Book Review: Lament by Maggie Stiefvater

Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception by Maggie Stiefvater

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the fourth book by Maggie Stiefvater I've read. The first two were from the Shiver trilogy (I haven't gotten Forever out yet) and then The Scorpio Races. All three were actually audiobooks, so this is the first one my eyes actually read.

I was a little disappointed.

I liked Shiver and Linger well enough...some of the characters' traits were annoying, but then we can't like everyone we meet. I LOVED The Scorpio Races. I think that is her best book I've 'read' yet.

So, what did I like about Lament? I liked how some fairy myths were woven into the story. It helped it feel more solid and realistic (even though we're talking fairies here). I liked how the ending is happy but not too happy (even though I really didn't like how the ending came to be). And, I liked the occasional bits of humor Luke or James offered. Other than that, I don't know.

I really wanted to like Lament more. I kept hoping something would happen to make me love it...what that something was, I don't know and it never happened. I really didn't care for how much description was given to all the music stuff. I understand that music is integral to the fairy-lore (even though this isn't really discussed much), heavily sought after by the fairies, and extreme musical talents are (apparently) signs/symptoms of supernatural abilities. But why did I have to hear so much about the flow/sound/feel of the music? I really didn't care and found myself skimming the paragraphs a bit.

The thing I disliked most about this story is that it had too many things appear/happen to make the plot advance and seem plausible but felt forced and sudden. And I really didn't like how Dee became so smitten with Luke and just went with the crazy he brought at the start. Like Shiver, the insta-love (or semi-insta-love) between the main character and her beau is kind of...annoying. And the best friend who is in love with her but she's oblivious or pretends to be and he confesses just before tragedy strikes...so not original. And this story had the potential to be original. It just wasn't.

I was going to give it 2 stars but since I do plan to read the sequel, I must've liked it more than just okay but definitely not a "really liked" book.

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