867 reviews for:

Sinner

Maggie Stiefvater

3.79 AVERAGE

phoebecarney's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

4.0

declaired's review against another edition

5.0

Sinner is. so good.

This book has so much flash, and so much style, and then So Much Substance. Isabel Culpeper and Cole St. Clair want you to think that they are all surface, all white-leather dresses and disdain and rockstar charisma, but they have so much going.

This is a book about suicide, and addiction, and being near those things; it's a book about how to escape and how to confront yourself; it's a book about troubles and being hard to love (and being loved anyway).

Also, Isabel Culpeper continues to be one of my favorite ladies I've ever been introduced to, and we need more like her.

It's really good.

moonwisher's review against another edition

5.0

I feel like I need to write my review for Sinner RIGHT NOW -- right after I've finished it, but before I've read other reviews for it and potentially had my own thoughts tainted by them.

And yet all I can think is: OH MY GOD, which is exactly what I said (over and over) after finishing the book approximately three minutes ago.

To get to the point, Sinner is incredible. Absolutely amazing. And it happens to be about my favorite character from Stiefvater's Wolves of Mercy Falls series. I remember that while I loved those books, I was never all that blown away by them. Sam and Grace were great and all, but they just seemed a bit... not dull, not flat... but just less than what Cole and Isabel were -- because even then, I was endlessly intrigued by both of them. Yet when I was done reading Forever, I had always assumed that their collective story was going to be left open-ended for the readers to speculate on. So the announcement of Sinner had me squealing with joy.

Now, I honestly don't know what to say about the content of this book itself. But I realized, sometime as I neared the end of the book, just how damn well-written it is. I mean, I've always loved Maggie Stiefvater's writing style. And it was present again in this book. Even as either Cole or Isabel did/said things that infuriated me (which Isabel was more guilty of), I couldn't bring myself to hate them, or to be pissed at the author for making them do those things. Because the writing was beautiful. It was organic -- regardless of whether or not I liked what the characters did, it made sense that they did those things. I never once doubted their intentions or motivations.

I also loved that this wasn't one of those books where the characters had to tell each other "I love you" all the time -- for some reason, I was just glad that it wasn't like that, because it wouldn't have worked in this book.

Spoiler

In fact, Isabel only says it once, at the very end of the book, and I don't think Cole ever says it out loud.

Because as a reader, you don't have to hear them say those words. You just know that they love each other, despite all the demons that take over their thoughts and actions. And in the same way, both Cole and Isabel just KNOW how the other feels.

Spoiler

And the epilogue. Ah, the epilogue. I love a good epilogue, and this one hit the spot. Some people could argue that it was a little too HEA-ish, a little too perfect. But it was exactly what I wanted for Cole and Isabel. After all the shit they'd been through, it was exactly the kind of ending they deserved. Also, I had to do a double-take reading that first paragraph, because I assumed the last radio interview was taking place relatively soon after Cole's first album released. But I was surprised -- and so freaking happy -- to realize it was taking place quite a while after that, and yet my OTP was STILL TOGETHER! It gave me all kinds of happiness to realize that not only were they still together, but that Isabel was actually in a happy relationship despite what her parents had her believe about "real relationships". I applaud you, Maggie Stiefvater. You're one hell of a writer.

So maybe I'll come back to this review in a bit and add something I forgot, or maybe bring to attention something I didn't like, but for now I'm going to leave it just the way it is.

Side Note: Also, Leon. I loved him as a secondary character.

amber_does_audio's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This series made me care so much more for Isabel and Cole St Clair than I ever thought possible. Steifvater takes two characters who could very easily be stereotyped cardboard cutouts and makes them  heartbreakingly nuanced. It was a sweet, perfect beginning for them. A great end to the series. 

nozilla's review against another edition

3.0

Two of my favorite characters from the series, I'm glad they got some more focus, they deserved it.

jjp723's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 stars. I love Maggie Stiefvater, and I think The Scorpio Races is one of the best books I've ever read. So of course I was excited for this one - and while I enjoyed it, I didn't fall as hard for it as I have some of her others. I still recommend it, but be sure to check out her earlier books as well.

*Isabel's mother lived in one of those houses that would be a lot nicer if the houses that flanked it weren't nice in exactly the same way. It didn't look like California to me - it looked like Upper Middle Class, USA.
...It made me feel tired just looking at this neighborhood.*

*...I had wasted so much time on this. I kept finding out that the monster I'd been fighting was only me.*

whatlenalikes's review against another edition

emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

My least favorite of this series, mostly because it didn’t really need to exist. That’s not to say I didn’t have a fantastic time—the angst and pining was just delightful, and these characters are so fun—but this book was a response to fans wanting more from this love story, and it showed. A good time, but an unnecessary one. 

theaurorix's review against another edition

3.0

El personaje de Cole me flipó en la trilogía principal y aunque aquí sigue teniendo su esencia, me ha parecido más un libro de contemporánea new adult sin la magia de la trilogía principal que otra cosa.
Me ha resultado entretenido y lo he leído súper rápido, pero me ha resultado indiferente, igual porque no era lo que esperaba.

june27's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

wens_l's review against another edition

5.0

So actually I'm REALLY glad that I read the first 3 Mercy Falls books because if I hadn't then I wouldn't have read this and I started this book like, 3 hours ago and didn't stop reading it until I finished so yeah it was really good and I loved it. Perhaps because it focused on Isabel and Cole. Also the ending. The characters are complete disasters and they were disasters throughout almost the entire book so because of that I thought it was going to end badly or ambiguously, and yeah the ending is kinda ambiguous but also it was HAPPY ambiguous. You didn't know exactly what had happened but it was far enough in the future to know that they were together and fulfilling their dreams and all that stuff. And I LIKE that because I need happy endings in everything because knowing that the character you love are happy is very comforting. So yeah.

Also this was Maggie Stiefvater. Turns out I DO like all of her books. She makes it really easy to love her characters.