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luna_rondo's review against another edition
2.0
Nuala is the best thing. James is the best thing.
But Dee ruins everything for me.
But Dee ruins everything for me.
turtlekat23's review against another edition
5.0
I rated Lament 4 stars because it took me a while to get into it. Ballad did not have that issue. I was hooked from the first chapter and finished it in 3 days.
eliseofsoleana's review
3.0
Settling on a 3 again because that ending was REALLY good and had me floored.
I know there's a lot of people who swear by these two books but they're just okay. Once again, I thought a lot of the beginning and middle of the book dragged significantly, and Maggie's method of keeping the wool over our eyes in a lot of places hindered the story more than it helped (why did I have to read all of Dee's stupid unsent text messages). Though I will admit, I am now slightly more on Team James than I was when I read Lament (let's not forget how I was actively rooting for Dee to let him die in the ending and then Maggie made me do the same thing here but reversed which is actually pretty cool). However, I cannot and will not get behind his pretentious asshole-ness. I will happily choose Soft James any day of the week.
Dee is...so stupid. So stupid. Genuinely hated her and kinda wished she just disappeared off the face of the earth. If we ever get book three (I doubt we will, I think Maggie's moved on at this point from Requiem but who knows maybe she'll surprise us), it's gonna take a miracle worker to make me like her again.
The enemies-to-friends-to-lovers slowburn romance between Nuala and James is peak. The sexual tension was drawn out just long enough to make me want to keep reading and I think both Nuala and James had significant growth over the course of the story. I liked Nuala as the story went on, and I'm glad that we finally got a happy ending in one of these books after the bittersweet ending in Lament.
Shout out to Cernunnos. He wins the Best Dad of the Year award for all time.
I know there's a lot of people who swear by these two books but they're just okay. Once again, I thought a lot of the beginning and middle of the book dragged significantly, and Maggie's method of keeping the wool over our eyes in a lot of places hindered the story more than it helped (why did I have to read all of Dee's stupid unsent text messages). Though I will admit, I am now slightly more on Team James than I was when I read Lament (let's not forget how I was actively rooting for Dee to let him die in the ending and then Maggie made me do the same thing here but reversed which is actually pretty cool). However, I cannot and will not get behind his pretentious asshole-ness. I will happily choose Soft James any day of the week.
Dee is...so stupid. So stupid. Genuinely hated her and kinda wished she just disappeared off the face of the earth. If we ever get book three (I doubt we will, I think Maggie's moved on at this point from Requiem but who knows maybe she'll surprise us), it's gonna take a miracle worker to make me like her again.
The enemies-to-friends-to-lovers slowburn romance between Nuala and James is peak. The sexual tension was drawn out just long enough to make me want to keep reading and I think both Nuala and James had significant growth over the course of the story. I liked Nuala as the story went on, and I'm glad that we finally got a happy ending in one of these books after the bittersweet ending in Lament.
Shout out to Cernunnos. He wins the Best Dad of the Year award for all time.
ellencamino's review against another edition
4.0
as always maggie has written a beautiful story twisted with magic, fey and humour. it was different reading with james as the main player and not dee and at the start i didnt like it but who can't warm to james' dry humour and quick quips? besides if the story had been about dee we'd never have properly met nuala the bad ass soul stealing fey who breaks through james' dee-tunnel vision. i must admit though i mised luke and i really really want to know exactly whats up with him. i really hope there will be a another homicidal faeries book to sit next to lament anf ballad on my shelf one day.
victorianvalkyrie's review
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
booksandladders's review against another edition
3.0
Actual Rating: 2.5*
I really enjoyed [b:Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception|3112850|Lament The Faerie Queen's Deception (Books of Faerie, #1)|Maggie Stiefvater|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1265410418s/3112850.jpg|3144132]. I thought it was the perfect mix of faerie mythology and Irish mythology that blended together with how great Dee and Luke were together. Therefore, I should have loved the sequel, Ballad. However, I did not.
I didn't like the shift from Dee and Luke to James and Nuala. Their characters and story were not nearly as engaging as Dee and Luke's had been. I was mostly just waiting for the story to be over rather than really enjoying myself. I think most of this stemmed from the fact that Nuala was not likeable and was constantly butting in to where she was explicitly told she was not wanted: James's life. And James, while funny, was too much. I couldn't relate to him at all except when it came to realizing he was better off without Dee in his life because he found better friends who actually cared about him.
The plot for this one was meh. I liked that it brought all the characters together and showed us the darker side to the fae that Stiefvater had created but I was kinda bored with how much time it took to get there. I felt like there were a lot of filler aspects to this one to make it a full novel rather than a novella. I also would have liked actual scenes from Dee rather than her weird text messages (with bad grammar, which is how people texted in 2009 but not how people text now and it drove me up the wall). I felt like Dee was wasted in this one because she was such a huge, important part of James's life and was given cameo scenes at best.
But, Stiefvater's writing was flawless again. Even though I wasn't a huge fan of the plot or characters, I was still engrossed in the writing and the world. I loved the descriptions of both the faerie world and the human world and how they intertwined. I loved that we got to see the faerie world from a faerie who wasn't quite faerie or human because it gave us a different perspective than what we had seen before. This version felt more real than what we saw in [b:Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception|3112850|Lament The Faerie Queen's Deception (Books of Faerie, #1)|Maggie Stiefvater|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1265410418s/3112850.jpg|3144132] because it wasn't as romanticized in a sense.
I do recommend this one, still. Especially if you loved [b:Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception|3112850|Lament The Faerie Queen's Deception (Books of Faerie, #1)|Maggie Stiefvater|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1265410418s/3112850.jpg|3144132]. You can also read this one as a standalone, but I would recommend reading them both if you are going to read this one anyway. I hope that if there is another book to this series that it shifts its focus back to Dee and Luke because they are much more interesting than James and Naula.
Books and Ladders | Queen of the Bookshelves | Books Are My Fandom | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin'
I really enjoyed [b:Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception|3112850|Lament The Faerie Queen's Deception (Books of Faerie, #1)|Maggie Stiefvater|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1265410418s/3112850.jpg|3144132]. I thought it was the perfect mix of faerie mythology and Irish mythology that blended together with how great Dee and Luke were together. Therefore, I should have loved the sequel, Ballad. However, I did not.
I didn't like the shift from Dee and Luke to James and Nuala. Their characters and story were not nearly as engaging as Dee and Luke's had been. I was mostly just waiting for the story to be over rather than really enjoying myself. I think most of this stemmed from the fact that Nuala was not likeable and was constantly butting in to where she was explicitly told she was not wanted: James's life. And James, while funny, was too much. I couldn't relate to him at all except when it came to realizing he was better off without Dee in his life because he found better friends who actually cared about him.
The plot for this one was meh. I liked that it brought all the characters together and showed us the darker side to the fae that Stiefvater had created but I was kinda bored with how much time it took to get there. I felt like there were a lot of filler aspects to this one to make it a full novel rather than a novella. I also would have liked actual scenes from Dee rather than her weird text messages (with bad grammar, which is how people texted in 2009 but not how people text now and it drove me up the wall). I felt like Dee was wasted in this one because she was such a huge, important part of James's life and was given cameo scenes at best.
But, Stiefvater's writing was flawless again. Even though I wasn't a huge fan of the plot or characters, I was still engrossed in the writing and the world. I loved the descriptions of both the faerie world and the human world and how they intertwined. I loved that we got to see the faerie world from a faerie who wasn't quite faerie or human because it gave us a different perspective than what we had seen before. This version felt more real than what we saw in [b:Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception|3112850|Lament The Faerie Queen's Deception (Books of Faerie, #1)|Maggie Stiefvater|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1265410418s/3112850.jpg|3144132] because it wasn't as romanticized in a sense.
I do recommend this one, still. Especially if you loved [b:Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception|3112850|Lament The Faerie Queen's Deception (Books of Faerie, #1)|Maggie Stiefvater|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1265410418s/3112850.jpg|3144132]. You can also read this one as a standalone, but I would recommend reading them both if you are going to read this one anyway. I hope that if there is another book to this series that it shifts its focus back to Dee and Luke because they are much more interesting than James and Naula.
Books and Ladders | Queen of the Bookshelves | Books Are My Fandom | Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin'
sarahstockwell's review
3.0
OK, so I started out loving this book. I couldn't put it down, and when I wasn't holding it, randomly found myself thinking about the characters and processing the narrative. I love the snarky dialogue and Stiefvater's poetic descriptions. But the climax left me lacking. I felt sure with the build up that the climax would have more punch, but it didn't, at least to me.
asma_aj's review against another edition
4.0
Following the events during the summer, James and Dee are accepted at Thorn-King Ash, a school for the musically talented, but James knows there's something more to this school. Struggling with his feelings for Dee, James goes chasing after faeries at night, and he comes across Naula, a solitary fey who won't think twice about killing him for his gift. As James and Naula play a dangerous game, the Fearies have their own plans of freedom, one that could endanger the whole school.
If I'd thought the first book was all fast and insta-love, but still wow, THIS one blew my mind with it perfection! I LOVED James' point of view. He was solid, witty, crisp. To read the rest of the review, visit A Reading Kabocha @ http://areadingkabocha.blogspot.com
If I'd thought the first book was all fast and insta-love, but still wow, THIS one blew my mind with it perfection! I LOVED James' point of view. He was solid, witty, crisp. To read the rest of the review, visit A Reading Kabocha @ http://areadingkabocha.blogspot.com
readerpants's review against another edition
4.0
ETA July '12: Just as good -- probably even better -- upon rereading!
I'm a little embarrassed by how much I'm enjoying this. Reading it makes me feel like I'm back in high school, in all of my unbearably geeky, repartee-laced, Ren-Faire-attending... um, glory. There's an adult, readerly part of me that know this isn't a great book, but my inner adolescent is reveling in the sarcasm and earnestness and celtophilia. I think I would have adored this book when I was a teen; but since I fit a particular mold of geek that's still floating through middle and high schools today, I think it's going to make some contemporary teen readers pretty happy too.
James's voice is a real improvement over Dee's (which made up the last book), and while the text messages are irritating at least there aren't too many of them. The James/Nuala storyline is somewhat compelling, but it's really the voice and the setting that makes the book -- a music nerd boarding school in an idyllic setting with cool young teachers and an inordinate number of witty, deep, teen Celtic folk musicians struggling with love and death (intertwined, of course)? It's like Simon's Rock meets Charles de Lint. My inner 17-year-old is all hot and bothered and totally wants to go. My adult self is completely amused and feeling nostalgic for nerd camp. Both selves think it's kind of awesome.
I'm a little embarrassed by how much I'm enjoying this. Reading it makes me feel like I'm back in high school, in all of my unbearably geeky, repartee-laced, Ren-Faire-attending... um, glory. There's an adult, readerly part of me that know this isn't a great book, but my inner adolescent is reveling in the sarcasm and earnestness and celtophilia. I think I would have adored this book when I was a teen; but since I fit a particular mold of geek that's still floating through middle and high schools today, I think it's going to make some contemporary teen readers pretty happy too.
James's voice is a real improvement over Dee's (which made up the last book), and while the text messages are irritating at least there aren't too many of them. The James/Nuala storyline is somewhat compelling, but it's really the voice and the setting that makes the book -- a music nerd boarding school in an idyllic setting with cool young teachers and an inordinate number of witty, deep, teen Celtic folk musicians struggling with love and death (intertwined, of course)? It's like Simon's Rock meets Charles de Lint. My inner 17-year-old is all hot and bothered and totally wants to go. My adult self is completely amused and feeling nostalgic for nerd camp. Both selves think it's kind of awesome.
rainmisoa's review against another edition
3.0