shiver

Linger [Book Review]

Michelle4 Comments

Note: This review assumes you’ve read Shiver, the first book in the trilogy. Other than that, it is spoiler-free.

Title: Linger
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal
ISBN: 0545123283
Length: 368 pages
Year: 2010
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Source: Library
Rating: 3.5/5

Plot Summary:

Linger begins shortly after where Shiver leaves off. Sam is human. Him and Grace have their entire future together. Sam must take on Beck’s role and welcome the new wolves back as spring comes.  Enter Cole, one of the new wolves with a less than pristine past and no desire to make this easy on Sam. Add a mysterious illness to the mix and Sam and Grace find their lives once again not really in their control.

My Thoughts:

When I put down Shiver this summer, I eagerly awaited my copy of Linger to come in at the library. Shiver left me wanting more. By the time I finally got my hands on a copy of Linger and the chance to read it, a few months had passed and my eagerness had subsided.  Had I anxiously devoured Linger right after I finished Shiver, I think I may have enjoyed it more.

I liked Linger. I really did. But it didn’t grab my like Shiver did. It seemed to start off very slowly and I’m pretty sure I was 150 pages in before the I felt the story really started moving. And I’m not sure if my feeling that way is a direct result of the book or a result of my start and stop distracted reading this week. But whatever caused it, that’s what I felt.

I enjoyed the addition of Cole as a character. I liked that we got more Isabel (although I could do without the 700 references to her eye makeup). I think the way those two characters developed was great. And although I love Sam and Grace and I love Sam and Grace together, I’m glad that there was more than just them.

The writing is beautiful, just as it was in Shiver. I just wish the pacing and plot had been there, too.

I’m intrigued by the way Linger ended. It was much different than Shiver and I’m interested to see how it develops in the final book.  I wish I didn’t have to wait for July to see how this trilogy concludes.

PS: Did I completely miss that the text in Shiver was blue? Really?

Buy It Now: IndieBound; Powell’s; Book Depository; Amazon

Other Reviews:

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Shiver [Book Review]

Michelle7 Comments

Title: Shiver
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal
ISBN: 0545123275
Pages: 400
Year: 2009
Publisher: Scholastic
Source: Library
Rating: 4.5/5

Summary:

When Grace was 11, she was attacked by the wolves that live in the woods behind her house. Instead of being traumatized by this experience, Grace becomes obsessed with them. Especially the one with the yellow eyes, the one that saved her, the one she refers to as “her wolf.” Her wolf, Sam, lives the winter months in his wolf form but shifts into a human during the warm summers. Fast-forward to the present day, Grace is a teenager when she finally meets Sam in his human form. But as the weather gets colder, Sam has to fight to stay human. Because this next change will be his last.

My Thoughts:

I’ve seen this one floating around for awhile but I held off on reading it because I wasn’t sure about the being-in-love-with-a-wolf-after-other-wolves-tried-to-kill-you angle. Turns out I should not have judged this book by it’s back cover. I ended up really enjoying it and reading most of it in one afternoon.

Stiefvater infuses what could be yet another paranormal teen romance with beautiful writing. This is where I would love to share some passages with you but I have returned my library copy. So you have to trust me on this one.

I loved the times when Sam and Grace were just happy. They fell in love with each other so early in the novel that we really got to spend some time with them as a couple before The Drama happens.

I like the touch of giving the current temperature at the start of each chapter. I thought it added a level of suspense to the story. As I watched the temperatures plummet, I felt Sam and Grace’s  time running out.

I am anxiously waiting for my copy of Linger to come in. I don’t know where the story is going to go (especially since I loved the ending of Shiver) but I want to find out.

Buy It Now: IndieBound; Powell’s; Amazon; Book Depository