Ballad ~ BWB Review

Title: Ballad

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance

Source: Library

What's a guy to do? What's a guy who can see and hear faeries supposed to do.....especially now that Death is calling? He has to choose to save only one of the girls he loves.

Doesn't that sound exciting? I bought into that plot synopsis from the get go. Coupled with reviews saying things like "great stand alone sequel" and the awesome cover, I thought I was going to fall over heels in love with this novel.  Normally, it is right up my alley.  However,  I'm now stuck trying to write a review of a book that I'm not sure how to review.

See, I want to know these characters. I want to care about their plight and find it interesting, but for some reason I don't.  Maybe I'm missing character building information that was probably given in the first book? Maybe I'm just being a brain dead reader and wanting the author to spoon feed me details? Or maybe I'm just not in a reading mood? Whatever the reason, it's not working for me. (I'll have to get ahold of Lament and start over...maybe that will work?)

Blog With Bite Discussion Questions

1. James is a flawed and heart broken character, do you find his mental peculiarities charming or annoying? Please do explain    I do find them charming. They are a piece of him and he is doing what he can to remember the things he needs to survive.  Like everyone else's quirks they could become annoying ...what if you had something you really needed him to remember and then he took a shower? The writing would be gone.  But overall, they are enduring.
2. What did you think of James and Dee's kiss? This being a pivotal moment for their relationship, how do you think it changed James?  I believe this is the point where he gets direct confirmation about his attraction or unknown lack to Dee.
   
3. Whom do you prefer Dee or Nuala? Ummm, yeah. Seeing as I just couldn't get into the book, I don't feel it's fair to answer this.
   
4. What's your verdict on the best way to read Ballad?  Is it a stand alone book or do you need to read Lament first?  If you read Lament, what did it add/not add to Ballad?  If you haven't read Lament, do you think it would have added to your reading of Ballad? I definitely don't think that this is a stand alone novel. I have lots of hope that reading Lament first would have helped me to enjoy this story. I'm willing to add it to my reading list and give this one another go, too.
   
5. We've been reading a lot of stories with fairies as the central paranormal creatures.  What are your thoughts on the "Fair Folk".  Do you believe in faires? I do believe in faeries. They are beautiful, tricky, wonderful, terrible folk who occasionally crash into humanity.