Fan-flippin-tastic. Made me bawl my eyes out. I loved it way more than Lament lol.

Dans cette suite et fin de Lament, nous suivons cette fois-ci James, le meilleur ami de Deirdre (Le personnage principal de Lament). Et c’est déjà pour moi toute la force de ce deuxième tome.
Dans Lament je n’avais pas été convaincue par Deirdre et son histoire, trop facile et rapide. Cependant l’histoire de James dans Ballad est elle bien plus convaincante.
Déjà James est un personnage très attachant, très drôle et beaucoup plus terre à terre. Et son introduction dans le monde de fées irlandaises est bien différente de celle de Deirdre.
L’arrivée de Nuala est aussi une bouffée d’air frais, de sarcasme et de bad b*tch attitude que j’adore. C’est une fée très différente des autres, et j’ai adoré son histoire.
Le quotidien a Thornking Ashes est un peu ennuyant a suivre, l’accent est toujours porté sur la musique mais un petit peu trop je trouve. Même si c’est agréable de lire un livre sur la cornemuse.
Le reste de l’intrigue est assez cliché encore une fois. Rien de très surprenant. Tout est un peu trop dramatique. Mais c’est quand même un bon page turner.
J’ai beaucoup aimé retrouvé le style de Stiefvater que j’ai découvert avec TRC, c’est à dire un roman choral qui multiplie les points de vue : James et Nuala, ainsi que les SMS que Dee écrit à James mais n’envoie jamais. Une bonne intrigue c’est pour moi entrer dans la tête des différents personnages sans que l’histoire se répète et c’est réussi ici.
Alors bon pour moi cette Duologie n’est vraiment pas un coup de cœur, comme l’a été TRC ou The Dreamer Trilogy de la meme autrice, mais c’était une histoire qui m’a replongé dans le folklore irlandais que j’apprécie tant et qui a quand même été une bonne expérience de lecture.

After reading the mesmerising Lament, I was eagerly awaiting this book with so much anticipation, that I wondered on more than one occasion, whether the story would live up to my expectations. For those of you who know me, I am a serious Maggie fan girl, heck; I even started a fan forum for her. This does not mean I am biased, it just means that I respect wonderful pieces of literature and give them the praise they are due.

Ballad starts right where Lament left off; James and Dee have enrolled at the prestigious Thornking Ash Music School, and are struggling to deal with the aftermath of the events of the previous summer. However, the story this time is told from James’s perspective, rather than Dee’s. Now, this is what I had been looking forward to, more of James, as I do feel that we didn’t get to see enough of him in Lament.

James's decision to enrol in music school was made with Dee in mind, even though he is a piper and they have no programme in place which will suit his level of expertise. But once he gets there, Dee barely talks to him. Their short conversations are punctuated with awkward silences and forced jokes, fake smiles. Uncomfortable, not the way it was before, before Them. James doesn’t realise things are about to get worse, as They are far from finished destroying James’s life.

Enter Nuala, a faery muse, who feeds on human souls until they die. She chooses humans for their musical abilities, and gifts them with exceptional music. This forms the plot line that danger can be attached to something so brilliant, that excellence can also be a curse rather than a gift. She fills their dreams with agonisingly beautiful images, full of longing and suffering, enough to drive them crazy with wanting. But she has been without a human for too long and the desire she feels for James is too strong, he shines to bright, she has to have him. She is intent on making James hers and all she needs is an invitation. One that James does not want to give, but will he change his mind??

James fans will love this book, as boy is he back with a bang. His snarky, quick on the mark comments had me in fits of laughter. James shines in the book, his personality reaches out and grabs you, keeping you enticed until the very last page. His vulnerability in this book tugged on my heartstrings, longing for a girl who would never love him back, all alone in a sea of people. I felt his pain whenever he was with Dee and to be honest, I didn’t like her as much in this instalment, but I think that was the whole point.

The perspective jumps from James to Nuala throughout the book, punctuated with small snippets of text messages from Dee meant for James. The voices for both of these characters were so distinctive, that I didn’t need to read the top page of the chapters, to see whose story I would be following this time. As Nuala got to know James, I liked her more and more, even though she was a threat to James in one way or another.

Ballad is a more powerful novel than Lament; I got drew into the pages a lot deeper and faster than when I was reading Lament. The characters were more fully formed in this novel and spoke to me in a way that those in Lament did not. My love affair with this book started on the first page, like it was written just for me and me alone. That is how Maggie’s writing makes you feel, like she has selected everything you love about books and shaped them into a novel, wrote just for you. Stunning does not do this book justice.

I liked this better than the first volume, it felt more unique, story-line and characters, both. James was surprisingly fun.

This was entertaining, and kept me reading, but I didn't like it as much as [b:Lament|3112850|Lament The Faerie Queen's Deception|Maggie Stiefvater|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41R67UplhtL._SL75_.jpg|3144132], while I didn't enjoy Lament as much as I did [b:Shiver|6068551|Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, #1)|Maggie Stiefvater|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1257962751s/6068551.jpg|6244926] (definitely my favorite of Stiefvater's works). After reading so much about Dee and Luke, I was disappointed to find that we really don't get much about them, except through Dee's unsent text messages to James. I know this is supposed to be his story, and more of a companion novel than a sequel, but I found myself wondering about them quite a bit. Also, although I really liked Dee in Lament, I found myself disliking her a bit here - from James' point of view she seems incredibly selfish.

For whatever reason, I wasn’t a huge fan of reading from James’ POV – I’m not really sure why, since I love him as a character. I have a tendency toward the bad boy rather than nice guy characters, but Luke (although I did like him) just seems so superficial in comparison to the depth and character that James has. Nuala’s POV was always entertaining, especially as I watched her go from thinking about James as a victim to thinking about him as someone she cares about.

It also seemed like all of the action and all of the big reveals were clumped together at the end - there were some great scenes, but they might have been a little more effective if they were spread out. I do love the world she's created, as well as her characters - Mr. Sullivan in particular. I'll be interested to see where James and Dee's relationship goes from here - it seems to be left a bit open for another book featuring them (perhaps the events of Ballad from Dee's point of view?), and if there is another, I can't wait to read it. As it stands, Dee's entanglement with Faerie as the cloverhand doesn't seem like it will be over anytime soon.

Overall, an enjoyable read. Great ending, too. If you like Steifvater’s style, you won’t be disappointed with this one. It just seems to be missing that something that made Shiver so great.

This book was very much like the first one. It felt very similar, but then again, it did have most of the same characters, plus one or two new ones, including James's faerie. What I liked about this book was that there seemed to be more development. The characters figured out more about themselves, especially James. He realized what was important to him and that he was capable of meeting his potential.

The main problem was that I didn't like how Deirdre factored in. She was pretty pathetic the whole novel and didn't make any progress. I felt like the whole first novel was simply a way to set up Deirdre to go into a tailspin to further the plot of the second novel. It worked fairly well, but I felt pretty bad for Deirdre. Her life kind of sucks during this book, and that doesn't really get resolved for her, which makes me feel even worse.

But overall, I enjoyed this book, and I would definitely recommend it. It was a fun read.

In this mesmerizing sequel to Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception, music prodigy James Morgan and his best friend, Deirdre, join a private conservatory for musicians. James' musical talent attracts Nuala, a soul-snatching faerie muse who fosters and feeds on the creative energies of exceptional humans until they die. Composing beautiful music together unexpectedly leads to mutual admiration and love. Haunted by fiery visions of death, James realizes that Deirdre and Nuala are being hunted by the Fey and plunges into a soul-scorching battle with the Queen of the Fey to save their lives.

I was really eager to read this book as I enjoyed 'Lament' so much but it wasn't as good. The first half was really rather a muddle and I didn't really start to get involved until a long way in.

Astonishing, fascinated and mesmerizing…I can keep on going about one of the best books I have read in a while…yes is that good that I don’t want to give it back to the library I want to keep it and read it and re-read it many times!

Just when I thought I writer couldn’t get any better Maggie Stiefvater surprise me with this incredible story…I loved her work on "Lament" and "Shiver"...but Ballad is by far my favorite! The plot: Incredible! The characters: amazing...If you love James before you need to run and grab this book…all his smart-ass comments are priceless...and Nuala...oh Nuala! I just loved her…while reading I just wanted to know more and more about her...the only character I didn’t enjoy much this time is Dee…to clingy...I understand her pain...but please get it together Dee!!! Such a great character but so numb in this book…and Sullivan! I really enjoy him so much!!

What an amazing journey…If I could give more than two thumbs up for this book...I would borrow as many hands as possible...is being a while since a book captivates me in such a particular way!

Liked it even more than the first book! Less character waffling and more action. And a really good ending. :) These are worth reading even though Requiem (Book 3) is perpetually on the back-burner.

Full review here: https://amandasbookblog.wordpress.com/2015/09/15/ballad-a-gathering-of-faerie/

really good book. i would totally read it again!!