Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater

Synopsis:
In this mesmerizing sequel to Lament, music prodigy James Morgan and his best friend, Deirdre, join a private conservatory for musicians. James' musical talent attracts Nuala, a soul-snatching faerie muse who fosters and feeds on the creative energies of exceptional humans until they die. Composing beautiful music together unexpectedly leads to mutual admiration and love. Haunted by fiery visions of death, James realizes that Deirdre and Nuala are being hunted by the Fey and plunges into a soul-scorching battle with the Queen of the Fey to save their lives.

My Review:
Like other people have expressed, I was first sad that this story was not a continuation of Dee and Luke from the first book Lament. But Maggie Stiefvater wrote a very witty and sarcastic character, James, who I loved from the beginning so I was glad he got his chance to shine and make me laugh out loud. It was not a fast paced book but I had a hard time putting it down just because I loved the interactions between James and his roommate, the teachers, and Dee. I like James love interest Nuala ok but sometimes she was just too high strong and bitter which I would not think James would find appealing. But I guess that was the point because Nuala was everything Dee was not and James needed to sort out the relationship between him and Dee. Overall it was a good read and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Lament, Shiver, and likes paranormal stories.