Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater

Spoiler warning: Because this book is a sequel, this review may contain spoilers of the first book. If you haven’t read “Lament”, you may want to skip this review.

author’s website: website & blog
release date: October 1, 2009
appeals to: Young Adult
genre: Fantasy (faeries)
length: 360 pages
overall rating: 5 Stars

*the back cover & inside page*
Remember us, so sing the dead, lest we remember you

James Morgan has an almost unearthly gift for music. And it has attracted Nuala, a soul-snatching faerie muse who fosters and then feeds on the creative energies of exceptional humans until they die. James has plenty of reasons to fear the faeries, but as he and Nuala collaborate on an achingly beautiful musical composition, James finds his feelings towards Nuala deepening. But the rest of the fairies are not as harmless. As Halloween—the day of the dead—draws near, James will have to battle the Faerie Queen and the horned king of the dead to save Nuala's life and his soul. (*note: this description is found inside the book on page 2)

*my review*
I have to begin with two things unrelated to the story. First, I read Maggie Stiefvater’s blog almost daily, and if you read that blog, you really get a glimpse of her personality. Second, as a teacher, I often teach my students about putting “voice” into a story. Voice is tricky to define, but my 6 + 1 Traits of Writing book says that “Voice is the soul of the piece. It’s what makes the writer’s style singular, as his or her feelings and convictions come out through the words.” (p. 12)

That being said, this story has awesome voice! You can hear Stiefvater’s personality in the writing, but each character also has his/her own personalities that come through. I was especially drawn to the character of James because he has a no-nonsense, say-it-like-it-is kind of attitude that I really enjoy. Yes, he’s arrogant. Yes, he’s kind of an ass sometimes. But overall, he has some incredible strength, and he’s an excellent character. Nuala also seems to have the no-nonsense attitude, but with a snobbish tone, so you have to love when James spits the attitude right back at her.

The story is told through chapters that alternate in perspective from James to Nuala, and with occasional text message drafts from Dee. While Dee isn’t really a lead character in this story (like she was in “Lament”), the text messages really give a glance into her thoughts and show the readers things that James doesn’t see.

This book has suspense, mystery, faeries, music, and a plot with twists and turns that creates a story that you can’t put down. It is easily a five star choice!

*short and snappy*
writing: full of personality – there is so much personality in this story, that you
plot: twisty and suspenseful, the book was hard to put down
characters: very well developed with a lot of depth that comes out at unexpected times
a line of great writing: “I climbed the creaking, carpet-covered steps to the second floor, which was hotter than Hades and smelled like sweat and nerves.” (p. 23)
judging by the cover: the cover ties into the story more than I realized, but you don’t fully get it until almost the end
miscellaneous: there are mp3 downloads of music that goes with the story, a playlist for the story, and a book trailer at the “Ballad” site (here)

Lament by Maggie Stiefvater

author’s website: website or blog
release date: October 1, 2008
appeals to: Young Adult
genre: Fantasy (faeries)
length: 336 pages
overall rating: 4.5 stars

* the back cover & inside page *
Don’t you know what happens to Cloverhands who cannot control the fey?

Sixteen-year-old Deirdre Monaghan is a prodigiously gifted musician. She's about to find out she's also a cloverhand—one who can see faeries.

Unexpectedly, Deirdre finds herself infatuated with a mysterious boy who enters her ordinary life, seemingly out of thin air. Trouble is, the enigmatic and gorgeous Luke turns out to be a gallowglass—a soulless faerie assassin—and his interest in her might be something darker than summer romance. A sinister faerie named Aodhan is also stalking Deirdre. They both carry the same assignment from the Faerie Queen, one that forces Dee right into the midst of Faerie. Caught in the crossfire with Deirdre is James, her wisecracking but loyal best friend.
Deirdre had been wishing her summer weren’t so dull, but taking on a centuries-old Faerie Queen isn’t exactly what she had in mind. (*note: this description is found inside the book on the first page)

*my review*
I am not usually a fan of faerie stories, but I’m a huge fan of Maggie Stiefvater, so when I saw that “Lament” and “Ballad” were both on the shelf at the library I decided to give it a go. Actually (to be totally honest), I knew so little about the series that I started reading “Ballad” first. After a few chapters, I realized that it was the second book, so I stopped reading, and started “Lament.”

As I read the story, I was immediately drawn to the characters, which is mostly due to the way that the book is written. One of the things that I love most about Stiefvater’s books is the way that the characters are developed. They have depth and personality and she writes their dialog to reflect both of those things. This story’s main characters were Deirdre and Luke, but several “supporting” characters were also essential to the plot. Deirdre (Dee) is an extremely talented musician (she plays the harp), but she’s also quite insecure. Luke enters the story as a mysterious stranger (which – of course - is very attractive to most females). We don’t learn much about him at first, but as the story continues, he becomes a very likable character. However, my favorite character was one of the “supporting” characters – James. He is cocky, sarcastic, snarky, and quirky --- I loved him!

As Dee is learning that she is a faerie-magnet, other characters explain a bit about different types of faeries and pieces of faerie-lore are explained. For someone like me, who isn’t used to reading faerie stories, I found that to be quite helpful. However, even without a background in this genre, I was immediately drawn into the story. There is a lot of mystery, and because I knew the premise of the story, I was able to figure some things out, but there where a lot of times, that I just thought, “I have no idea what will happen next!”

There are a lot of elements that make this a good story: suspense, mystery, romance, (and of course the snarky best friend). Be ready for a suspense-filled ending with some unexpected twists.

*short and snappy*
writing: personable – reading this story feels like having a conversation with the author. It is easy to read and hard to put down.
plot: suspenseful – especially toward the last third(ish) of the book
characters: intricately detailed – the characters have a lot of depth
a fun(ny) line: “I just thought a very uncharitable thing about a family member,” I admitted. ... “Did it start with a B? I thought it, too.” (p. 33)
judging by the cover: I picked up the book with the old cover, and I like it. Drawings throughout the book match the style and feelings portrayed in the cover.
miscellaneous: There are three music clips (all written and/or arranged by Maggie Stiefvater) that accompany the story available on her website (here).

Linger Trailer

With only a few more weeks until Linger releases, Maggie Stiefvater has released a trailer for the book, and it is AMAZING!! (like I should expect anything less!) So, enjoy!



It is even more awesome after you see all of the work that goes into it! SO - if you're interested - there are "making of the trailer" entries on her blog here:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Linger - only 5 months and 6 days left

In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past . . . and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack. And Isabelle, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.

At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love -- the light and the dark, the warm and the cold -- in a way you will never forget.

Comes out in stores everywhere July 20th. Pre-order here.

Enter to win an advanced review copies of LINGER, Sisters Red, The Dead-Tossed Waves, and The Replacement on Maggie's blog.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater


author: Maggie Stiefvater
release date: July 31, 2009 (paperback May 31, 2010)
AR Level/points: 4.9/14.0
appeals to: Young Adult
length: 400 pages
overall rating: 5 stars

the inside flap:
the cold.
Grace has spent years watching the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf –her wolf—watches back. He feels deeply familiar to her, but she doesn’t know why.

the heat.
Sam has lived two lives. As a wolf, he keeps the silent company of the girl he loves. And then, for a short time each year, he is human, never daring to talk to Grace . . . until now.

the shiver.
For Grace and Sam, love has always been kept at a distance. But once it’s spoken, it cannot be denied. Sam must fight to stay human – and Grace must fight to keep him – even if it means taking on the scars of the past, the fragility of the present, and the impossibility of the future.

my review:
I first heard of Shiver while procrastinating and reading book reviews mid-November, and since it was a well recommended werewolf story, I checked it out. From the first page, I was captivated by the writing and the story in this book. The story is told from the perspectives of both Grace and Sam in alternating chapters. I thought the insight from both characters added to the story because as a reader, you are able to feel both of their feelings, even when they can’t explain them to each other.

While Shiver is a “werewolf” story, it is also a story of a strong, all encompassing, first love. Maggie Stiefvater creates such a beautiful world and such realistic feelings and emotions with her writing, that I wasn’t ready to leave the world she had created when the book ended. For the first time in my life, I actually reread this book immediately after finishing it the first time. Then, I found out that Stiefvater’s plan is for this to be the first book in “The Wolves of Mercy Falls” trilogy. I am anxiously awaiting book two – Linger – which is due out July 20, 2010.

short and snappy:
writing: beautiful – Stiefvater draws you in to a beautiful world!
plot: strong – the plot keeps you hooked and has unexpected twists
characters: personable – Sam and Grace are well developed and realistic, but there are also additional - “supporting” – characters that are also developed and definitely add to the plot.
judging by the cover: the cover is beautiful, and gives you the feel of the story.
miscellaneous.: I love that the book is set with a blue font – it just adds something. (I had to hold it up to a light to double check – the color isn’t distracting to the eyes or difficult to read.)