Ballad: A Gathering of Faerie BWB Top Reviewer - by Alyssa Kirk @ Teens Read and Write

by Alyssa Kirk @ Teens Read and Write

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Here is her review:

James Morgan has an almost unearthly gift for music. And it has attracted Nuala, a soul-snatching faerie muse who fosters and then feeds on the creative energies of exceptional humans until they die. James has plenty of reasons to fear the faeries, but as he and Nuala collaborate on an achingly beautiful musical composition, James finds his feelings towards Nuala deepening. But the rest of the fairies are not as harmless. As Halloween—the day of the dead—draws near, James will have to battle the Faerie Queen and the horned king of the dead to save Nuala's life and his soul.

To kick off my reading of Ballad, I first read Lament which focuses more on Deidre -- her problems, her relationships. One problem I had with Lament was that there was not enough of James and his amazing-ness.

Luckily, Ballad highlights my favorite James traits: loyalty and cheeky/cocky attitude. Nuala is just as spunky and forward which makes for a perfect match for my fave musical smart aleck.

The chapters switch from first person James to first person Nuala. My brothers always knew when James came back into the story because they could hear me chuckling or see me smiling.

I read Ballad in one day, just a few hours, because, unfortunately, I started skimming...a lot. In general, I prefer plot/action driven novels rather than predominately character driven ones so the fact that I finished Ballad is a testament to how wonderfully fun and snappy James is written.

I would have loved this book a lot more if I hadn't read the book jacket which had me waiting for things to progress to the James battling the Faerie Queen and the horned king of the dead to save Nala's life and his soul part. That doesn't happen until about the last 100 pages.

I thought the faerie plot was lacking. I understood that James couldn't do too much detective work because, you know, he's human. He can't see faeries unless they want him to (and they typically never do), and you can't find clues or skillfully interrogate things you can't see or hear. But since we flip to Nuala's perspective about every other chapter, I assumed we'd make discoveries along with her. But, you know what happens when you assume...

The faeries work hard to keep Nuala out of their business and what little we learn of the faerie plot doesn't allow you to make a guess at what will happen. That's part of the fun - trying to solve the mystery, but you really can't until the very end when everything is laid out for you.

Ah, the love triangle. Deidre...Dee is annoyingly Bella-like in her helplessness and treatment of Jacob, uh, I mean James. It was irritating to have to read her whiny unsent text messages. It does tie in towards the end, but that doesn't take the edge off the vexation. Deidre actually makes you love Nuala more, especially when the soul-snatching faerie echos your own thoughts of Deidre.

James. Let me just say...Yum. James is fantastic. Nuala is on the same playing field. The romance is simultaneously hot and sweet. It's a solid read for those desiring paranormal character driven romance but the romance is the plot and I prefer more action. But even accepting that it is a straight romance, I didn't feel any major conflict with the lovers until over halfway through the book and I felt the conflict should happen earlier to give the plot more meat.

Perhaps reading Lament and Ballad back-to-back wasn't the smartest move because I kept comparing the two... and Ballad came up short. On it's own, Ballad is a solid paranormal romance that has interesting characters who will stick with you and leave you wondering about the rest of their story.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. James is a flawed and heart broken character, do you find his mental peculiarities charming or annoying? Please do explain.

I found his mental peculiarities oh so charming. I loved James. He perceives the world in a unique way. He's smart, uber smart, so the world and those in it bore him. It makes him arrogant and he has to work hard to cope with his boredom. It's his individuality that makes him so likable and his flaws that make him relatable.

2. What did you think of James and Dee's kiss? This being a pivotal moment for their relationship, how do you think it changed James?
I thought it was hot. I so got my hopes up and Dee's words crushed me like I really was James before I flipped into a protective Nuala-like mode and instantly deemed Dee as unworthy. I think the kiss allowed James to let Dee go in the end.

3. Whom do you prefer Dee or Nuala?
Nuala! Nuala! Nuala! She's saucy. She's confident. She keeps you on your toes. Dee is a wimp. Yes she has a hard life, but so does Nuala and the faerie rises to the challenge with sass.

4. What's your verdict on the best way to read Ballad? Is it a stand alone book or do you need to read Lament first? If you read Lament, what did it add/not add to Ballad? If you haven't read Lament, do you think it would have added to your reading of Ballad?
Do NOT read Lament first. Ugh. I so wished I hadn't. Yes, Lament sets up James' and Dee's relationship, how close they were and how it fell apart. But in Lament, Dee is strong and smart. Her character pulls a one-eighty in Ballad, morphing into a wishy-washy whiner with no backbone.
You don't have to have read Lament to be able to understand everything that goes on in Ballad. Ballad focuses on James and Nuala's budding love. Lament focuses on Dee and the different kinds of faeries bothering her. By reading Lament I understood a bit more about the faerie politics going on, but I don't think I would have had trouble following Ballad if I hadn't read Lament.

I suggest reading Ballad first and Lament second. Both love stories, both wonderful.

5. We've been reading a lot of stories with fairies as the central paranormal creatures. What are your thoughts on the "Fair Folk". Do you believe in faires?
I don't so much believe in faeries, but I do like them as villains. In fact, they're my favorite paranormal villains. They're coy, clever, cruel and have no shame.

Ballad: A Gathering of Faerie by Maggie Stiefvater Review Deadline today!

Hey everyone if you have read / reviewed Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater get your reviews in today! Deadline to count your post as a Blog with Bite is today at midnight (CST)!

Click on the Submit Review link in the navigation above!

Ballad - HBIC Editor Review - Parajunkee

H B I C R E V I E W  - by Parajunkee

I have fallen in love tonight.  I have fallen in love with a voice, the voice of an author named Maggie Stiefvater.  Before now I hadn't had the pleasure of reading any of Ms. Stiefvater's works and now I feel like I have missed out. Such a shame that I have been wasting so much time...when I could have been partaking in the perfection that is the prose of Maggie Stiefvater. (That was me being poetic)

Ms. Steifvater weaves a tale of fairies, unrequited love and the chilling end-all of death. Ballad focuses on the story of James, whom was introduced in Lament. James has followed Dee to boarding school, his love for her almost unbearable as she avoids him in their first weeks in school.  They were best friends and now Dee is acting strangely and he barely sees her anymore.

James is a sociable lad though, and he makes friends and carries on without her.  But, Dee is always on his mind and when they happen to run into one another the meetings are almost painful. During this time Dee is becoming more and more unstable and James is being pestered by a strikingly beautiful yet, very dangerous girl that calls herself Nuala. James is pulled in two directions - and the two paths that stretch before him both seem to end in pain and death.

I must state that before reading Ballad I did not read Lament. I think I wasn't paying attention. My fellow BWB companions said here read this Rach - and so I read.  I'm actually kind of glad that I read Ballad first. I'm never one to read in order.  Odd but that is me.  I feel I might have found a new perspective because of my reverse reading.  My reverse perspective found me hating Dee.  I was introduced to the broken character that she was.  A girl whom James was madly in love with but whom couldn't even open the lines of communication with him.  Each time he would reach for her, she would do something stupid or selfish which would have me hating on her even more and falling harder for James.

Ms. Stiefvater's characters had so much depth I felt as if they are real and could walk in upon me at any moment. The intricacies that are James and Nuala made them so believable and relatable that I mourned their passing as the last page came to a close.  Even the side characters of Paul and Sullivan were striking in their depth - considering Paul was used as a comic sort of character - but was so much more.

The only flaw I found with this book was near the ending I found she circled around the inevitable a little too long when she could have just plowed through to the end.

Parents have no fear when passing this on to your child. There is a bit of violence, and a smidge of cursing.  But nothing that they wouldn't see on prime time.

My Blog with Bite Rating is 4 of 4

HBIC Seeker Review on Ballad

Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater: posted by Tina @ Tinasbookreviews

Im going to skip the Synop...because you all know what the basis is....

This series, beginning with Lament which introduces us to James through his best friend Dee's story was a wonderful book, but I just fell in love with James so much that Ballad is now my favorite of the two. The story is told through James and Nuala’s perspectives, and it flowed beautifully. If you didn’t read Lament first Dee might have seemed like a cold and distant character but her torture over losing Luke was so apparent I couldn’t help but feel depressed with her, but also was whooping with James who tremendously grows up in this book and then some. The always poor, poor James forever pinning over the heartbroken and intense Dee, is finally……FINALLY able to see past his unreturned love for her and opens his heart to true love and endless possibilities.

I can't say enough how much I loved this book. I can’t begin to say how much I love Maggie Stiefvater.....(please Maggie have coffee with me because I want to pick the brain of your awesomeness) The beautiful writing is so creative, she makes James so witty that you love him even if he is supposed to be arrogant...It just works for him. He is the type of character that you just can't get enough dialogue from! I was laughing through most of this because James is so hysterical and Nuala (funny and witty herself) was a perfect match for James and the two complemented each other well!

Like with all of Ms. Maggie’s writing thus far, each chapter wove poetic and haunting words. Her characters have so much depth they are hard to forget. I mean taste this little nugget from the King of the Dead:
I keep the dead and the dead keep me. We are cold and dark, we are one and we are many, we wait and we wait so sing the dead; So sing I, grow, rise follow……………….
Cernunnos’ music was beautiful but creepy dark and goose bump worthy, thinking about his big antler head and the dramatic and eerie words that he sang made me shudder just a bit.

Also, I loved that Maggie (because a lot of YA author’s adult characters are all bone-heads or so background you never get to know them) wrote in a fantastic adult character named Sullivan. I loved that he was able to connect with James and had maturity and wisdom that comes with living longer than a teen, but is also able to use his maturity and wisdom to help kids and be “guidance” to them. I loved who Sullivan was and absolutely love what this author did to his character. I want a book all about Sullivan Ms. Maggie!!!!!!
I dont want to put to much info in my review because I truly feel you need to experience all the oh's and ah's and gasps for yourself.Don’t miss out on this wonderful and mesmerizing new author. Due to language and content I’d recommend this to the mature teen and adult.
5/5 YA Faeries, love, poetry, beauty, creepy………almost as brilliant as Shiver……..I could on and on…….BWB Rating: 4/4

Discussion Questions:

1. James is a flawed and heart broken character, do you find his mental peculiarities charming or annoying? Please do explain. I loved James, I thought his wit and sarcaism worked well with the story, it gave the book its much needed humor, I thought James knew when to be serious and when to keep his mouth shut.

2. What did you think of James and Dee's kiss? This being a pivotal moment for their relationship, how do you think it changed James? Im so glad James got to kiss Dee.....dont get me wrong I think he still loves her, BUT I think James finally broke through some major chains that was his bondage to everything Dee.......After the kiss I think for the first time James feels free of her and is able to move on.

3. Whom do you prefer Dee or Nuala? So I loved James but I also loved Dee in Lament.....I liked Nuala, she was hard to get to know but I think shes perfect for James...however I like Dee better. The story between her and Luke was so awesome, Dee may have seemed very background to Ballad but she's a major character.

4. What's your verdict on the best way to read Ballad? Is it a stand alone book or do you need to read Lament first? If you read Lament, what did it add/not add to Ballad? If you haven't read Lament, do you think it would have added to your reading of Ballad? You can read it alone because the story is about James and Nuala....but reading Lament adds so many layers to the background of Ballad. Knowing Dee's story helps you understand why shes a cloverhand and also why James was almost killed.


5. We've been reading a lot of stories with fairies as the central paranormal creatures. What are your thoughts on the "Fair Folk". Do you believe in faires? I love Fairies....its my favorite in the urban and Paranormal, I like the nicer fey though...I loved Melissa Marrs world and Wings was a nice one.....the evil fairies are creepy.....and NO I dont believe in them, only on the page in my imagination, if I saw one for real I might S*** my pants.

Ballad: A Gathering of Faerie Discussion Questions

1. James is a flawed and heart broken character, do you find his mental peculiarities charming or annoying? Please do explain.
2. What did you think of James and Dee's kiss? This being a pivotal moment for their relationship, how do you think it changed James?
3. Whom do you prefer Dee or Nuala?
4. What's your verdict on the best way to read Ballad?  Is it a stand alone book or do you need to read Lament first?  If you read Lament, what did it add/not add to Ballad?  If you haven't read Lament, do you think it would have added to your reading of Ballad?
5. We've been reading a lot of stories with fairies as the central paranormal creatures.  What are your thoughts on the "Fair Folk".  Do you believe in faires?

It's Time for Ballad!

Good morning everyone.  Just a heads up post.  Ballad week starts this week - so if you've read it we want to read it!

Deadline to get your reviews submitted is December 5th (This Saturday).  Reviews should be submitted through the Google Docs from HERE.

Don't forget to put a BWB banner on it - letting the world know that your review has bite!

Discussion questions will be posted tomorrow.  I have taken the discussion question input off the submit form - this go round - because it was making the spread sheet soooo big and they were very hard to read in that format.  Much easier to read on everyone's posts.

Any questions, just ask! It also looks like we have our Poll winners for December's books! Thanks for voting guys.

Oh and if anyone has read the book already and would like to make a suggestion for discussion questions... please post them in this comments sections!