First Line: “He didn’t know how long he’d been clinging there.”
One Word Review: Mysterious
Summary: 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. When a mysterious boy enters her ordinary suburban life, seemingly out of nowhere, Deirdre finds herself infatuated. Trouble is, the enigmatic and conflicted Luke turns out to be a gallowglass—a soulless faerie assassin – and Deirdre is meant to be his next mark. Deirdre has to decide if Luke's feelings towards her are real, or only a way to lure her deeper into the world of Faerie. Luke isn't her only problem. A sinister faerie named Aodhan is also stalking Deirdre. Long-time enemies with a common goal, Luke and Aodhan carry the same 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 her best friend James whose devotion has been teetering precariously on the line between friendship and love for months – a feeling that Dee doesn't quite reciprocate. It's Luke she can't stop thinking about: Luke, who was supposed to kill her immediately but hasn't. Luke, who cannot refuse the Queen's orders without paying an unimaginable price. Deirdre ultimately must confront the Faerie Queen before she loses everyone she loves." -GoodReads
My Review: Isn’t that a great first line? Who is “he”, where is he clinging and why? You can’t read that first line and put the book down, you have to keep reading. I love a first line like that, which sucks you in and before you know it your 100 pages in and you’ve forgotten lunch. That’s how this book was for me, I was totally caught up in the mystery and trying to figure out who Luke was and why he’s shown up so mysteriously into Deirdre’s life. Deirdre is a likable character. She is obviously very musically talented, clever and pretty. She falls for Luke rather quickly, but I still enjoyed their relationship. James didn’t play a huge role in the story, but he was always in the back of my mind, I always fall for the “nice-guy”. There was some swearing, a couple “F” words, and a few others, but other than that not too bad.
This book reminded me of Wicked Lovely (I liked this much more) and even a bit of Twilight, although it is totally unique from both those stories. Not sure about the ending, there wasn’t a lot of resolution for me with the whole James-Deirdre-Luke situation, as well as her Mom and Aunt Delia situation. I’m sure we’ll learn more in the next book, Ballad, which I can’t wait to read!
Reading Order:
Book One: Lament
Book Two: Ballad
Other Reviews:
Angieville
BALLAD GIVEAWAY
Over at Maggie Stiefvaters website she is holding a giveaway contest for an ARC of Ballad. I’ve entered a few giveaways and never win, but just a chance at winning Ballad is worth the try. Below is a cool video Stiefvaters put together about Ballad, take a look. And, if you want to enter her contest you can click here (entries must be in by Friday, August 21).
I'm glad you enjoyed this one. I've heard people say it felt too Twilighty for them, but like you said I thought it stood on its own feet. The writing is lovely as well. And I can promise you, there will be oodles of JamesLove in BALLAD. ;)
ReplyDeleteAngie- *sigh* that is very good news about James. I really liked him. I heard its from his perspective, does Dierdre and Luke still play a role in this one?
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