Review: Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Linger
Written by Maggie Stiefvater
Release Date: July 13, 2010
Scholastic Inc.
NOT A PUBLISHER REQUESTED REVIEW

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars


Synopsis (Courtesy of Barnes and Noble):

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.

Linger was more of the same that Shiver had to offer: unlikeable characters, anti-climactic ending, minimal action, and a mysterious pull to finish the story in spite of everything wrong with it. Full review after the jump. WARNING: SPOILERS!!!

I really don't understand why I'm drawn into the story of the wolves of Mercy Falls. I can't stand reading from protagonist Grace's point of view. Everything about her seems so manufactured, especially her teenage rebellion against her absentee-until-now parents. And there is so little differentiation from her voice and the voices of the other characters that my dislike for Grace seeped into my feelings for the rest of the characters. Sam became more broody in this one, and new character Cole was a big walking self-pity factory. My favorite character in the story was Isabel, who was unabashedly rude and honest. She made no bones about sparing people's feelings, and she kept her self-pity to herself most of the time.

I did like that Stiefvater explored some of the more scientific aspects of the wolf transformation and what triggers it. The supposed cure of "cooking the wolf out" was scientifically far-fetched at best, so it was good that they figured out it wasn't actually a cure. I also liked that whiney, self-absorbed Cole was able to sort of redeem himself with his knowledge of science, albeit very strange for a self-important rock star to have such knowledge in the first place. In regard to the symptoms Grace had, I want to say that I can't be the only one who thought she might be pregnant. It seemed like weird wolfy pregnancy symptoms for most of the book. Just saying.

The Wolves of Mercy Falls series is interesting, and worth picking up. You will have complaints, but you still won't be able to put it down.