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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
I enjoyed this more than I expected, since Lament really wasn't my thing. I love the protagonist in this one. Sweet read.
I didn't enjoy this one as much as I did Lament. What I did enjoy more though was the faerie storyline in this book. James and Nuala were easier to fall into sync with than Dee and Luke.
Overall, not bad. I wish the ending would have been a tad longer.
Overall, not bad. I wish the ending would have been a tad longer.
I've missed this world! I absolutely adored James in this book and Sullivan too. I felt that Dee lost her spark, she was so broken that I found her somewhat annoying. I loved her in Lament *sigh* I guess love can do that to you. But the way she treated James was truly awful. As always, though, Maggie's writing was phenomenal. Her words, the world that she creates and the images that conjure in my mind - magical, absolutely magical.
I may elaborate more, if i have the time but i have reviews piling up!
I may elaborate more, if i have the time but i have reviews piling up!
Great ending! I loved how the first book was about Dee and this one was about James. Now to wait for the last one.
Ballad was one of the most beautiful and haunting books I've read. It was much much much better than Lament. It was the perfect combination of eery, haunting, melancholy, otherworldly. It made me feel like another world was capable of creeping into my own, as it does here.
The writing was beautiful, poetic prose that lingered in me long after I had put down the book.
The characters were beautiful, and Maggie takes the opportunity to show the friendship from James' point of view, and we see how much Dee was taking advantage of him.
Even though this book is urban fantasy, it still feels so relatable to the average person. The searching for a place of belonging, and the melancholy atmosphere are things we've all felt from time to time, and Maggie brings a beauty to these everyday emotions.
Maggie Stiefvater is very close to becoming my favourite author. Her imagination is incredible. I liked his book even more than the first (Lament) and I simply.couldnt put it down. Great read for anyone that love the fae and fantasy.
Gahhhhh. This book is so infruriating. I hated EVERYONE besides two supporting characters.
I love Sullivan. He was the only worthwhile thing in the ENTIRE BOOK. And then he got the crappy fate of being the King of the Dead. GAHHHHHHH. I KNEW IT. I knew that would happen. It’s The Hobbit all over again, where I don’t care very much for anyone but one character and it is only that character that suffers a bad fate. It’s like my love causes tragedy. I’m sorry Sully! But how could you not love him? He’s a cool guy, great teacher, has a good head on his shoulders and uses it unlike everyone goddamn else, he’s wary of fae but gives Nuala and James a real chance to explain themselves, is a broken bird from being a fairy’s consort for years but is still badass enough to (1) escape from Fairy & (2) confront the his ex-lover (now Queen) again to save his students. What’s not to love?!?!?!? Especially when the competition for my affection is bitchy Nuala,doormat James and goddamn Dee.
I liked Paul (James’ roommate), too. Mostly because he seemed nice and wasn’t a fuckup like his roommate & co. Plus, he went and confronted the (Now Former) King of the Dead all by himself and acted like it was no big deal. Why couldn’t this book have been about Sullivan and Paul? That would've been a book worth reading.
Instead we get to read about how Dee fails at life SOME MORE, AGAIN. Is she ever not useless? She spends the book being misty and sad, using James’ love to make herself feel better and not giving a damn about her supposed best friend of nine years (and, frankly, her only friend ever…except I guess that girl she befriends in the other book, but she seems to not be in contact with anymore so I guess they’re not really friends anyway). She kisses James and then cries and says that she was thinking about Luke. GODDAMN IT GIRL. Do you ever consider anyone besides yourself?!?!? She also then proceeds to write unsent text messages that are STILL all about Luke and not really about James at all. She really doesn’t give a shit for James or anyone beyond her damn self. She doesn’t deserve Luke. I mean, Luke was a soulless assassin, but he is still a 1000 times more awesome than Dee. Sadly, he doesn’t show up in this book at all. I spent about 90% of this book hoping that Dee would die at the end of it. Alas, prayers unanswered.
James is just kind of annoying and lame. And uses WAY too many really painfully awkward metaphors/similes. Kid needs to take a break from thinking in purple prose. But mostly I don’t like him because he alternates between being a doormat for Dee and being obsessed with Nuala, neither of whom I liked and so I didn’t want to hear so much about them.
Nuala was just SUPER annoying. She thinks “asshole” is a term of affection. I’m sorry, but I think the love story is HORRIBLE when one half of the couple spends most of the relationship insulting the other. She’s also selfish, even though I guess she gets slightly less so near the end. She’s got a huge chip on her shoulder which, okay, she’s kind of earned (burning to death every 16 years, being treated like the lowest caste by the other Fae), but is still frickin’ annoying to read about. Get over yourself, Nuala! I was looking forward to her burning and am sad she also seemed to survive the end of the book.
I think it’s a very, very bad sign when you don’t like the main couple and you hope all three main characters die. But this book was still going to get three stars (who knows why?) but it got knocked down half a star for Sullivan. That is actually the part that makes me angriest.
I didn’t know Stiefvater could write such a bad book…I guess this is her early work. But this was a stupid book with stupid main characters and the writing is not even beautiful and evocative like Wolves of Mercy Falls. It’s just mediocre and sometimes really awkward writing.
I love Sullivan. He was the only worthwhile thing in the ENTIRE BOOK. And then he got the crappy fate of being the King of the Dead. GAHHHHHHH. I KNEW IT. I knew that would happen. It’s The Hobbit all over again, where I don’t care very much for anyone but one character and it is only that character that suffers a bad fate. It’s like my love causes tragedy. I’m sorry Sully! But how could you not love him? He’s a cool guy, great teacher, has a good head on his shoulders and uses it unlike everyone goddamn else, he’s wary of fae but gives Nuala and James a real chance to explain themselves, is a broken bird from being a fairy’s consort for years but is still badass enough to (1) escape from Fairy & (2) confront the his ex-lover (now Queen) again to save his students. What’s not to love?!?!?!? Especially when the competition for my affection is bitchy Nuala,doormat James and goddamn Dee.
I liked Paul (James’ roommate), too. Mostly because he seemed nice and wasn’t a fuckup like his roommate & co. Plus, he went and confronted the (Now Former) King of the Dead all by himself and acted like it was no big deal. Why couldn’t this book have been about Sullivan and Paul? That would've been a book worth reading.
Instead we get to read about how Dee fails at life SOME MORE, AGAIN. Is she ever not useless? She spends the book being misty and sad, using James’ love to make herself feel better and not giving a damn about her supposed best friend of nine years (and, frankly, her only friend ever…except I guess that girl she befriends in the other book, but she seems to not be in contact with anymore so I guess they’re not really friends anyway). She kisses James and then cries and says that she was thinking about Luke. GODDAMN IT GIRL. Do you ever consider anyone besides yourself?!?!? She also then proceeds to write unsent text messages that are STILL all about Luke and not really about James at all. She really doesn’t give a shit for James or anyone beyond her damn self. She doesn’t deserve Luke. I mean, Luke was a soulless assassin, but he is still a 1000 times more awesome than Dee. Sadly, he doesn’t show up in this book at all. I spent about 90% of this book hoping that Dee would die at the end of it. Alas, prayers unanswered.
James is just kind of annoying and lame. And uses WAY too many really painfully awkward metaphors/similes. Kid needs to take a break from thinking in purple prose. But mostly I don’t like him because he alternates between being a doormat for Dee and being obsessed with Nuala, neither of whom I liked and so I didn’t want to hear so much about them.
Nuala was just SUPER annoying. She thinks “asshole” is a term of affection. I’m sorry, but I think the love story is HORRIBLE when one half of the couple spends most of the relationship insulting the other. She’s also selfish, even though I guess she gets slightly less so near the end. She’s got a huge chip on her shoulder which, okay, she’s kind of earned (burning to death every 16 years, being treated like the lowest caste by the other Fae), but is still frickin’ annoying to read about. Get over yourself, Nuala! I was looking forward to her burning and am sad she also seemed to survive the end of the book.
I think it’s a very, very bad sign when you don’t like the main couple and you hope all three main characters die. But this book was still going to get three stars (who knows why?) but it got knocked down half a star for Sullivan. That is actually the part that makes me angriest.
I didn’t know Stiefvater could write such a bad book…I guess this is her early work. But this was a stupid book with stupid main characters and the writing is not even beautiful and evocative like Wolves of Mercy Falls. It’s just mediocre and sometimes really awkward writing.
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
not bad, luke wasn't in there though
and i missed dee's point of view
and i missed dee's point of view
At first I was disappointed that it didn't have the main character from book one as the main character for this one, but quickly I realized how much I disliked Dee & how selfish she was & also how funny & cool James is. I liked this book