Customer Reviews

Ballad: A Gathering of Faerie

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

BALLAD is the sequel (perhaps companion novel would be a better term) to Maggie Stiefvater's debut novel Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception. In a shift similar to the one in between Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely and Ink Exchange (Wicked Lovely), BALLAD switches narrators from Dee to her best friend James Morgan. And James, like Marr's Leslie, is in rather a lot of trouble. The story follows his struggle to recover from narrowly escaping death at the hands of homicidal faeries in order to protect Dee, as well as his stuttering attempts to deal with life after telling his best friend he's in love with her and having her not return the sentiment.

Even though James doesn't care much what happens to himself, he does still care about Dee (almost against his will). And so he follows her to Thornking-Ash Conservatory, enrolling in a school full of gifted musicians guaranteed to annoy the crap out of him, in order to be near her. And despite the fact that he's a piper and they have no program to suit his level of expertise. But Dee barely talks to him. And when she does their brief conversations are hideously awkward, full of meaningless banter and superficial smiles. Meanwhile the faeries are far from finished meddling in James' life. On his way back to school after a spectacularly failed piping lesson, James runs into an unusual faery named Nuala. Unbeknownst to James, Nuala is a faery muse who gifts her chosen humans with unmatched artistic ability only to feed on their souls until they burn up and die. Nuala has been without a human for too long and is intent on claiming James. All she needs is an invitation...

BALLAD is a love letter to James fans. Period. If you liked yon lanky, loquacious lad before you will fall head over heels in love with him in this installment. Witty repartee and quirky t-shirts aside, BALLAD brings us infinitely farther into James' mind than the brief but enticing glimpse we got in Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception And what's there is richer and more painful than one might expect from his humorous exterior. The sort of deal Nuala offers is the height of temptation for this troubled young man who is obsessed with music and excellence and who is so very alone. BALLAD is a tighter story than its predecessor and that fact was clear from page one. James and the cadre of disciples he gathers round him like a cloak at Thornking-Ash fairly leap off the page at you until all you want in life is to be chummy and sarcastic with them all day long. Nuala is a different story. The chapters alternate between James and Nuala's point of view (with a few text messages from Dee interspersed here and there). And as she gets to know and appreciate James, I came to like her more and more. But Nuala didn't ever quite come into focus for me as much as James did. Of course, he's a hard act to follow. For as he edges closer and closer to completely unravelling, his witty facade gets sharper, more honed, more irresistable. Both to the reader and the psychic vampire obsessed with him. I laughed and gasped and wrung my hands with worry for this boy. And I miss him now that it's over.

It doesn't happen nearly often enough which, of course, only makes it that much more special when it does. That delicious glow starts deep inside - sometimes only a few pages into a book. It's golden and warm and magical and it's telling you that you're going to love the book in your hands, that you've found one of those rare stories that is perfect for you and that is destined to linger in your mind long after you've read the last page.

Maggie Stiefvater's Lament, with its beautiful language and angsty, romantic story of seemingly doomed love, was one of those books for me. When her second novel, Shiver, failed to touch me in the same way, I felt sad, wondering if Lament would prove to be a one off. But then I read Ballad and the magic was there again.

*Happy sigh.*

Ballad isn't a fast paced, action-packed adventure. If that's what you're in the mood to read, look elsewhere. Instead, Ballad is slow and lush and gut-wrenching, with gorgeous writing that paints a detailed picture of the emotional devastation of loving someone who truly loves you in return but not in a romantic way. The guy in love is James Morgan; clever, complicated and brilliant. The girl he loves is Deirdre (Dee) Monaghan, his best friend who, in Ballad, is still mourning Luke, the tortured and tormented assassin from Lament who may no longer even be alive and is certainly beyond her reach.

Ballad picks up shortly after Lament. Musical prodigies James and Dee are both attending the Thornking-Ash School of Music. James knows the school has little to offer him, but he followed his heart, wanting to stay close to Dee. Unfortunately, Dee has been changed by the events of Lament and both she and their friendship seem broken. They rarely see one another and when they do cross paths, their conversations are stilted and brief. To make matters worse, shortly after arriving at school James and Dee realize that their encounters with the fae are not at an end. Dee's seeing Them - James doesn't know how often or in what context - and James himself is nightly hearing songs about the dead.

Entering into this unsettled world is Nuala, a leanan sidhe. Despised by the fae for her nearly human state, Nuala is a muse who bestows dreams upon and steals years of life from the talented humans to whom she gives the gift of brilliance. And she has set her eyes on James. She can, she knows, make him even more incredible than he already is and in exchange, he can make her "warm, alive & awake". Nuala is a strong and intriguing character and Stiefvater has done a wonderful job both at making her likable and at keeping her distinctly non-human. Watching her character evolve is a real pleasure.

While I loved Nuala, the heart of Ballad remains James; strong, smart and funny James, the tormented genius who writes compulsively on his hands and arms and finds himself growing increasingly attracted to a creature who, should he make a deal with her, will ultimately kill him.

Each chapter of Ballad is told from either James or Nuala's first person point of view with insertions of unsent text messages from Dee to James that give us hints of the continued danger Dee faces and the uneasy state of her mind.

Dee's Aunt Delia, James' roommate Paul and Sullivan, the oh-so-intriguing-teacher-with-a-past are all interesting supporting characters that flesh out the story, adding to its depth.

While Ballad is being touted by some as a stand alone, a companion novel rather than a sequel, I really feel you have to read Lament first in order to fully appreciate Ballad. For one thing, if you skip Lament, you'll never understand James' love for and devotion to Dee because, in Ballad, she often comes across as being nearly as heartless as the faeries.

And heartless the faeries are. These are dark beings, lacking in compassion, careless of life and without mercy - not only for humans, but for one another. I don't always like this dark and dangerous depiction of faeries and I spent some time wondering why Stiefvater's dark world draws me in so much more than the fae worlds created by popular authors Holly Black and Melissa Marr. I came to the conclusion that it's because I simply like Stiefvater's humans much more than those populating the books of Black and Marr - none of whom I ever connected with and several of whom I actively DISliked.

Stiefvater doesn't wrap everything up in neat little bows at the end of Ballad and the exposition fairy doesn't appear to explain every detail to your heart's content. Instead, readers are left wondering about a number of things and since finishing Ballad, I've found myself continuing the story in my own mind, creating my own scenarios and what if's. Not every writer can make me care about her characters to the extent that I would have any interest in doing that. Stiefvater does, and I thank her for that.

I haven't come across any indication that Stiefvater is planning another book set in this universe but I certainly hope she is. While she has given me the material to imagine my own futures for these characters, I long to see where their creator would take them next.

Highly recommended.

First I would like to mention that I would not recommend reading Ballad without reading Lament first. I read Lament and liked it. So, naturally I wanted to read this book as well. Unfortunately, the marketing department behind this book was the source of my first disappointment. I was under the impression that this was book No. 2 of a series in progress. Nope. This is a companion novel. Companion novels are fine, in fact some of them are great, but I think there is an extremely important distinction to be made between a "sequel" and a "companion." Honestly, the expectation that Ballad would be a traditional sequel to Lament kind of ruined the first half of the book for me. I was fully prepared for more Deirdre and Luke. Again, nope. This book is told from the point of view of James (Deirdre's best friend in the first book) and a new character. It focuses on James so much that half of the time I forgot that Deirdre was even a character. Deep breath. Ok, I'm over the shock. Let us soldier on.

I felt like James was an archetypical character in Lament. Maybe that was just because we did not get to see enough of him though because I loved him and did not find him to be archetypical in Ballad. Once I realized he was to remain the main character of Ballad throughout its duration and that this was not just some sneaky trick, I really fell in love with James' character. He is quirky and fairly well developed. I am not so sure about the rest of the characters though. James is definitely the "glue" of this story. Some of the other characters come alive for me at points, but they lose their luster quickly.

I also very much liked the idea of musical savants being supernaturally connected to another world. I think the plot of the story is quite creative. The problem I have with the plot has to do with the fairy part. If you don't like fairy's don't read this book. I don't mind fairy's at all. In fact, I like quite a few of them. However, I do not exclusively read fairy books. I understand there are come common elements of fairy's that seem universally known, i.e., they are allergic to iron among other things. With that said, Stiefvater does what I find that a lot of writers tackling the fairy genre do: assume the reader already knows tons about fairy's and therefore fails to develop certain plot points for those of us who are not down with the fairy rules. For instance, it seems to be a big deal to tell someone your "true name." Ok, but why and where did that come from? Maybe I just missed the fairy bus or something. I have a feeling I may have missed out on some of the better aspects of the story due to a lack of explanation.

There is one more point of major irritation in this book for me. I understand that this book is a companion to Lament, but I do feel like Deirdre's character got lost in the translation. In Lament, I felt like Deirdre was a strong female heroine-type of character. In Ballad, she is not even a shadow of what she was before. This may have been the most disappointing aspect of this book for me because I felt like the essence of Deirdre 's character was abandoned for the sake of a new plot. Many of her actions seemed random, almost as though she was being used as a plot function more than a character. I felt like Ballad-Deirdre did a lot of things that Lament-Deirdre would not have done. This would of course be fine if Lament-Deirdre's character had been given the chance to develop into Ballad-Deirdre's character, but she was not.

Ok, so obviously I was disappointed. But I think if you go into this book fully understanding that it is not a sequel, are open to new main characters, and know enough about fairy's to get by, then you will likely have a much better time with it than I did.

Review courtesy of [...]

Sometimes you fall in love with a book and eagerly seek out the author's other works hoping to find that same feeling. Sadly, disappointment often follows as you discover that those stories fall far short of the book you loved. For me, Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater was one of the best books I had ever read. And I tried--I really tried-- not to hold her other books, BALLAD in this case, to an impossible standard. Truth is? I needn't have worried.

BALLAD is the second book in the Gathering of Faerie series (after Lament), but it isn't a sequel in the traditional sense. Other reviewers have more accurately called it a companion novel. What's the difference? While it helps to have read Lament prior to starting BALLAD , you can absolutely enjoy BALLAD on it's own. Lament was very much Dee's story, whereas BALLAD shifts the focus to Dee's best friend James as the two of them head off to Thornking-Ash Conservatory for musical prodigies. Escaping to a new school, however, doesn't mean that they've escaped from the faeries who had terrorized them. Quite the opposite. Faeries have flocked to Thornking-Ash in unprecedented numbers, including the Horned King of the Dead himself and The Faerie Queen. And James and Dee have both been targeted.

If you've already read Maggie's wonderful Shiver (and you should), then you already know that she excels at capturing the male point of view. James' voice and narration is real enough to be occasionally uncomfortable. I won't be able to adequately express how I felt feel about the character of James. He has a witty and sly humor, and a dryly sarcastic way of observing the world. Maybe this next part is only true of me, but I actually knew James. Of course that wasn't his name, but its like Maggie took my friend and put him in her book. I lost my James a few years ago to cancer, but reading BALLAD was like getting the gift of one more day with him. Bittersweet.

Maggie once again makes use of multiple POV's focusing primarily on James but also including chapters from Nuala's perspective. Nuala is a muse, a leanan sidhe. She is drawn to gifted boys and slowly sucks their lives away while pushing them to creative heights unattainable on their own. When she sees James, she knows she's found her next Human, but as he struggles to resist her offer and charms tailored specifically to him, Nuala enters into a struggle of her own, battling between her ever increasing hunger and a budding reluctance to steal away even a moment of James' life.

If you read my review of Shiver, you already know how I gushed about Maggie's writing ability. There is a lyrical quality to her words and the way she constructs her sentences, and that talent once again sings from every page of BALLAD. She is really on a different plane from anyone else writing within this genre today.

Sexual Content: (YA titles receive a more thorough breakdown) An attempted rape, kissing, a scene of mild sensuality.

After reading Maggie Stiefvater's first novel, Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception, a few months ago and loving it (as my previous review on it can attest), I waited impatiently for Ballad: A Gathering of Faerie to come out. I dove into it this past weekend, and though I enjoyed it a great deal, it didn't bind me like Lament did.

Ballad picks up a few months after Dee and James barely survive their first harrowing experiences with the world of Faerie. Dee has left home to attend the prestigious music boarding school, Thornking-Ash, and best friend James, who's in love with her, follows. Ballad tells its story through the alternating points of view of James and a dangerous faerie muse called Nuala, who has chosen James as her next conquest. As the best bagpiper in all of Virginia, James finds himself with little to gain at the new school, other than the opportunity to be near Dee, who has entered onto a path of self-destruction.

Ballad is a portrait of James coming to terms with his unique talents, his unrequited love and concern for Dee, his perceived isolation from others, and his growing temptations towards Nuala on multiple fronts. James is a well-drawn character, with quirks, snark, and witticisms that fully embody him. As the book progresses, you become more and more concerned for him and what compromises he may make, even at the risk of his life or soul, to stand out and feel worthy. His narrative counterpart, Nuala, also comes into focus as the story develops, and even though she starts out as a nemesis, the reader learns her weaknesses and becomes sympathetic towards her too. This book differs from Lament's fast pace and immediate draw; instead, the development of James and Nuala as characters, as well as James' mentor and friends, grows at a steady but sure pace.

Like Stiefvater's other novels, this book is very well-written, with smart characters and quick dialogue. The book differs from Lament, though, as it's more of a character study interspersed with events that show us the depths of struggle that James experiences. It's also darker in its descriptions of faeries and the thoughts of the main characters. Though I love sarcasm and wit, James' continual barrage of comments can make one weary at times and I found it unbelievable that any teachers (even the intriguing Mr. Sullivan) would put up with it for very long. There are some weaknesses to the plot, in that the climax doesn't seem too climactic and some of the characters don't show the strong emotional reactions one would expect given what they've experiencing. There are also some plot points that weren't terribly clear, but they didn't detract too much from the reading overall; I hope these will be cleared up or expanded in the books to come in this series.

Overall, a good read but with room for more in what I hope will be multiple coming novels set in this universe. Though this can be read as a standalone novel, I would recommend reading Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception first to get the backstory on James and Dee, their relationship, and what happened during the past summer. Knowing their history will provide more understanding and empathy with their characters.

I really enjoy this author's writing style - she switches point of view from chapter to chapter so that you can see the same situation from two different characters - she does this same thing with her YA werewolf series - Linger. I just wish she continued the faery stories. I enjoyed both books in this series.

4 Stars if I don't compare it to Lament but 3.5 if I do.

To kick off my reading of Ballad, I first read Lament which focuses more on Deidre -- her problems, her relationships. One problem I had with Lament was that there was not enough of James and his amazing-ness.

Luckily, Ballad highlights my favorite James traits: loyalty and cheeky/cocky attitude. Nuala is just as spunky and forward which makes for a perfect match for my fave musical smart aleck.

The chapters switch from first person James to first person Nuala. My brothers always knew when James came back into the story because they could hear me chuckling or see me smiling.

I read Ballad in one day, just a few hours, because, unfortunately, I started skimming...a lot. In general, I prefer plot/action driven novels rather than predominately character driven ones so the fact that I finished Ballad is a testament to how wonderfully fun and snappy James is written.

I would have loved this book a lot more if I hadn't read the book jacket which had me waiting for things to progress to the James battling the Faerie Queen and the horned king of the dead to save Nala's life and his soul part. That doesn't happen until about the last 100 pages.

I thought the faerie plot was lacking. I understood that James couldn't do too much detective work because, you know, he's human. He can't see faeries unless they want him to (and they typically never do), and you can't find clues or skillfully interrogate things you can't see or hear. But since we flip to Nuala's perspective about every other chapter, I assumed we'd make discoveries along with her. But, you know what happens when you assume...

The faeries work hard to keep Nuala out of their business and what little we learn of the faerie plot doesn't allow you to make a guess at what will happen. That's part of the fun - trying to solve the mystery, but you really can't until the very end when everything is laid out for you.

Ah, the love triangle. Deidre...Dee is annoyingly Bella-like in her helplessness and treatment of Jacob, uh, I mean James. It was irritating to have to read her whiny unsent text messages. It does tie in towards the end, but that doesn't take the edge off the vexation. Deidre actually makes you love Nuala more, especially when the soul-snatching faerie echos your own thoughts of Deidre.

James. Let me just say...Yum. James is fantastic. Nuala is on the same playing field. The romance is simultaneously hot and sweet. It's a solid read for those desiring paranormal character driven romance but the romance is the plot and I prefer more action. But even accepting that it is a straight romance, I didn't feel any major conflict with the lovers until over halfway through the book and I felt the conflict should happen earlier to give the plot more meat.

Perhaps reading Lament and Ballad back-to-back wasn't the smartest move because I kept comparing the two... and Ballad came up short. On it's own, Ballad is a solid paranormal romance that has interesting characters who will stick with you and leave you wondering about the rest of their story. And as usual, Stiefvater's writings is beautiful!

After my whirlwind reading of The Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy, I decided I might as well read Ballad, the only other book of Maggie's I had not read, as well. To the tell truth I was blown away, as not only was it incredibly well written but it also contained an original and exciting plot.

Ballad continues the story of James and Dee but with James center stage and Dee as a secondary character. James has just arrived at Thornking-Ash, an exclusive music school, and at first, James feels relatively bored at the school. His bagpipe instructor ends up being a bust, his roommate is no better, and things between him and Dee are worse than ever. However, everything changes when Nula, a soul-snatching faerie, arrives. He knows Nula is no good, especially given what happened last year, but he cannot help but be drawn to her. Before he knows, James begins to develop a friendship with Nula and to help her overcome her past troubles. There are forces working against them, though, ones that would like nothing better than to take Nula away from him. Will Nula and James be able to save everything before it is too late? Only time and more pages call tell in this exciting novel, which is sure to entice nearly anyone.

James is one of the types of characters I adore reading about, as not only does he ooze charm but also sarcasm as well as wit that continually had me laughing aloud. I especially enjoyed seeing his relationship with Nula develop, as not only was it sweet and reasonably paced, but it also caused the type of character development I enjoy seeing. Ballad included Nula's POV as well, which was a great addition to say the least.

The plot in this was nothing short of fabulous as well. I am not usually one for novels involving faeries, but Maggie gives them and their world such a creative twist that it is hard not to love everything involved with them. I especially enjoyed learning more about Nula and her faerie abilities, and I liked the development Maggie put into Dee's story as well.

As mentioned before, Maggie's writing is another high point of Ballad. As I have said numerous times before, her writing never ceases to amaze me. It is perfectly captures the character's feelings and desires, bringing them quickly to life right in front of the reader. Seriously, the more I read her books, the more I come to appreciate and see her immense talent.

Romantic, unique, and hilarious, Maggie Stiefvater's Ballad is a book you simply cannot miss. In addition, if you're already missing the Wolves of Mercy Fall trilogy and haven't read this one yet, reading this is the perfect way to feel a little less sad about that series ending.

Grade: A+

Nobody writes longing like Maggie Stiefvater. It clings to every page, wraps itself around your heart.

I read Shiver last fall after a friend raved about it repeatedly. I was not disappointed. I liked it so much I bought more copies and gave them away for Christmas gifts. I told everyone I knew to read the book. Then hubby brought me Lament as a souvenir from his business trip to Seattle. I devoured that one and immediately went out to buy the sequel, Ballad.

Oh. My.

Is it wrong to fall in love with a character who lives only between the covers of a book? I thought I loved Sam when I read Shiver. I thought Luke was amazing in Lament. But James? No one can compare to James. His self-deprecating wit, his intense feelings, his fierce protectiveness -- everything about him made me love him from page one. I didn't put the book down until I was done reading. And then I went back and read certain parts over again.

First of all let me say that one of the things I appreciate about all of Maggie Stiefvater's books is the fact that each one can stand on it's own. She doesn't leave you dangling off the edge of some precipice for ten months while you wait for the gods of publishing to put out the next book. She gives you a complete story. And you know what? You're still eager for the next one to come out. You're just not alternating between loving the story and hating the author for ending it badly. And that's a good thing.

Ballad is a story of love and friendship, dangerous urges and impossible choices. It is a beautifully composed ode to longing, hope, joy and love -- that just happens to include a few homicdal faeries.

Just remember this: when you read it, be prepared to fall in love.

When BALLAD opens, James is still recovering from the events of LAMENT. He almost died and the only person who knows why he almost died can't help him recover since she's pretty much shattered by the events too. Along comes Nuala, attracted by James's talent with the bagpipes. Of course, she might be attracted to the piper himself as well. Of course, that might not be his only problem, since the faeries aren't overly found of Deirdre. Of course, James is too neurotic to really process any of this.

Maggie Stiefvater knows how to string together a sentence. She knows how to haunt you with a motif. She knows how to write music so that you hear it in your heart. She knows how to create a unique narrative voice, so that you don't need the name before the chapter or the epigraph to know whether James or Nuala is speaking. (Or to separate them from Deirdre's voice in LAMENT.) She knows how to rip your heart out of your chest without resorting to tearjearker tactics. All it takes are Dee's unsent text messages, full of everything she needs to say to James but can't. (And she would be the absolute bitch Nuala thinks she is if we didn't have those messages to tell us what she's repressing.)

If Blogger eats this review like it did my first review of LAMENT, I'll cry. I don't want to think about this too much, I just want to pour it out. That's what reading BALLAD was like: an experience that swept me away into James and Nuala's world of music and love and pain and desperate hope. Also, the book is funny. James and Nuala are both sarcastic and quick-witted. Many of the side characters hold their own. I love the side characters, especially Paul. They sneak up on you, going, "Hey, I've been here this whole time. Being awesome. Now that you know it, I'm going to level up in awesome just to blow your mind." They're like Stiefvater herself in that way.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go hug my book. And cry over the fact I don't have time to re-read it or LAMENT.

From In Bed With Books
Review copy