Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception (Books of Faerie, #1)

by Maggie Stiefvater

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. Deirdre finds herself infatuated with a mysterious boy who enters her ordinary suburban life, seemingly out of thin air. Trouble is, the enigmatic and gorgeous Luke turns out to be a gallowglass--a soulless faerie assassin. An equally hunky--and equally dangerous--dark faerie soldier named Aodhan is also stalking Deirdre. Sworn enemies, Luke and Aodhan each have a deadly 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 James, her wisecracking but loyal best friend. Deirdre had been wishing her life weren't so dull, but getting trapped in the middle of a centuries-old faerie war isn't exactly what she had in mind . . . Lament is a dark faerie fantasy that features authentic Celtic faerie lore, plus cover art and interior illustrations by acclaimed faerie artist Julia Jeffrey. FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING NOVEL SHIVER

• ISBN13: 9780738713700
• Publish Date: 8 October 2008 (first published 1 October 2008)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Flux
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[Silvara]

Check out my other reviews, discussions and link ups at Fantasy of the Silver Dragon.

So I picked up this book at the library, because Cait is always going on and on about how wonderful the author is. I love fae books, so thought I'd give this one a try as my first introduction to the author. It was not-so-surprisingly good!

I loved all the fae lore and mythology that popped up in the book. Everything from four leaf clovers helping you to see the fae, to Thomas the Rhymer.

From the synopsis, it makes it sound like there are two bad fae out to kill Deirdre. But it doesn't actually unfold that way. I really liked Luke. He was funny and mysterious. You could see he was trying to help Deirdre figure things out, without going against the geias he was under. He was conflicted, but also firm in his decisions. I also liked Deirdre. Her actions made a lot of sense in the context of the story, and were believable for a girl her age.

The ending was both sweet and sad, you saw some of it coming, but that didn't make it any less sad once it was over. I wished there was a little more to it, but I always wish for more when I really like the book.

My main issue was some of the things left totally unresolved. What happens with Deirdre's Aunt? Is Deirdre actually able to go home? How do they explain finding James completely unhurt?

This review was originally posted on Fantasy of the Silver Dragon

[celinenyx]

I first encountered Stiefvater's wonderful writing in her Wolves of Mercy Falls series. I was blown away by her beautiful descriptions and dreamlike prose. It seemed to me that all this went down the drain in Lament.

When Deirdre meets Luke, she is immediately enchanted by his musical gift. His flute and her harp make magic together - literally. But her family instantly distrusts him, and there is something much darker going, something that has to do with an evil faery queen.

If I had to describe Lament to someone that has never heard of the book, it would be: "Standard YA, girl meets boy, they fall in love, he happens to be a hundred times her age or something, and there's something that keeps 'em apart. Oh yeah, and some faery shit". It didn't have the same magical quality Shiver had for me. I think Lament is written before Shiver (you can never tell for sure, who knows how long manuscripts have been gathering dust before they get published). It definitely felt as if Lament was the point where she still had to develop her talent with words. It was there, in some spots, but overall Lament was slightly dull and predictable.

Lament is a fast read, but in the end I had to force myself to continue reading it. It's not like there's necessarily anything bad about it, but I didn't see anything very good either. Deirde was okay, but nothing interesting. At the end of the book I still had no clue what the love interest, Luke, looked like. There is a hint of love triangle (because what would 2000-2010 YA fiction be without a love triangle?) and of course I ended up rooting for the wrong guy. There was a surprising lack of emotional depth on Deirdre's side. A LOT of bad stuff happens, yet somehow at no point does she break down. To me that doesn't say "strong", but "unrealistic".

The concept of the fey themselves was good. I always like reading about the fey, and Stiefvater did a good job keeping them bitter-sweet and mysterious, as they should be.

Also, the ending wasn't very satisfying to me. Maybe the unanswered questions will be answered in Ballad, the companion novel to Lament, I don't know. I probably never will, since I'm not interested at all what happens to Deirdre next.

[nannah]

Wow, this story really grew on me.

At first, I rolled my eyes, sighed, groaned, and lolled my head around every single time Luke made another appearance because he was just another one of those love interests. But then, when I really started to think about it, and forgive me my inner feminist, what's so bad about having the leading woman getting a super attractive guy? All the men have been getting perfect princesses in stories for centuries.

However, I start having problems when these super-hot dudes begin bordering on stalkerish behavior, which Luke had a tendency to do at some points. Also, Deirdre's a smart girl, so why didn't she ever feel wary about hanging out with Luke when he continually told her he was a dangerous guy? It took her absolute proof of his past to convince her he was a not-so-innocent fellow. Other than that, and Luke's annoying pet name, "pretty girl" and his sexist remarks that were never addressed and/or corrected, which made me want to smack him, their relationship was quite touching and pretty to read.

All in all, though, the best part about this book was the faeries. They actually acted like faeries. Imagine that! I can't even begin to describe how refreshing they were to experience and to learn about. They weren't some creatures made to appear romantic or to fulfill some fantasy of the author or whatever crap some people write nowadays. That aspect was brilliant.

Although four-leaf clovers really aren't all that rare . . . in case anyone was wondering.

Lament was a nice read and, though it was too slow for me at times, and I didn't think the love triangle had a point, as well as some of the characters, I enjoyed it far more than I expected to.

[ladygrey]

I knew from the prologue this was a 4 star book because it is exquisitely written. [a:Maggie Stiefvater|1330292|Maggie Stiefvater|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1268241579p2/1330292.jpg]'s use of verbs and her descriptions are beautiful and evocative without being overwritten or trying too hard.

Then, when the story actually because I completely forgot about how good the writing is because Luke and Deirdre a so intoxicating and the unfolding the fairy world is so magical and fun and dangerous. The secondary characters all have their stories and their secrets which is interesting. And there are so many characters to love and despise and change your mind about.

I don't quite get the title, where the deception part comes in because while the fairy queen was cruel, she didn't seem to like about anything or hide anything or pretend anything was other than what it was.

I was really surprised by this book, by how good it was. It's the reason I sometimes give ok books only two stars, so the ones that are a little better than ok can have three and books like this, when you give them four stars, it actually means something.

This is as intoxicating as [b:Twilight|41865|Twilight (Twilight, #1)|Stephenie Meyer|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1307515757s/41865.jpg|3212258] but well written.

[sstaley]

It is always hard when deciding to give a book a 3 or 4 star rating. After looking at all of the individual factors, it comes down to this for me, what was the over all feeling about this book. I liked Lament. I liked the characters, Dee, Luke and James. When there is a strong, female lead who is scared, but rises to the occasion to save people she loves...she has my vote. Deirdre is not passive, but sticks to what she knows must be done. I like a teen female being portrayed this way.

I also really liked the way the Fey were portrayed in this novel. I liked the authentic depiction of Celtic Faerie Lore. This to me was very refreshing.

One drawback in this book for me was the unnecessary swearing, including the f-bomb. I don't think it was needed in a teen book. There is also the teen "sex" talk about how attracted they are to each other and want things to go further. This is why I do recommend this book for older teens 16+ and adults. The teens in this story are mature and don't have that teeny-bopper feel, so adults will enjoy this book.

I want to read the sequel to Lament, Ballad, to answer some questions about the ending. I have heard from other friends though, that they weren't able to get through the sequel because of various reasons. I am going to give it a try just to see what happens next in the story. I like Maggie Stiefvater's writing. I have enjoyed her books Shiver and Linger. I will let you know what I think of the sequel Ballad.

[rakesandrogues]

After reading Shiver, I was so excited to read Steifvater's other books. Unfortunately, I was quite disappointed with this one. I thought the build up was poor. I thought the development between Luke and Dierdre happened too quickly.