Book Review - Lament

Evenin' all, this is gonna be rather an interesting review since most folk should know that when it comes to my YA Paranormal preferences, Faery books are pretty low on my list of favs. However this one was different...

Title: Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Date: 22/3/2011 PM
Source: Gifted by Jess
Description: 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 herself 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 . . .(Description taken from Amazon)


My Review
It has taken me quite a while to get round this book since I acquired it from the lovely Jess back in August and I actually tried to read Ballad last April cos I got confused about which book was first so that I managed to figure out which way up to hold the book is a miracle in itself :P


I'll own up to feeling slightly confused again when I started reading this because after the very cryptic prologue and how we were launched straight into Deirdre's meeting with Luke I had a hard time grasping when Dee was supposed to have dreamt about Luke (unless the prologue *was* her dream in which case it could have been a tad clearer). I also usually have slight quibbles with how quickly the girl seems to fall for the faery/half faery boy but this time it didn't bother me as much since Dee has enough sense to admit that it's kinda odd how much she's drawn to Luke when she barely knows him.


A big factor of what made me really like this book was Maggie's writing and the work she put into all the Faerie lore and Celtic influences. As with Shiver & Linger, Lament has such beautiful descriptions and it makes it a real pleasure to read. Add all the gorgeous Celtic songs and it creates a haunting atmosphere which is so perfect for the disturbingly ambiguous nature of faeries.


The other thing which also made me laugh and endeared the book to me was James. He's cute, funny and really cares about Dee like the poor best-friend-in-love that he is. He has some of the best lines in the book which really cracked me up. My fav moment with James is this -

 "I can show you some things he can't, as well." James let the shop door close behind him. "Lovely." James' attire was a bit strange- he had accessorised a t-shirt that read You: Off My Planet with an iron fireplace ash scoop, which he held over his shoulder like a rifle. The combination was oddly appropriate. (Pg 171)

 Seriously isn't that the *best* bit of description ever? I can literally see James strolling in looking all bad-ass with the ash scoop and it really tickles me. Kudos to Maggie for being so awesome with her character creation.


The story moved along rather nicely and the tension definitely racked up a bit leading up to the climax. I did really like the ending as everything was wrapped up neatly enough that it could stay as a stand-alone book although I'm still looking forward to picking up Ballad again. I know it features James more and since I love that boy it'll be sooner rather than later :P


For the normally anti-faerie person like me reading Lament was a refreshing experience with its fab combination of scrumptious writing, detailed lore and complex characters. I thoroughly enjoyed this book although I don't think I could ever dislike anything Maggie Stiefvater writes cos that woman is just pure awesomeness.


My Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars


I technically started this review back on Thursday but it's taken me a pathetically long time to finish so apologies. Enjoy your Saturday night my lovelies!


LadyV

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Book Review - Linger

I should have done this last week but I didn't so I'm getting it done now while I have some time.

Title: Linger
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Date: 26/7/2010 PM
Source: Bought
Description: Their eyes, human eyes in wolf skulls, remind me of water: the clear blue of water reflecting the spring sky, the brown of a brook churning with rainfall, the green of the lake in summer as the algae begins to bloom, the gray of a snow-choked river. It used to be only Sam's yellow eyes that watched me from between the rain-soaked birches, but no, I feel the weight of the entire pack's gaze. The weight of things known, things unsaid. (Taken from Goodreads)
My Review: It's needless to say that I was *really* super-duper excited to read this after how amazing Shiver was. I devoured the whole book in a few hours but when I finished it I have to say that I preferred Shiver. Now before you right me off as a lunatic (which you'd be quite within your rights to do btw) I'll first explain that it's not that I didn't like Linger, on the contrary I really enjoyed it but there was one rather major thing which annoyed the heck outta me and is the reason why I couldn't give the book 5 stars. 


But first I'll talk about what I liked. Of course Maggie's writing is simply gorgeous like before, she's got a way with description that really puts you right there in Mercy Falls and inside the character's heads. Like I did last time I have to mention how freaking wonderful Sam is, seeing his happiness at being able to spend the winter with Grace as a human is so sweet to read about, his joy at being able to play in the snow without fear of turning back into a wolf makes me smile so much. I also liked how he really stepped up as a leader with Beck being stuck as a wolf and dealt with Cole and Victor and their crazy wolfy problems.


Now I have to rant a little about my one major tiff with this book - Grace's Parents. Seriously what the *hell* was up with them?! In Shiver they were the airy-fairy, insanely hands-off non-parents who didn't care one way or the other that Grace might be doing stuff they don't know about, but in the few months between Shiver and Linger they seem to have morphed into psycho-dictatorial parent-bots. What the feck? What is it about Sam that makes them go from being all nice to him to thinking he's Satan-spawned or something? Just because he's a few months older than Grace doesn't mean he's out only to steal her virtue and then leave her. For crying out loud the guy has been in love with her since he was freaking 12!! I find the whole pissiness about Sam and Grace sleeping together a bit daft because obviously over in Britain the age of consent is 16 not 18 so it would be perfectly alright for them to get all hot 'n' heavy over here so long as they were being sensible with protection and whatnot. And what boggles my mind is how Grace's parents seem determined to ignore the fact that their daughter is the epitome of practicality and would never be quite so stupid as to enter into a physical relationship without taking precautions and knowing that it was what she wanted. 


The fact that her parent's have basically relied on her all these years makes me think that they were feeling threatened by Sam because he represents the future and that Grace will eventually move out and they decided to react like five-year olds who've had their old favourite teddy taken off them. Banning Grace from seeing Sam was such a ridiculous thing to do since their relationship was not having an adverse effect on her school work and it's not like he was keeping her from her friends since she still hung out with Rachel and Isabel, and Olivia is a bloody wolf for all of the book (another slight bugbear, why no mention of Olivia after the scene with her brother?). Their behaviour was totally unreasonable for the seriousness of the situation and was guaranteed to backfire by making Grace act out against them. 


Ok I've complained about that for long enough now. Overall I really enjoyed Linger and I'm super excited to read Forever cos I really want to know what's gonna happen to Grace and Sam. I hope there's more of the other wolves in the last book since we've only ever seen them through Sam's memories, also I want something nasty to happen to Isabel's father because, let's be honest he *really* deserves it :P


My Rating: 4.5 Stars out of 5


So there you go, it's taken me two or three sittings spaced quite far apart to finish it but it's finally done! Now I've just got 12 millions more reviews to do before I'm caught up. Joking I'm *never* gonna be able to catch up on everything I've read but I'm gonna try and review several of my recent reads e.g. By Midnight, Emma and Something Like Fate (I read that last night after my sister finished it)


So I'm gonna haul myself off to bed and try and finish Endless Summer before my sister has a coronary (she's become such a demanding little book monster!).
LadyV

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Book Review - Shiver

Good evenin' folks although I do have like 7 other books that I should be reviewing *before* these two I thought I'd get my thoughts down while they're still relatively fresh in my mind. Last week I re-read Shiver so that when Linger arrived I would have all the details clear since it'd been a while since I read it for the first time. Both these reviews will be shortish but I can't guarantee that they'll be spoiler-free, I will try to flag up anything majorly spoilery but I'm a bit dippy sometimes and the odd thing may pass me by - apologies in advance if I do miss anything.

Title: Shiver
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Date: 26/7/2010 AM
Source: Bought
Description: For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human ... until the cold makes him shift back again. 

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever. (Taken from Goodreads)

Review: I think it's safe to say that no matter how many times I re-read this Maggie's writing will still be unbelievably beautiful and Sam Roth will *still* be the sweetest, most gentle-hearted guy in YA literature. Honestly he is one of my favourite male characters ever (Of course that list is also occupied by Valek, Alex Fuentes and most of Tamora Pierce's Tortall guys), he's kind, he's funny, he loves books and poetry for pete's sake! If there's one criteria that guys *need* to fulfill for me to like them then it's gotta be an interest and/or passion for books- which is why I love my bf to smithereens he's a nerd and doing a degree in English Literature ergo he is amazing. But I digress. 


What I really love about the paranormal side of Shiver (the other side being the love story between Sam and Grace) is how wonderfully unique Maggie's werewolf mythology is - most other books I've read with werewolves in have had the moon being a catalyst for shifting or some other supernatural creature *coughtwilightcough* etc. The idea of the werewolves being human when it's warm and there being no need for thick werewolf fur and shifting back when it gets really cold again is really cool and interesting and it actually makes sense, sort of.


Now the actual love story itself is *so* sweet, beginning from that fateful night when Grace was attacked by the wolves (first chapter so not really spoilerish) to when they actually meet for the first time as the same species. Ok so they've never really interacted over the intervening 6 years but they've both been thinking about each other which does count in my opinion. I absolutely adored the hot chocolate scene and I frankly awwed along with the shop girl at what Sam said (I'm deliberately being vague to get non-initiates curious) there seriously needs to be more guys like Sam in this world *ponders cloning machine*.


Overall I loved this book, it's romantic, lyrical and the ending actually brings a tear to my eye (no word of a lie), I was dying to read the second book after I finished it the first time so I was really glad that I actually could read Linger right away this time. The characters are fascinating although I would love to know where Grace's stoicism comes from cos heck knows her parents are pretty fluffy in the head so it's not from them. Isabel I really liked despite her frequent bitchiness and attitude problems. It is a shame that we don't get to meet more of the wolves in human form cos it'd be nice to see the pack interact in the present rather than through Sam's memories of summers gone by. But other than that one quibble I really couldn't find fault with this book and I frankly would recommend this series to everybody cos it's one of *those* books that you want to pass around like it's scripture (no blasphemy intended). 


My Rating: 5 Stars out 5!!


Ok since this post will already be really long I will do the review for Linger in a separate post tomorrow. Eep it's nearly Friday already and it's almost August as well! Heck where's my summer going? *befuddled*


LadyV

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