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Deirdre meets Luke at an audition one day. They play some amazing music together, and by the end of the day, Deirdre is more than a little infatuated. But Luke isn’t the only stranger appearing in her life. All kinds of weird people and events start surrounding her, and it’s obvious that Luke has something to do with it.
First of all, can I just say that I don’t read all that much YA, but I am sick to death of the inevitable love triangle. Sick of it! Lament was a little more low-key than others I’ve read but it was still there. I remember it being hard enough to get one guy in high school to like me. Now girls have to aim for two or feel like losers?!?! C’mon. Let’s do something attainable here.
Aside from that, I enjoyed this. I had a decent idea as to what Luke’s story was going to be, and it frustrated me a little that super-smart Deirdre was being so clueless about it. But I did enjoy the give-and-take of Deirdre’s relationships with Luke and her best friend James. Sure, they rode to her rescue a few times, but she rescued them too. Deirdre and Luke were pretty good characters, but I loved James! He’s such a smartass, but underneath all that he’s a very caring, understanding guy. Mostly he just cracked me up though. Deirdre and Luke enjoyed playing old ballads together, and I liked that this book had a similar feel to it. That said, the ending might leave some readers dissatisfied, but it stayed true to that ballad history. It also left room for the sequel, Ballad: The Gathering of Faerie. I have that waiting to be read too, and I have to admit that I’m more than ready to go ahead and read it. I’ll hold off a little while though because reading a sequel too soon tends to make me feel like the overall story has gotten repetitive.
This isn’t a new favorite by any means, but if you’re interested based on the synopsis, go ahead and read it. The problems I had were based more on my taste than on the book itself.
I was fortunate enough to win it in a contest from Donna at Bites. Thank you, Donna!
1 Comment
I read and liked her Shiver so I would love to try another book by her. Nice review