Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception by Maggie Stiefvater

Summary:

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. When a mysterious boy enters her ordinary suburban life, seemingly out of nowhere, Deirdre finds herself infatuated. Trouble is, the enigmatic and conflicted Luke turns out to be a gallowglass—a soulless faerie assassin – and Deirdre is meant to be his next mark. Deirdre has to decide if Luke's feelings towards her are real, or only a way to lure her deeper into the world of Faerie.

Luke isn't her only problem. A sinister faerie named Aodhan is also stalking Deirdre. Long-time enemies with a common goal, Luke and Aodhan carry the same 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 her best friend James whose devotion has been teetering precariously on the line between friendship and love for months – a feeling that Dee doesn't quite reciprocate. It's Luke she can't stop thinking about: Luke, who was supposed to kill her immediately but hasn't. Luke, who cannot refuse the Queen's orders without paying an unimaginable price. Deirdre ultimately must confront the Faerie Queen before she loses everyone she loves.

Review:

After hearing fantastic thing after fantastic thing about this novel and it's writer, I finally decided to give it a chance and I'm so glad I did! Since, Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception is a spellbinding novel filled with a descriptive and fast paced plot along with some characters I really enjoyed reading about.

As mentioned briefly above, I adored the world Maggie created in this, simply because it was interesting to see what kind of world the Faerie lived in along with their system of government.

Also, Deirdre was a great character to read about. Because not only was she easy person to relate to, but I loved how she grew throughout the novel from being shy to a brave heroine who would do anything for the people she loved. Oh, and don't even get me started on Luke! He was definitely dream worthy even if he didn't have the best intentions in the beginning. Lastly, some of the secondary characters such as James, Deirdre's grandmother, and some of the Faerie were great adds, too.

Even though the plot was one that continually kept me my toes, there was one thing I wasn't to keen on. What exactly? Well, the ending. It was just a bit too bittersweet in my opinion, but I am always one who wants the happiest ending for the characters even if it's not very realistic. :)

Overall, Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception is a fantastic read for this fall season! I'm really looking forward to reading Maggie's other novels, Shiver and Ballad.

Grade: B+/ A-

Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception is now out!