Ballad: A Gathering of Faerie (Books of Faerie #2)

4.5 Stars!
Ballad; the sequel to Lament was an intriguing and fascinating novel.
I found James hilarious and likable.
The plot was great but I didn't really like Dee. She seemed like a different person unlike the strong and brave character she was in Lament.
It was still a good read!

As impossible as this sounds, I think Ballad was even better than Lament! I thought the plot was a lot more original and I loved that James was the main character, he was my favorite character in Lament and I was glad to get to see more of him in this book. Nuala and him were so cute together that I kept rooting for them the whole way through the book. I was so sad when I thought she might die, and I found myself reading faster and faster and growing more and more worried as the book went on and he still hadn't saved her, and it even crossed my mind for a moment that maybe she wouldn't be able to become human and stay with James. I think that is what made me love this book, was I never was quite sure what would happen in the end, there were so many ways it could go, and many unexpected things happened that I just kept reading and reading, and enjoying it the whole way through. Plus it was funny. Which naturally made it 20 times better.

After reading LAMENT, I was eager to read BALLAD. Though I wasn't sure how I'd feel about James narrating, I ended up really enjoying his perspective. He was wonderfully tragic and compelling, and his motivations were heartbreakingly clear. Oh, and the end. . . .

I wish there were more in this series.

Maggie became famous for her Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy, but I fell in love with her writing when I read Lament and its sequel Ballad. This book is jaw-droppingly good. (Is that an adverb? It totally should be.) My favorite part of this book is the way we get to live--really live--beneath the skin of the main characters. I felt like I was a part of them. I also loved the way the story unfolded in my mind in vivid, lush detail. Not so much detail that I was skimming just to get to the good parts. But detail that made me sit up a little straighter and say to myself "YES. I know what that looks like/feels like/smells like." The stakes are satisfyingly high, the plot is paced well, and James??

Oh, James. He has my heart. What a hero! If you love Maggie's other books (or if you're new to Maggie's writing), this book is the place to start.