Overall, I enjoyed Ballad. Nice twisty faerie story with cleverness and at least one likeable asshole character, which I think is a strength of Stiefvater's. I did like Lament a little bit more, and as with all of Stiefvater's books, there's a feeling of emotional distance and kind of a complicated atmosphere that is just a touch uncomfortable all the time. Which makes sense, for both her characters and subject matter. Definitely worth a read, but it wasn't quite a 4-star for me and I can't quite put my finger on why... maybe it's just a side effect of reading in cloudy February or something...
