented human meets not-quite-a-faerie, falls in love, has danger from other, proper faeries. Honestly I wish I had read Ballad without having read Lament - I think I would have enjoyed the plot a lot more, as it was done much better here than it was in Lament. There was still a sad lack in the Stiefvater-ness of it, but I could see where hints of it were starting to come through and reveal themselves a bit more clearly. James was a much more "Maggie" character than Dee, and I did enjoy spending time with him.
Overall, better than Lament, but not as good as any of Maggie's later books. Still, we all have to start somewhere?
Review here:
http://paperbackwonderland.blogspot.pt/2013/11/ballad-gathering-of-faerie-2-by-maggie.html
I want to be completely honest and say that I did love the first book of this series. Lament was by far one of the best books I have read in a long time, so I was really excited to read the sequel.
Although the plots was interesting, it was slow in developing and I feel like the whole ending was rushed. It took forever for the plot to get started and I was about three quarters of the way through by the time it even became remotely interesting.
The characters were good but I felt like some of them had changed in ways that I did not like. James from the first book was not James in the second book. Yes, I understand that he may have been bitter or upset but if someone is your best friend you should stand by them. It's obvious that James is conflicted in this book but I still feel like true friendship should mean something in this book.
Nuala to me is a bit bland in character. I feel like her angry chick thing is ok but after awhile I wonder how any man could find her appealing. James in my mind should not have fallen in love with her but then again what do I know?
The winning part of this book is the faerie lure. I love how Maggie does her research and makes the faerie world accessible to the reader. I'll be awaiting the next book, wondering if she will be bringing back some of the characters we love and if in fact she can show us the reason this book was important.
Although the plots was interesting, it was slow in developing and I feel like the whole ending was rushed. It took forever for the plot to get started and I was about three quarters of the way through by the time it even became remotely interesting.
The characters were good but I felt like some of them had changed in ways that I did not like. James from the first book was not James in the second book. Yes, I understand that he may have been bitter or upset but if someone is your best friend you should stand by them. It's obvious that James is conflicted in this book but I still feel like true friendship should mean something in this book.
Nuala to me is a bit bland in character. I feel like her angry chick thing is ok but after awhile I wonder how any man could find her appealing. James in my mind should not have fallen in love with her but then again what do I know?
The winning part of this book is the faerie lure. I love how Maggie does her research and makes the faerie world accessible to the reader. I'll be awaiting the next book, wondering if she will be bringing back some of the characters we love and if in fact she can show us the reason this book was important.
I'm not a huge fan of this perspective on Dee, but I appreciated the fact that James got his own story. Even if I didn't really like his tragic love story, I had to admit I was interested in seeing how it would unfold. Nuala and Sullivan and Paul made interesting contributions (even if Nuala's tortured evil kind of annoyed me and Sullivan's cool-mentorship also kind of annoyed me), and the conclusion was tidy without being completely happily-ever-after.
adventurous
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read "Lament" because I loved Maggie Stiefvater's writing in the Raven Boys series. It was alright but I really disliked Dee. I liked "Ballad" so much more, and I think a big part of that was that the protagonist's view of Dee seemed formed out of a self-awareness about how ridiculously Dee was written. Would read again. Great if you're on a Stiefvater / Holly Black binge.
re-read review: yup, still loved it. so sad to think we may never get the conclusion of this series since it leaves us on such a high cliff. I love James and Sullivan and Nuala a lot.
initial review:
I have to admit, I was very hesitant to pick this companion book to Lament. Lament is clearly one of Maggie's earlier works and quite frankly is not her strongest book. But I came back to Maggie after reading both Scorpio Races and Raven Boys, and I'm very happy I did.
To me, James is by far one of the strongest male voices in YA fiction. His perspective was unique and served as a (much needed) relief from Dee, who I still cannot stand. Nuala and James' dynamic was fantastic and I love the twist the end where James is given a very tough choice to make, and I think he makes the right one. James is a strong character and I wish I knew someone like him in my life. He is funny, charismatic, yet he is realistic and a nervous train wreck of a human being after what happened to him in Lament.
The romance built nicely and was never over the top. Subtle, but gorgeous. The plot was equally intricate and slow to rise to conflict. I'm curious to see what will happen in the third and final installment and fear that death for one of the main characters is inevitable....dun dun dun.
Also, must know, where's Luke?
initial review:
I have to admit, I was very hesitant to pick this companion book to Lament. Lament is clearly one of Maggie's earlier works and quite frankly is not her strongest book. But I came back to Maggie after reading both Scorpio Races and Raven Boys, and I'm very happy I did.
To me, James is by far one of the strongest male voices in YA fiction. His perspective was unique and served as a (much needed) relief from Dee, who I still cannot stand. Nuala and James' dynamic was fantastic and I love the twist the end where James is given a very tough choice to make, and I think he makes the right one. James is a strong character and I wish I knew someone like him in my life. He is funny, charismatic, yet he is realistic and a nervous train wreck of a human being after what happened to him in Lament.
The romance built nicely and was never over the top. Subtle, but gorgeous. The plot was equally intricate and slow to rise to conflict. I'm curious to see what will happen in the third and final installment and fear that death for one of the main characters is inevitable....dun dun dun.
Also, must know, where's Luke?
Wow. That was like super way better than the first. :)