Review: Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater

Ballad: A Gathering of Faerie by Maggie Stiefvater
Pub. Date: October 2009
360pp
Age Range: Young Adult

In this mesmerizing sequel to Lament, music prodigy James Morgan and his best friend, Deirdre, join a private conservatory for musicians. James' musical talent attracts Nuala, a soul-snatching faerie muse who fosters and feeds on the creative energies of exceptional humans until they die. Composing beautiful music together unexpectedly leads to mutual admiration and love. Haunted by fiery visions of death, James realizes that Deirdre and Nuala are being hunted by the Fey and plunges into a soul-scorching battle with the Queen of the Fey to save their lives.

I’ve been anticipating the release of Ballad since reading Lament which received high marks from me. I can finally say that Ballad lived up to my expectations and then some. Ballad is James’s story and if you recall in Lament, he didn’t get much face time and was in the background of Dee's and Luke’s story. Well, in Ballad we get to see a different side of James. He’s charming and witty and seems to have everything going for him if you’re on the outside looking in. But, we know looks can be deceiving and we get to see James on a different level and how the events in Lament changed him. Maggie did an excellent job with the complexity of James’s character. Maggie touched me more on an emotional level with Ballad and it was heartbreakingly beautiful.

Maggie’s writing is mesmerizing and she knows how to draw readers into to her stories and bring out the emotions that the characters are feeling so that it grabs the reader’s attention and keeps readers invested in the story. Ballad is so much deeper and has a different feel to it than Lament. Maggie delivered an emotional ride with Ballad. We get to see alternating viewpoints from James and Nuala which is one of the reasons this book delivers but at the same time we still get snippets of Dee which is a major part of the story.

Maggie continues to amaze me with her books, I loved Shiver and Yes, these books are totally different in my opinion but Maggie’s writing is what stands out. Her books are like great songs with perfect melodies that will stay with you forever. Maggie is now one of my favorite authors and I look forward to reading more of her books.

Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars