Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Narrator: Carly Robins
Published by Brilliance Audio on July 20, 2018
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy
Length: 8 hours, 11 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
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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 . . .
Lament is a dark faerie fantasy that features authentic Celtic faerie lore.
Lament or I Fell in Love With a Millennia Old Assassin Sent to Kill Me, is not my favorite work by Stiefvater to be sure (That still remains the Raven Boys Series). I’m possibly just a little too old for this book and can’t suspend disbelief enough for a few of the tropes happening. But overall, if you let a few things just slide, it is a fun and entertaining read.
Deirdre is smart (except when it comes to boys) and extremely talented, she also has just figured out she is a little different and can sense and see the Fae. That has put her in the crosshairs of not one but two assassins. Luke is the boy (*cough* 1000-year-old love interest *cough*) who seems to get Dee. He is beautiful and they make wonderful music together; everything seems almost perfect until weird things start happening and Dee thinks Luke might not be just the boy next door.
James…now this is the relationship I could have totally got behind. This is another case in a book where I think the BFF is totally the better love interest. Plus James is easy to like, he isn’t trying to kill Dee for one and he is hilarious.
I love the easy banter between James and Dee. Of course, he has loved her forever and she is clueless about it, but he is really the best friend a girl can have when weird stuff starts happening.
This is completely guilty of the insta-love trope we see in a lot of YA books and there are some super silly moments when Dee is just a bit over the top when it comes to Luke. But it is Maggie Steifvater and so there are just some great lines hidden in the YA angst.
Overall if you let go a few of the eye-rollable moments, this was a fun read with an interesting villain(s) and a few unusual developments. It also touches on Fae lore which I really love most of the time and tells an interesting tale.
“When did you get so smart?”
He tapped his forehead. “Brain transplant. They put in a whale’s. I’m passing all my classes with my eyes closed now, but I just can’t get over this craving for krill.” He shrugged. “And I feel sorry for the whale that got my brain. Probably swimming around Florida now trying to catch glimpses of girls in bikinis.”
“You’re like a song that I heard when I was a little kid but forgot I knew until I heard it again.”
Narration:
I hadn’t read Lament before because it wasn’t on Audiobook and 75% of my reading is done in that format but wait no more because now it has been released in audio as well. Carly Robins does a fantastic job performing in this. She captured the fun Irish accent of Luke well and I enjoyed her portrayal of Dee. Steifvater’s prose lends itself well to narration and that is the format I’ve read all of her books in. This might be a little more for girls in the 12-15 year range but it was still good listen. I listened to this at my normal speed of 1.5x
Listen to a clip here:
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I’ve been meaning to read this duology for years, ever since I had a chance to hear Maggie Stiefvater speak about writing at our local library. Good review!
Thanks Lark. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I was in my teens but it still has Maggie’s flare for how to turn a phrase. I love her prose.
Maggie is on my list, I even own a few of her audiobooks. Great review!
I love her audio’s they have some of the best narrators. Scorpio Races and The Raven Boys are my favs though.