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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 & blogrelease 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)
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).
Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
author’s website: Rachel Hawkinsrelease date: March 2, 2010
appeals to: Young Adult
genre: Fantasy
length: 336 pages
overall rating: 5 stars
*the inside flap*
Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father--an elusive European warlock--only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.
By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.
As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.
*my review*
Let me start by saying, this is all about a school for witches, shapeshifters, and faeries – obviously, this is a fantasy lover’s paradise! I’ve been reading about witches, faeries, and other fantasy creatures for as long as I can remember, the idea of combining them all into one school a school is pretty fun. Especially since it is written in such a contemporary setting.
Sophie was a wonderfully interesting character. She is very believable and makes the same mistakes you could imagine yourself making. I especially liked the different situations that Sophie finds herself in throughout the novel. She doesn't seem to be able to have her niche quite figured out, but what high school aged person does?! I liked the relationship Sophie began to develop with Archer, and I'm curious to see where that goes in the next book. Overall, this novel was a quick, fun read. There was humor, romance, magic, suspense, and a heck of an ending that left me seriously anticipating the next installment.
*short and snappy*
writing: quick and fun with humor, suspense, and realistic emotion
plot: slightly predictable, but there are twists that I didn’t expect
characters: interesting – Sophie is well thoughtout, but I am intrigued to know more about some of the other characters (especially Archer and Jenna)
judging by the cover: I love the cover. It has a different meaning than I thought it would, which might make it even better!
