Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

As spring leisurely breaks winter's strong hold on the small town of Mercy Falls, Sam slowly begins to accept the fact that he is not going to turn back into a wolf. At times he's still unable to believe that he's been given this unexpected gift of constant humanity but with Grace by his side, he's willing to accept it. Alternately, the once unflappable, practical Grace is feeling more and more restless with the arrival of spring. On top of the strange symptoms she's been experiencing, Grace's previously non-involved parents have become increasingly more and more resistant to Sam's steady presence in her life. Which is the last thing either want to deal with as Beck's new wolves begin to return to their human form - full of confusion and uncontrollable instincts; ultimately requiring direction and protection from Sam.

Even though I adore Maggie Stiefvater's books and her unusually beautiful writing, I resisted picking up her latest, Linger, out of sheer perversity. Really, let me explain. Hands-down, Shiver had one of the loveliest endings I've read in quite some time and I just wasn't ready to watch life unravel for Sam and Grace as I knew it ultimately would. Eventually I gave in. And I'm glad I did. Maggie Stiefvater is truly an amazingly talented writer. Her words flow so easily from the pages, full of incredible imagery and sensory descriptions so strong I found myself thinking about particular scenes from Linger - in detail - days after finishing the book. I also quickly fell in love with the additional narrative voices of Isabel Culpeper and Cole, one of Beck's new wolves. Isabel was a stand-out character from Shiver and her straight-forward approach to life could not be more refreshing. Undeniably, Ms. Stiefvater is unparalleled at her craft but I did find myself bothered by a couple of aspects of the novel.

Which leads me to the list of... Things that Bothered Me in Linger:

1. Another Absurdly Talented Musician. I get it that Maggie Stiefvater herself is something of a musical genius (I am not, so I will simply bow down to her prowess) but do we really need yet another dreamy boy with a passion for all things music? And then the fact that Cole and Sam never even once discuss their shared interest in music (highly improbably in my experience with musicians) is incredibly suspect. Can we not just find another interest for our characters? Which leads me to...

2. Cole. While I love me a bad-boy rocker, I have issues with certain aspects of his character. The bad-boy part I'm totally on board with - especially the whole: I'm jaded, where's my next big high? persona. Love that. It's the tortured genius thing I don't really believe. That whole explanation seemed rushed and basically wound up as a convenient plot solution. Hopefully this is addressed more in Forever, because I really, really like Cole - I just don't think he's been fully developed yet.

3. NARKOTIKA. Can someone please explain to me why in heavens name Cole's band is called NARKOTIKA?! And WHY is it always written in caps? I feel like I should be yelling it every time I read it. (Gee, I guess I'm supposed to.)

4. Crappy Parents. Yet again. And this award doesn't just go to Grace's parental units (Hello! Can you not tell your daughter is sick here?). The Culpepers, Cole's smarty-pants family, and even Sam's adopted father, Beck, all seem to be gunning for this coveted title. I know Grace tends to envy Sam's upbringing, but Beck has always seemed a little off to me with his whole "let me bite and create more unstable werewolves" thing.

Harsh, right? I know. But it's not to say that I didn't like Linger. Really, I did. It just isn't my favorite although guaranteed I'll be tracking down Forever (which, HELLO! has a gorgeous new cover) once it's released next year to find out how it all ends for Sam, Grace, Isabel, and Cole.

series reading order:
~ Shiver - my review
~ Linger
~ Forever (July 2011)

Because Everyone Likes a Second Opinion:
Angieville review
Presenting Lenore review
Not Enough Bookshelves review
The Compulsive Reader review
YA Highway review

book source: ARC tour

In My Mailbox: September 19

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by Kristi of The Story Siren and was inspired by Alea of Pop Culture Junkie. This meme is about books that you received or bought during the week.

I can hardly believe that we are halfway through September! Good heavens this year has gone fast. Hopefully everyone had as much fun as I did this past week discovering many, many wonderful new blogs thanks to Book Blogger Appreciation Week. As for books -- I didn't get many -- but what I did receive was pretty dang good. I was sent Bayou Moon for review as well as an ARC of Linger and got City of Ghosts and Killbox from the library. All four have been on my top to-read lists and I may have bumped a couple of these to the top of my TBR pile because I couldn't bear to let them waste away on my shelf. ;)

for review:

Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

my library:

City of Ghosts by Stacia Kane

Killbox by Ann Aguirre

What did you get in your mailbox this week?

The GIANT Linger Giveaway

In Maggie Stiefvater's 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 Isabelle, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.

At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love -- the light and the dark, the warm and the cold -- in a way you will never forget.

Comes out in stores everywhere July 20th. Pre-order here.

Enter to win an advanced review copies of LINGER, Sisters Red, The Dead-Tossed Waves, and The Replacement on Maggie's blog.