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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
Linger deals with the aftermath of all that's happened in the previous book, Shiver. Sam is now no longer a werewolf, he and Grace are very serious about each other, and now that he's free from shifting he can finally focus on their future together.
That's kind of what the book is entirely about. The entire book switches between the POVs of Grace, Sam, Isabel, and Cole-- a new wolf with a heck of a lot of issues. Isabel and Cole spend the entirety of their book trying not to face their personal demons, and making out in the process. Grace and Sam spend the entire book being with each other, moping when they're no longer with each other, meanwhile pretending nothing is wrong with Grace and she totally isn't slowly dying.
Everything pretty much leads up to the event in the last 20 or so pages of the book, in which Grace finally turns into a wolf thanks to Cole coincidentally being a genius as well as a rock star. For the most part, the book felt like it had no plot. Cole's storyline and the ending of the book were the only things that felt like they merited a book.
There were a few things I liked, however, whether or not I liked the book as a whole. I liked that Stiefvater brought in Grace's parents to cause problems, since so many YA books so easily got rid of the parental units altogether. (Although Shiver can be easily accused of that, since the author made it so they were absentee parents. At least she made that into an issue rather than having everyone totally okay with it. Think, once again, of Twilight.) Not that I actually liked having to deal with these particular parents, but they were mostly the only drama around, besides Grace slowly getting sicker and no one ever talking about it.
I also liked Isabel, for the most part. She was often the voice of reason, and the only one pointing out the stupid behavior of the other characters. It's a shame that sometimes she got a little ridiculous. I mean, making out with Cole shortly after she meets him just because she was feeling angsty? It was weird, not because they made out, but because she literally met him not five minutes before.
As before, I found Grace mostly boring and Sam extremely annoying. I do think the author wrote them some real personalities, I just happen to not like those personalities. Same for Cole. Believable, but totally exhausting to see too much of.
I'm going to read Forever because I unfortunately have to review it, but if I didn't I really would not bother with it. If Linger hardly had a plot, what am I supposed to expect of the next book?
That's kind of what the book is entirely about. The entire book switches between the POVs of Grace, Sam, Isabel, and Cole-- a new wolf with a heck of a lot of issues. Isabel and Cole spend the entirety of their book trying not to face their personal demons, and making out in the process. Grace and Sam spend the entire book being with each other, moping when they're no longer with each other, meanwhile pretending nothing is wrong with Grace and she totally isn't slowly dying.
Everything pretty much leads up to the event in the last 20 or so pages of the book, in which Grace finally turns into a wolf thanks to Cole coincidentally being a genius as well as a rock star. For the most part, the book felt like it had no plot. Cole's storyline and the ending of the book were the only things that felt like they merited a book.
There were a few things I liked, however, whether or not I liked the book as a whole. I liked that Stiefvater brought in Grace's parents to cause problems, since so many YA books so easily got rid of the parental units altogether. (Although Shiver can be easily accused of that, since the author made it so they were absentee parents. At least she made that into an issue rather than having everyone totally okay with it. Think, once again, of Twilight.) Not that I actually liked having to deal with these particular parents, but they were mostly the only drama around, besides Grace slowly getting sicker and no one ever talking about it.
I also liked Isabel, for the most part. She was often the voice of reason, and the only one pointing out the stupid behavior of the other characters. It's a shame that sometimes she got a little ridiculous. I mean, making out with Cole shortly after she meets him just because she was feeling angsty? It was weird, not because they made out, but because she literally met him not five minutes before.
As before, I found Grace mostly boring and Sam extremely annoying. I do think the author wrote them some real personalities, I just happen to not like those personalities. Same for Cole. Believable, but totally exhausting to see too much of.
I'm going to read Forever because I unfortunately have to review it, but if I didn't I really would not bother with it. If Linger hardly had a plot, what am I supposed to expect of the next book?
This series is just so fun!
I've been finding that in older age certain tropes wear a little thin. Especially the MLD, which was just about my favorite thing ever! Now I just think that collectively most heroines can do better and also jobs and hair cuts are nice things. So I loved that Maggie Stiefvater could incorporate not one, but two Mysterious Loner Dudes into a story that are fully worthy of my adoration!
I also appreciated the juxtaposition of the relationship between Isabel and Cole and then Sam and Grace. It helps deflect the idea that these stories teach young women the wrong idea about true love, as it were. Sometimes people meet and they're just committed from the first second. Others have to work through things. I like that both are well developed relationships.
And of course, the well rounded fully formed flawed and beautiful characterization.
Love it, love it, love it!
I've been finding that in older age certain tropes wear a little thin. Especially the MLD, which was just about my favorite thing ever! Now I just think that collectively most heroines can do better and also jobs and hair cuts are nice things. So I loved that Maggie Stiefvater could incorporate not one, but two Mysterious Loner Dudes into a story that are fully worthy of my adoration!
I also appreciated the juxtaposition of the relationship between Isabel and Cole and then Sam and Grace. It helps deflect the idea that these stories teach young women the wrong idea about true love, as it were. Sometimes people meet and they're just committed from the first second. Others have to work through things. I like that both are well developed relationships.
And of course, the well rounded fully formed flawed and beautiful characterization.
Love it, love it, love it!
This is somewhat of a difficult review for me to write. I have so many mixed feelings about this second book in The Wolves of Mercy Falls series. But, to be fair, hold out until the end of this review to get the full picture of my feelings about this book. They do evolve, and I found that by the end of the book I was happy to have read it. It didn't begin that way. In fact, I felt as if the title of this novel, Linger, was perfect because I felt like I was just lingering in this world, waiting, waiting, waiting for something to happen that would make me want to stay with these characters for the remainder of the book. There was so much angst in this book. Everyone was bummed out for the entirety of it, and at a certain point it was getting tedious to read about all of the sadness. I usually do not have problems reading about characters who are perpetually sad, but that is only because there seems to be some hope of things working out in the end. In this book I was having trouble catching that vision. Sam was sad, Grace was sad, Grace's parents were sad, Cole was sad, Victor was sad, Isabel was sad. EVERYONE was sad. I was seriously in danger of giving this book a rare two star rating, and I never (okay, hardly ever) do that. But then, things began to change. Somewhere around the middle of the book I started to notice a little bit of change in the story. I could see points of the plot that were intriguing, and those kept me reading. I have to say that at the beginning of the book when Cole and Isabel were introduced as voices for the story I was not really happy. I had gotten used to only hearing Sam and Grace in the first book, and I didn't think I would like the change of adding two new voices to the story. However, by the end, I have to say that I completely changed my mind about this. I absolutely loved having their voices added. I especially loved Cole's thoughts. Honestly, it was sometimes difficult to tell the difference between his voice and Sam's at the beginning of the story. If my mind wandered at all I would sometimes have to go back and remind myself who was talking. But, by the second half of the book Cole emerges as a powerful character. His evolution from self-centered, mopey, whiny and suicidal, to the stronger, caring character of the end of the book was wonderful. I especially loved his last scene with Wolf Victor. Absolutely beautiful! His character made the book for me. While the other characters didn't progress much, he really unfolded in the pages of the book. I fully expect that all of the main characters are going to really grow and evolve in the third book, and the emergence of Cole as a strong character hints at what is to come for all of them.
Just a few thoughts about little plot points -- Isabel was a bit annoying with just too much coldness and anger. But, I think that I can see the beginning of her evolution as a character, so I haven't written her off as a great character in this book. Her blunt comments are leading everyone to make the hard decisions that are going to end up helping the entire group. Grace's parents were terribly annoying. As a parent of teens myself I totally understand their motivation, so I can't condemn them for that. However, you can't be absentee parents for her entire life and then plan to just jump in and be authoritarian to solve all your problems. Not terribly effective as far as parenting techniques go. But, like I say, they were given a tough situation when they discovered Sam in Grace's room, and they did the best they knew, I'm sure. I wish that Sam and Grace had not been separated for so much of the book. That weakened the book for me a bit. Even when they were together Grace was so sick that they really couldn't interact like they did in the first book. I missed that interaction. And I don't think that Sam was given the appropriate amount of book time to evolve. He obviously has a lot of stuff to work through, but in this book I didn't think that he spent enough time progressing. At the very end he is beginning to get there, and I'm hoping that his big break will take place in the third book. I did love his expression of his feelings during the final chapters of this book when he is forced to make a very difficult decision. It's a hint of what is to come with him, I'm sure.
I have to say that Maggie Stiefvater is brilliant with words. Absolutely brilliant! She weaves words together in an almost magical fashion. So many descriptions of the scenes and actions within them were amazing. Unfortunately, sometimes the wording was so beautiful that I wasn't even paying attention to what was going on. I was more focused on how beautiful the words were. It is obvious that Stiefvater has tremendous talent and will be only getting better with each novel she writes. She has a gift with her words that made it a joy to read them.
So, overall, I would have to say that I am only giving this book a three star rating. The first half of the book was about a two star, but the last half was closer to four, so I'll split the difference and call this a three. However, although this rating may make this book seem to be only a middle of the road kind of book, that is not exactly the case. I look forward to reading the third book in this series, and I fully expect that the final book in this series will be wonderful, and it will probably pull all the elements of the first two books together to create a wonderful full series. I can't wait to read this next book from this talented writer.
Just a few thoughts about little plot points -- Isabel was a bit annoying with just too much coldness and anger. But, I think that I can see the beginning of her evolution as a character, so I haven't written her off as a great character in this book. Her blunt comments are leading everyone to make the hard decisions that are going to end up helping the entire group. Grace's parents were terribly annoying. As a parent of teens myself I totally understand their motivation, so I can't condemn them for that. However, you can't be absentee parents for her entire life and then plan to just jump in and be authoritarian to solve all your problems. Not terribly effective as far as parenting techniques go. But, like I say, they were given a tough situation when they discovered Sam in Grace's room, and they did the best they knew, I'm sure. I wish that Sam and Grace had not been separated for so much of the book. That weakened the book for me a bit. Even when they were together Grace was so sick that they really couldn't interact like they did in the first book. I missed that interaction. And I don't think that Sam was given the appropriate amount of book time to evolve. He obviously has a lot of stuff to work through, but in this book I didn't think that he spent enough time progressing. At the very end he is beginning to get there, and I'm hoping that his big break will take place in the third book. I did love his expression of his feelings during the final chapters of this book when he is forced to make a very difficult decision. It's a hint of what is to come with him, I'm sure.
I have to say that Maggie Stiefvater is brilliant with words. Absolutely brilliant! She weaves words together in an almost magical fashion. So many descriptions of the scenes and actions within them were amazing. Unfortunately, sometimes the wording was so beautiful that I wasn't even paying attention to what was going on. I was more focused on how beautiful the words were. It is obvious that Stiefvater has tremendous talent and will be only getting better with each novel she writes. She has a gift with her words that made it a joy to read them.
So, overall, I would have to say that I am only giving this book a three star rating. The first half of the book was about a two star, but the last half was closer to four, so I'll split the difference and call this a three. However, although this rating may make this book seem to be only a middle of the road kind of book, that is not exactly the case. I look forward to reading the third book in this series, and I fully expect that the final book in this series will be wonderful, and it will probably pull all the elements of the first two books together to create a wonderful full series. I can't wait to read this next book from this talented writer.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I liked this one much better than Shiver. I think Stiefvater had a more clear idea of where she wants to go with Grace and Sam. Also really liked the addition of Cole and his relationship with Isabel.
sad
tense
medium-paced
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Lo tenía tan bajo que me ha sorprendido muchísimo y me ha gustado mucho más que Temblor, estoy deseando leer ya el último libro de esta trilogía.