Book Review: Lament

Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception by Maggie Stiefvater

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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 . . .

My main disappointment with this book is the end, when Dee asks the fairies to turn Luke into one of them. Even though earlier in the book Luke made his opinion about the fairies perfectly clear ("Luke's body had gone completely stiff and his voice was tight."... "Luke's hands were tight fists by his sides. "I'm not one of Them"). Doesn't sound like he'd be happy to join their ranks. However, when Dee get's the ok for him to become one he's thanking her and Them. Even though it means he won't see Dee anymore anyway and even if he did he wouldn't love her, because well fairies in this book don't love, or have feelings really. They are manipulative, conniving, selfish beings.

Lament (luh-ment): 1.to feel or express sorrow or regret. 5.an expression of grief or sorrow.

Though the ending is a perfect companion with the title, considering Dee now has to face her life without Luke, living with the knowledge and regret that she basically destroyed the person he was, instead of letting him die the man he had been.

I didn't really like how this book ended, it just didn't seem true to the characters or the story Maggie started out telling. Even though this isn't going to be a favorite of mine I would still recommend it to a few people considering my favorite part of Lament is the conversations the characters would have. They reminded me of the type of conversations my friends and I would have; granted we wouldn't be discussing the existence of fairies or our new found ability to read one another's mind (at least not seriously that is).



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HAPPY CHRISTMAS

How awesome is this...

Mon Dec 19 10:53am EST
Texans surprise Marine’s widow and son with a new house
By Chris Chase

Texans surprise Marine’s widow and son with a new house

Marine Scott Wood died four weeks ago after suffering injuries during combat in Iraq. Before his burial, his wife dressed him in two uniforms. On the outside, Scott wore his military dress blues. Underneath, he wore the blue No. 80 jersey of Houston Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson.

Sara Wood had been married to Scott for eight years. They have a 5-year-old son together named Landon. Now he and Sara live in a single room in her parent's house.

"He knows daddy's in heaven," Sara said of Landon, "though I don't know if he fully comprehends what that means. He knows daddy's not coming back."

When Sara got an offer to go watch the Houston Texans play the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, she jumped at the opportunity. She knew her husband would have loved to have gone to Reliant Stadium to watch his beloved team play. Plus, she and Landon had never been to a game before.

As described in a column by Tully Corcoran on FSHouston.com, the team brought Sara to the game under the pretense that she and her son would be part of a halftime ceremony in which Landon would receive a bike and Scott's memory would be celebrated by the 71,500 in attendance. Both those things happened, but a much bigger surprise awaited.

The team told Sara she and Landon would be receiving a custom-built, mortgage-free house in a Houston suburb. It's courtesy Operation Finally Home, an organization that builds houses for wounded and disabled veterans or their widowed families. In its seven years of existence, the charity has built 32 homes in 32 states, all mortgage free.

This home will allow the Wood family to stay close to family but have a place of their own. The hope is that she and Landon will move in next May. Scott won't be there, but that doesn't mean Landon won't talk to him.

"We told him he could talk to daddy in his prayers," she said, "and even in the middle of the day, you'll see him walk around the corner and you'll hear him say the 'now I lay me down to sleep prayer,' which Scott taught him. And then he starts talking to daddy."

Goodreads.com and Fallen

I found a really awesome website for avid readers.I encourage you to check it out, basically it's Facebook for readers. Not only are you able to review books there but it'll recommend one to you as well. I'm sure it does a ton more but as I only am just getting to it I'm not up to speed on all it's in's and out's. I was recommend to the site by a booksandquills whom I follow on youtube. Below is a short book review as well as a link to the above sites.

Fallen by Lauren Kate

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

There’s something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori. Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price’s attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He’s the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move.Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce–and goes out of his way to make that very clear–she can’t let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret . . . even if it kills her.

Every time I look over at my bookshelf and see Fallen sitting there looking as innocent as can be, I think "Oh, wait I haven't read that one yet"... Then as I begin to pass the seventh page I'm reminded of the suffocatingly confusing pages ahead and I scream "Kate you've done it to me again!!!!!" I know your all asking yourselves why don't I just stop reading it or give it away; Why, that's a very good question... one I ask while repeatedly hitting myself in the head with the stupid thing as I finish begrudgingly for the millionth time. I can't get rid of the book because with my luck I'd be in the store, see it and buy it thinking I haven't read that before; same reason I pick it up off my bookshelf. Unfortunately, for my bank account I'm not one of those people who can just stop with the first novel in a series... even if I dislike the book I follow it through to the end. I did enjoy the beginning (first eight pages). They only reason I actually bought the thing really, it had so much promise but ended with a ton of disappointment.

I don't recommend buying this novel, however to each there own.



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