A review by stephxsu
Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception by Maggie Stiefvater

4.0

Maggie Stiefvater is going to be the rising voice of YA faerie fiction, I can tell. She writes brilliantly, the story is intricate yet satisfying, and, most of all, her characters are the kind you’ll want to fall in love with or be.

We are thrown right into the story from the very beginning, which is confusing for about the first half of the book, as we do not know Luke’s unspeakable history or his connection to Deirdre and the amount of danger she is in. Fortunately, Maggie Stiefvater’s writing totally makes up for that: Deirdre’s narrative tone can be described as “irreverent:” she’s a witty and self-deprecating observer who still manages to pull kick-butt abilities out of thin air as if she’d been born to do it all along.

The characters are truly what make this book. Deirdre is your ideal female protagonist, and Luke her heartbreakingly dazzling male counterpart. Even secondary characters—such as James, Deirdre’s wisecracking best friend, and Una, a bold faerie—take on full shape and importance. It didn’t matter how confusing the beginning was, because once I really got into the book, it was impossible to put down, that’s how deep my connection to the characters was.

LAMENT leaves off on a bittersweet note, and I can’t tell you how eager I am for the release of BALLAD, a companion book. If I could devour Maggie’s writing as food all day, I would. Instead, I will be content to reread LAMENT over and over again, desperately waiting for what she has to show us next.