By: Maggie Stievfater
Copy received from Scholastic for review
Synopsis (From Goodreads): In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past . . . and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack. And Isabelle, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.
At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love --the light and the dark, the warm and the cold --in a way you will never forget.
First Line:
This is the story of a boy who used to be a wolf and a girl who was becoming one.
Julie's Review:
I have to say, this book was certainly as good as the first, if not better. Maggie Stievfater has again done what I most love about her writing; she has created complex and layered characters. Grace, Sam, Isabelle and Cole are all fully realized characters with a multitude of emotions and complicated reasons for behaving the way they do.
Grace and Sam's relationship faces some complex issues over the course of this next novel. As you find in the first line, Sam is dealing with being a boy who was once a wolf, with all of the insecurities and fears/hopes for the future that it brings. Grace, on the other hand, is facing a future less and less certain. She chooses to keep some secrets, even from Sam, and whether or not I agree with them, it is true to her character to do so. Despite this, her relationship with Sam only grows stronger through the book.
One of the things that bugged me about Shiver was the physical relationship between Grace and Sam. I was irked by the irresponsible parents and Sam basically living with Grace and sleeping in her bed. However, their relationship in Linger is deeper and more committed. I've heard that some people feel that Grace and Sam's relationship borders on obsession. I disagree. It feels natural to me that when the person you love is in danger and you are kept from him/her (I won't give away details here), that you would be highly concerned about them.
While I love the relationships in the book and the development of the characters, there is one character that I mostly can't stand. Cole. It's not that I dislike him or is bad-boyness in particular and by the end I even like the way his character is growing; it's just that I don't like where he takes the story. Cole is one of the boys-turned-wolf from the end of Shiver. He's a famous teen rockstar with a history of drugs, sex, and regrets. The appeal of being a wolf is that he will forget all of his mistakes. His dark side appeals to Isabelle, who is still dealing with the death of her brother and her own life choices. These two characters and the tension between them adds a level of grittiness that, while it might appeal to some of you, I could have done without. But keep in mind that some readers might appreciate that side of the book.
The other critique of the novel is that it felt slow to start. I thought from the first line that most of the book would be about Grace turning into a wolf and dealing with that crisis. I was wrong. Most of the book, or at least the first half, felt like it involved developing the relationships between Grace/Sam and Cole/Isabelle and laying the ground work for Cole's character and his future influence in the story. Linger kind of feels like a set up for the third novel and the actual movement of overarching plot didn't happen until much later in this book.
However, even with the slow start and the darker side of the book, Linger is definitely a book I thoroughly enjoyed and recommend. I still love the way the book is told from multiple pov's. Telling the story from Grace, Sam, Isabelle and Cole's points of view adds layers and a lot of interest to the set-up. Maggie Stievfater is an excellent writer with complicated and true characters and I am already anticipating the third novel of the set.
My Rating:
Profanity: Mild
Sexualty: Mild-moderate; sexual tension
Drugs and Alcohol: moderate; prevalent in references to Cole's past
Violence: Mild
Goodies:
And her blog posts about how she made it:
