blo Teens Read and Write: Lament

Monday, December 14, 2009

Lament

Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception
by Maggie Stiefvater

Pub: 2008

336 pages


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

Deirdre finds her
self infatuated with a mysterious boy who enters her ordinary suburban life, seemingly out of thin air. Trouble is, the enigmatic and gorgeous Luke turns out to be a gallowglass—a soulless faerie assassin. An equally hunky—and equally dangerous—dark faerie soldier named Aodhan is also stalking Deirdre.

Sworn enemies, Luke and Aodhan each have
a deadly assignment from the Faerie Queen. Namely, kill Deirdre before her music captures the attention of the Fae and threatens the Queen's sovereignty. Caught in the crossfire with Deirdre is James, her wisecracking but loyal best friend. Deirdre had been wishing her life weren't so dull, but getting trapped in the middle of a centuries-old faerie war isn't exactly what she had in mind . . .

I would never have picked this up if not for the Blog With Bite group review of Ballad (Lament's sequel). I'm not a faerie fan, they just don't light my fire like vamps and weres, but this cleverly crafted and well written faerie yarn held my interest from beginning to end.

Dee is smart and rational. Yes, her stomach flutters and her knees go weak when Luke is about, but she's independent and ultimately makes the tough/right decisions all on her own. Her best friend James is PHE-NOMINAL! I wish he had been in the story more. Dee's mother and evil aunt Delia are fun characters and the relationships between the three are especially realistic.

All in all, the faeries were a a few clowns short of a circus, translation: They were uber whacked, creepy and fun! There was some lore I knew, a lot I didn't. Stiefvater's descriptions of the faeries are wonderfully vivid and their characters well thought out.

Luke Dillion was smokin', chivalrous, mysterious, patient and almost always in the right place at the right time. One of my favorite things about this guy was that Dee would get in some sort of trouble (mino
r or major, human or supernatural) and Luke would appear out of thin air.

After he'd helped Dee, she would ask something along the lines of "Why are you here?" and his response would always be a shrug, followed by "You wanted saving didn't you?" and then he would walk away/disappear. I think that is sooooo cool!

My only real problem with Lament is Dee is very trusting of Luke from their very first meeting. It was weird because Stiefvater has made Dee very smart and a smart girl wouldn't hop in a guy's car (who she's known for maybe 2 hours) after he pulls up in her driveway when she's never told him where she lives. No, a smart girl takes it slow and wonders, Did he follow me home last night? I should probably go have Dad dust off the shot gun just in case.

Luke also knows some personal things about her right from the start. That in itself screamed "STALKER!" but she brushed them aside and trusted him b
ecause...? Oh, because of some bond they had when she dreamed about him before they actually met.

Really? Trusting a stalker-like stranger because you dreamed about him? *Uses new and improved Stress Reduction Kit*

So...if you can get over the bit of silliness I just mentioned, Dee's story of love, friendship, and evil faeries is a solid, enjoyable read. It's romance with plenty of sexual tension, but it's clean enough for younger teens.

The Cover: Not awesome but good. The knife is pretty and gives it a dangerous allure. The clovers not only brig
hten the cover, but tie into the story and I like the way the blade runs through the lettering.

Trying out something new here. I love to check out first lines of books. I think they're so important so I'm putting in the opening line(s) of the book and telling you what I think.

First Lines Chapter 1: "You'll be fine once you throw up," Mom said from the front seat. "You always are." I wasn't sure about th
is one. At first read I didn't care for it much but it made sense and tied in better as I kept going.

Or from the prologue: "He didn't k
now how long he'd been clinging there. Long enough for the bone-cold water to drive the feeling from his legs." Intriguing because I know this guy is in trouble and I want to find out more about him and his situation. How much danger is he in? Will he get out? This did a good job of piquing my interest and pulling me into the story.

17 comments:

Blodeuedd said...

I read a review yesterday that said the same thing, Stalker warning! Yes, bit creepy that

So Many Books, So Little Time said...

I've heard so many good things about this. I can't wait to start it. Great review as always, Alyssa!

Teddyree said...

Terrific review Alyssa, I've been wanting to read this one for a while. Loved your comment "the faeries were a a few clowns short of a circus, translation: They were uber whacked, creepy and fun!"

Cherry said...

Witty review... love it!

mariska said...

Great Review Alyssa ! Love it :)

Lisa said...

I loooooove Faerie stuff!!! This sounds wicked. Going to add it to my wishlist immediately! Great review, Alyssa!

Anonymous said...

That was funny....stress reduction kit.....(lol-I may have have to borrow that)!!!

Ellz said...

I love the bang your head hear bit too. This is one I forgot I wanted. I must re-add it to my list. Thanks for the review.

Elie (Ellz Readz)

Unknown said...

Loved your review - LOL Bang head here - too funny! :)

Unknown said...

I usually don't enjoy fairy books as much as vampire books either. But I might pick this one up. Great review!

KIKA said...

I really enjoyed this book, which mildly surprised me, because like you, Faeries don't exactly intrigue me as other creatures of the supernatural do. LOL and your description of the faeries as, "few clowns short of a circus" was spot on and had me laughing :) thanks for the wonderful review!

Tales of Whimsy said...

Fab review!
Thanks for the linky!
Love it.
Your brilliant!

Tales of Whimsy said...

As much as I loved this book: you have a point on her trusting Luke!

IceJewel said...

ha ha..I loved the way you described the things you didn't like..! Great review :)

Anonymous said...

I just finished SHIVER, my first Maggie Stiefvater. Loved it! Naturally I will be grabbing this one soon. ;)

Jessica said...

Great review! I've been wanting to read this one ever since I read (and enjoyed) Shiver.

Anonymous said...

I'm a vamp and were's girl too. I haven't read anything fairy but I will read this because I loved Maggie's writing style in Shiver.

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