Lament
by Maggie Stiefvater Book Review by Miranda Fraser ISBN: 978-0-7387-1370-0 Alright, so I know they say you can't judge a book by its cover, but let me first address how awesome this book cover is! It is actually what caught my attention to begin with, a gorgeous Celtic designed dagger surrounded by clovers, it is just stunning! Then I look and see "Maggie Stiefvater" written on the cover. And as this woman has managed to steal my heart, over and over again with all of her amazingness, I knew this book had to be mine! Fast forward past two college exams and enough time to actually sit down and read this book- I get about 30 pages in and think, "My goodness this is amazing, is there a sequel, I must have it!". (So I ran up to Half Price Books and bought the sequel.) I get 50 pages in and I think, "PLOT TWIST!" and I can't put this book down! Almost 300 pages in and I'm borderline bawling my eyes out praying for an amazing ending. And so my lovelies let us discuss this amazing creation of the written word! To begin with, our important characters are Deidre, our main heroine, Luke, our main male hero (maybe, dun dun dun!), and James, our heroine's best friend and comedic genius. I would literally burst out laughing at his parts! So there you have it, our three important characters. But there's also family members and other people who come into play here and there and believe me, their parts can be just as interesting to the story as our main characters. Essentially, you have your basic run of the mill love triangle when you think of it, right? Male and female best friends, new boy on the block, can't see any strange tension there, right? WRONG! Boom! Maggie makes things interesting! Unspoken secrets all around, mysterious happenings, and unique, though seemly normal, teenagers! Now, we find out right away that our heroine is quite the harp player, actually she just might be one of the most gifted teenage musicians ever! But is she gifted in other ways as well? (I will approach that in a little bit *wink*). We also find out that her best friend James is a gifted big pipe player. And to top it all off Luke is an extremely talented flute player. Hmm, we have a very musical theme here, right? Well lets see Celtic cover, Celtic instruments, yep, there might be a theme here. So what in the wonderful world of Celtic legends loves music? The Fey, of course. Faeries! Brilliant! So this whole novel revolves around three musically talented teenagers and a mystery of the Fey. Of course, I said I would readdress my question of what else she might be gifted at, right? Well, if we have the Fey involved, and we all know they are not exactly the nicest creatures, (certainly not the Tinkerbell and friends that Disney mass feeds our little girls) there must be something they are after- and music isn't it. Turns out our heroine is very important to some very important otherworldly creatures and it just might be Luke knows more than he's letting on. Well, at least at first, after all it's hard to tell a story you're not allowed to tell. Perhaps this is confusing? Good! Nothing is better than a good mind game, especially to the Fey. If they're out there they are probably having a gay old time at Stiefvater's brilliant word puzzles, poetic songs, and perfectly placed carrot dangling. Luke may not be as innocent as he seems, and the Fey might not all be as wicked as we think, but with bad omens, mysterious abilities, and crazy evil freaks running around, this story certainly keeps you on the edge of your seat! Plus, as I said almost 300 pages in and I was an emotional wreck, I laughed so hard at these characters wit and humor, cried when things were looking hopeless, went gaga over the mushy lovey-dovey parts, and found myself wishing this story wouldn't end. I highly suggest this book, it is emotional, it is brilliantly played out, and shows a depth of a character growth that is remarkable in a story of its size! I am practically opening the sequel as we speak, to see where this otherworldly adventure takes us next! Links to Maggie Stiefvater's website and facebook are on the buttons below!
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