Review: Linger

Linger By Maggie Stiefvater

Teaser from Barnes and Noble

Once Grace and Sam have found each other, they know they must fight to stay together. For Sam, this means a reckoning with his werewolf past. For Grace, it means facing a future that is less and less certain.
the loss.
Into their world comes a new wolf named Cole, whose past is full of hurt and danger. He is wrestling with his own demons, embracing the life of a wolf while denying the ties of a human.
the linger.
For Grace, Sam, and Cole, life is a constant struggle between two forces--wolf and human--with love baring its two sides as well. It is harrowing and euphoric, freeing and entrapping, enticing and alarming. As their world falls apart, love is what lingers. But will it be enough?

First Reaction: I came into this book right after reading the first book, Shiver with really high hopes that it would be as good as the second. But truly, the first half of the book I didn’t enjoy as much as I hoped. It was very slow and didn’t seem to have a real plot. I really didn’t see a plot at all actually. It seemed more of a ramble of what was happening without suspense or anything gripping. I did overall enjoy the book after reading the end, but I was disappointed with the beginning.  

Warning: Possible spoilers for those who have not read Shiver

Characters:

Sam: Sam used to be a wolf that shifted to a human when it was warm and to a wolf when it was cold, but that changed when he got sick and got a high fever, making him stay human. Sam is in love with Grace, who he has known ever since he and his wolf family attacked her in the forest, but he made them stop and he saved her.

Grace: Grace was bitten by the wolf pack when she was very little, and was saved by Sam who for years later watches her from the woods by her house. She never shifted though, because right after getting bitten she was locked in a hot car to cook for several hours, for some reason keeping her from shifting. When she and same find a cure for him as well they fall in love. But then Grace gets sick, and it’s not just a normal cold.

Cole: A new wolf in the pack who wants nothing more than to get away from his past rock star life. But some reason he can’t keep himself a wolf. And that’s one thing he can’t stand.

Isabel: Grace’s friend who’s brother used to be a wolf until he died trying to cure himself from being a wolf. She can’t seem to get anywhere in her family life now, he mother is almost always drunk and her father is now on a wolf killing spree in the backyard.

Review:

I truly didn’t find the beginning of this book as good as shiver. It seemed to be lacking a plot up to the middle of the book. I wished that there had been more structure, but what happens in the end it totally unexpected and worth it. Though the overall writing is strong and clear.