Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception

Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception 

by Maggie Stiefvater

Write up:

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 . . .

This description is kind of crap, but nevermind, that as it gets to the basics of the tale. I liked that, like the Melissa Marr series, this is a dark faerie tale that uses pretty authentic lore to tell its tale. In this story the Fae are not these fluffy and bright creatures that are good and grant wishes, or are cute and loveable like Tinkerbell. They are scary creatures, despite their beauty, or maybe because of their beauty. They have no conscience and are only out for their own entertainment...and only see humans as playthings...like little children who capture butterflies and then when they get bored...pulls their wings of just to see what would happen.  If they take notice of you, it is best to run because it can only lead to badness.  Deirdre finds this out the hard way when she finds herself in the center of their attention.

It starts when a, dangerously good looking, guy named Luke starts to basically stalk her. He shows up at her music gigs and plays with her, and she seems to show up at her house other places when she most needs him. From the start she thinks there is something odd about him, other than his stalking, she already begins to suspects that he is not quite who he says he is and not part of the world. But she is drawn to him in every way possible, and despite the warnings everywhere...she is like a fly to his honey. When he shows up, so does a lot of other strange people and creatures: she practically trips over four leaf clovers everywhere she goes, see weird and sinister white rabbits following her, and she gets attacked by strange cat creatures. She pretty much rightly guesses that it is not only Luke who is out of the ordinary. She finds that she can do things other can't and because of her power she has gotten the notice of the Faerie Queen...and not for her benefit. She is basically being hunted and she soon finds that she can't even trust Luke...and her family and friends are also in danger.

I enjoyed the romance aspect to the story. Most of us can relate to being drawn to someone even though we know we shouldn't, and that draw and appeal of that first real physical connection with someone you like. The buildup of Luke and Dede was very good. I loved the relationship between Dede and her best friend James...and loved James. He needs more appreciation, as great character. But I was a bit confused at time when it came to what was going on with the magic and some parts of the story. We learn that her family has a history with the Fae, including Dede's aunt... but I would have liked to learn more about it to give me some more insight into what was driving those characters. I thought too many loose ends remained loose. But I see that there is a sequel so perhaps that is gone into more. Though I would have liked some things picked up and explained more in this book. So overall I enjoyed the story and characters and enjoyed it a good bit...but I was not able to get into as much as some.

Overall: B