Reviewed by LadyJay for TeensReadToo.com

Deirdre Monaghan is an excellent harpist. At least she thought so until she met the devastatingly handsome Luke Dillon.

Luke's amazing musical skill unlocks something deep within Deirdre. Her talent at the harp becomes unmeasurable; however, other things begin to happen as well - strange things. Dee discovers that she possesses the power of telekinesis. She also learns to read the thoughts of those around her. Dee knows that Luke is somehow a part of all the craziness that is taking place, but he is unable to reveal his secrets.

Those secrets have the potential of killing both Luke and Dee. Dee must unravel the mystery surrounding Luke before it's too late - for both of them.

Stiefvater has created a novel that is reminiscent of Melissa Marr's WICKED LOVELY. The story centers on a girl who captures the attention of Faerie creatures. Of course, it is the responsibility of the human girl to set the wrong things right once again.

The author's formula veers from the norm by incorporating music into the plot. Dee plays the harp; Luke is a flautist; James, Dee's best friend, plays the bag pipes; all the while snippets of old Irish songs adorn the pages before each section of the novel.

The world of Faerie is becoming more prominent in young adult fiction, and this will be a welcome addition. Look for its sequel, aptly named BALLAD, due out next year.

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Summary: Sixteen-year-old Deirdre Monaghan is a painfully shy but prodigiously gifted musician. She's about to find out she's also a cloverhandâone 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 gallowglassâa soulless faerie assassin. An equally hunkyâand equally dangerousâdark 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 only grabbed this book so I could read the second book in this series for The Blog With Bite review that is due in a couple of weeks. I started to read it and in an instant I was hooked. I love a good faerie tale, especially one that has been thoroughly researched and even contains some new bits of faerie lore that I didn't know. The plot moved along at a pretty good pace, I was very happy with that, it was pretty amazing how some enemies turned friends and some friends turned enemy. I loved the main characters, especially together, they were like Edward and Bella times a thousand, and so perfect together, I wish the more decent faerie could have taken Deirdre as well...*sigh* but I am not the author, so I don't get to make those choices. The ending plot twist was a pleasant surprise, it was enough of one that I didn't even see it coming, which is unusual for me, cause I am good at guessing and picking up the foreshadowing. I loved this book and am about to jump right into the second. One thing I did think that was a bit odd and different was that the faerie believed in God and Hell...usually with faerie tales faerie don't have beliefs like that or they have some form of the Old Gods.

Also posted: http://www.bibliophilicbookblog.com/2009/11/book-review-lament-faerie-queens.html

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I was thinking I'd give this book a shot, in spite of the fact that it was compared to the Twilight series (which had a reasonably ok story, but terrible writing--like a "Mary Jane" fanfic...).

I LOVED it. Kept me hooked from the first page, and I couldn't put it down. I love the concept of Maggie Stiefvater's fae. I loved her writing, and it didn't come off as so terribly self-indulgent as Twilight.

I can't wait to read "Ballad" and see what happens to James. I can't wait to read "Shiver." I will continue to look forward to reading whatever Ms. Stiefvater publishes in future.

This one stays in the collection. Sorry, folks. ;)

~S~

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This is the first book in the Books of Faerie series by Maggie Stiefvater. There is a sequel to this book called "Ballad" that was recently released; but I couldn't find out if any more books are planned after that. I had previously read "Shiver" and liked this book more than "Shiver". In general it was a good read.

Deirdre is a talented musician. She runs into a boy named Luke at a musical competition. Luke accompanies her on his flute, resulting in a stellar performance and a Grand Prize win. Then the 4 leaf clovers start appearing and Deirdre starts developing telekinetic powers. She is drawn to Luke, but can't figure out who or what he is. As the plot unfolds Deirdre finds out that her life and the life of those she loves are all in jeopardy. She also finds out that Luke has a very dark past. Can she figure out what is going on and how to fix everything before things get too dangerous?

I liked this book better than "Shiver". There is more humor in it. Deirdre is an interesting character, as is Luke. There is a lot of witty banter that occurs between the two. Deirdre's friend James is also an excellent and intriguing character. The cast of Faeries in the book is diverse, if not as unique as in some other books. The store has more urgency to it than "Shiver" did and many more action scenes. Overall I thought the pacing was a lot better and the story was interesting.

This doesn't get 5 stars because I am not sold on Stiefvater's writing style. There is just something kind of loose about the way she writes. The descriptions don't quite take me all the way to truly visualizing the scenes, and the characters are engaging but not desperately so. The action scenes are okay, but not as tightly written as they could be. I also feel that the fairy realm could have been a bit more creative and had more depth to it than it did.

I enjoyed the story more than Melissa Marr's "Wicked Lovely" series but not as much as Holly Black's "Modern Fairy Tale" series. The story also reminded me of many of Charles de Lint's works, mainly because of the musical aspect of the story tied together with the faeries appearing in a modern day world. I also think Charles de Lint's books (specifically Mooheart/Spiritwalk) are better than this book.

Overall, a decent read and engaging. Not the best type of the story out there, but a pleasant addition to the genre. Fans of Marr's "Wicked Lovely" series or Holly Black's "Modern Fairy Tale" series should give this one a go.

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This reads like a typical summer vacation for teens. Deidre Monaghan and BF James are inseparable until Luke Dillon literally walks out of her dreams. Deidre didn't think there was anything strange about his sudden appearance. But when four-leaf clovers started popping up all over the place, Luke surely knew something was wrong. There is definitely something different about Luke but Deidre doesn't seem to mind and falls for him anyway. It isn't until the last third of the book, when the Queen and her evil faeries enter the picture and start causing mayhem to Deidre's family, that she finally gets a clue.

There really isn't anything new in this novel but it is enjoyable nonetheless. I really liked Luke and Deidre and am interested in their further adventures. I particularly liked the line: Delia was an overbearing cake with condescending frosting and frankly, I was on a diet.

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It kept me reading and it was enjoyable enough but just didn't quite meet the high expectations I had for it. Still gave it a 3 1/2 Star

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This is the first of two books in The Books of Faerie series by Maggie Stiefvater. I bought this book sight unseen and description unread, simply because I loved reading Ms. Stiefvater's other two books. She has a great way of writing that first person perspective that just gets you wrapped up and involved in the story. In this book she uses a lot of Celtic Faerie lore that I just love. If I was more of a nerd than I am, I'd know all sorts of stuff regarding faeries and the worlds they inhabit, but since there is a limit to my nerdiness I only know little bits of faerie lore, but I always just suck it in when it's handed to me in any sort of novel form.
I really loved this book. This is the story of a teenage girl, who is a little strange, that dreamed of a boy and he appeared. This is the story of a thousand year-old boy who is a mortal faerie assassin who falls for his prey. This is the story of a best friend bagpiper who loves a girl who doesn't see him. The whole book is pretty great.
I loved Dee, she was smart and sassy and as a YA heroine she was pretty tough and had her head on straight. She fought for what she wanted and was willing to make sacrifices. Luke's character was okay. He was just the standard type of boy for these types of novels. The mysterious boy who wants to be with the girl but there is some insurmountable secret that makes it nearly impossible, but he's willing to try to be there for her no matter the consequences. Then there is James. I loved James from his first brief appearance and every time he appeared on the pages of this novel. I wanted him to get what he wanted. I wanted him to be the one she would choose. I wanted him to be more involved. I wanted James to win, I wanted Dee to get her head out of her butt, and I wanted Luke to be able to live the life he deserved. But we don't always get what we want, and this book had that as an ongoing theme.
There were several parts that made me tear up a little or a lot. There were points in the book where I just wanted to smack all the characters for various reasons, but in the end I guess it worked out as much as it could. I liked that this book had a good ending, but not necessarily a happy ending. I mean, really, how happily could this have ended after all that happened to the characters.
There is some Kissing and some killing. There are some difficult choices and some broken hearts. This is your standard good vs. evil vs. not so evil YA novel. I recommend this book for those of us who love YA paranormal romances, for those who have a sappy teenage hearts, and for those of us who just love the naive love stories that these books offer to us.

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