Linger

author: Maggie Stiefvater

published: July 13th 2010

series: The Wolves of Mercy Falls

place in series: number 2 of 3

publisher: Scholastic

format: hardcover

pages: 362

The following synopsis comes from Maggie's Mercy Falls website.

In 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 Isabel, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.

My Thoughts:

The Cover: This cover is love. It goes with the Shiver cover completely, but it is its own. This cover shows the promise of the springtime which is quickly upon those of Mercy Falls, while the Shiver cover was more wintery which was a huge part of that novel. This cover is beautiful. I love it, and I can't wait to see the cover of Forever. Perhaps it'll be red, or purple. Who knows?!

The Story: I absolutely LOVED Shiver. So, needless to say, my expectations of Linger were high. They did not go wanting. Linger was most definitely its own novel. Sometimes, sequels are very much like its predecessor and it's only a variation of the unresolved problems in the first novel. But, with Linger it was so much more. There was a new character: Cole. And two new narrators: Cole and Isabel. Linger is told from four points of view. You might think that it gets confusing. Well, it doesn't. They all have distinct voices so it's hardly a problem keeping them straight.

Another big thing I noticed about Linger (and Shiver) is that Grace is NOT annoying. In Linger, Grace is keeping a secret; a rather big, important, LIFE CHANGING secret. In other books I've read, when the heroine is keeping a secret like this, it's almost annoying. With Linger, Grace just isn't talking about it and for reasons that are justifiable.

She just isn't annoying, okay? Take my word for it. I really like Grace. She is still the same person she was in Shiver, except this time she's becoming more of the girl she always has been.

Then, there's Sam. Oh, Sam. Compassionate, caring Sam. He is a great character and I wish he was a real person; he's someone I want to be friends with. He is coming to terms with what happened in the end of Shiver. He's trying to live his life and it's all very realistic.

Isabel and Cole are great additions to the story. And I think I'll leave it at that. You just have to read it.

Linger definitely lives up to the standards of Shiver. When I wasn't reading, I was thinking about it and I dreamt about it as well. I'm addicted to The Wolves of Mercy Falls.

Linger gets five stars from me.