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.

HBIC Review - Parajunkee Queene of Light

H B I C R E V I E W  - by Parajunkee

Regarding the book Queene of Light, I’m not going to bore you with intricate details on this book. Too many times I find myself rambling with long explanations – that boils down to one thing. Yeah I liked the book. Well, for Queene of Light, yes I did like it. But, I also had some major problems with it. First off, let me tell you why I liked it. For one, the concept was interesting and original. Secondly, it was well written and the plotlines were tight. Thirdly, the tone of the book was consistent.

Now, for the reason my stomach was a bit queasy while reading this book. The author employed a very over-used romantic ploy that I am going to call the Edward Cullen Technique in honor of the New Moon release. The I Love You So Much I Need to Break Your Heart Send You Away And Pretend I Don’t Like You Technique. In this book the author turns it around – the chick does this to the male, instead of vice versa, but it’s the same as a lot of other books out there.

Why would this technique be employed over and over in romantic settings? I understand it builds dramatic tones, and the hopes that the couple will be reunited. Yet, in Queene of Light it was used to basically eradicate the male supporting character. With one fell swoop he is gone and the story progresses without even a backwards thought of him. In New Moon I think this technique really worked, in fact it held together the entire book. But, the filler of the “push away” was loaded with another romance blooming between Bella and Jacob. Within the pages of Queene of Light there is no secondary romantic filler – there is only the original conflict that was established before the “push away” occurred. So, for this book I don’t think the technique worked, which was why it didn’t sit well with me.

Besides that, I enjoyed reading about this interesting world. I recommend it to fantasy fans that like a little modern grit in their genre. Yet, because of the “push away” problem, I really don’t want to give it a high rating. Queene of light gets a 2/4 BWB rating.

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