Linger [Review]

Written by: Maggie Stiefvater.

Published by: Scholastic UK.

Format: Paperback.

Released: 21 July 2010.

Rating: 4/5.

Official synopsis: "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 dangerous secrets. For Sam, it means grappling with his werewolf past ... and figuring out a way to survive the future. But just when they manage to find happiness, Grace finds herself changing in ways she could never have expected..."

Linger is the second book in The Wolves of Mercy Falls Trilogy by US based author, Maggie Stiefvater. It continues the story which began with Shiver and Grace and Sam fight to make their love last. You see, Sam is a werewolf. And it's triggered by the cold.

For some reason (be it the distractions I've had the last week or so) it took me longer to read it than it would of normally. And whether this is to be attributed to my enjoyment of the book is yet to be decided. But I didn't enjoy Linger as much as I did Shiver. For me, it just didn't have the same feel, the same essence about it. Don't get me wrong, I really liked it, but I feel that it's not as good as Shiver and sadly, not the progression that I thought it would be. I wouldn't go as far to say it was a disappointment (I gave it a 4/5) but I just didn't like it as much.

It's a very ambitious book, with a staggering 4-way narrative. I really liked this aspect of the book until later on in the book. I started to notice that not all the characters have a distinct voice of their own. They use the same phrasing, one example being clothing, again and again, and it bugged me a little. Sometimes I'd have to go back and see exactly who was narrating at the present time as it wasn't really easy to tell who it was. However, in some places it was used brilliantly.

It's quite an emotional book for reasons I sadly cannot divulge without spoiling the book. Those that are quick to cry reading books might need a few tissues at the ready, just in case.

I think it's fair to say that Sam is my favourite character. I just relate to him more. And as cocky and quite repulsive as he is, I really liked Cole.

Again, the cover art and design inside is unquestionably amazing. Scholastic have done an amazing job both with Shiver and Linger. I know I said it in my review of Shiver (which can be found here) but I love the title pages. I just think it was a brilliant little idea to have the trees go through the initial pages of the books. Very clever. Very imaginative too. Just brilliant.

Needless to say that I am still very much looking forward to the final book in the trilogy, Forever, due next Summer. I'm sure Maggie will deliver something amazing! My thanks to Steven at Scholastic for my copy!

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