Short Summary:
For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can’t seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human … until the cold makes him shift back again.
Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It’s her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human–or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.
My Review:
I wish I could say that this book blew me out of the water. I’ve heard so much positive hype about the story and, honestly, I love the cover so much I almost purchased my copy instead of waiting for the library copy – I’m glad I didn’t now.
I rolled my eyes a few times during the story and I struggled because, in spite of being easy to read, it felt like there was no actual real plot. I mean… was the plot supposed to be just a love story between Grace and Sam? Or was the plot supposed to be curing werewolves as a whole? I felt like I was just meandering through this really sappy love story (the whole composing song lyrics/poetry thing made me really feel my age, except I didn’t really go for that sort of thing in a guy as a teenager).
There were a few things I enjoyed – I don’t want to make this seem all negative because I know I am in the minority here when it comes to liking this book. I enjoyed the switching back and forth between Grace and Sam. I liked the take on werewolves and the temperatures having a direct affect. I appreciated the role of parents in the book (even though, while active generally speaking, they really sucked. Seriously – never checking in on your daughter when you get home?)
Overall my feeling is .. meh. It was okay. I’ll read Linger because I have it checked out and I’m hoping there’s more of a story there but otherwise I feel like I did after reading Twilight. That girls will go swoony over poetic Sam and envy Grace and I’ll just be left wanting a plot that is a little more than teenage angst with some fantasy thrown in.
Short Summary:
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 Isabel, 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.
My Review:
I give up. I just don’t get it. I read this book start to finish and I still don’t know what the plot is supposed to be (aside from being .. basically.. a repeat of Shiver maybe?)
So LINGER was much more confusing to me because of the multiple points of view. I liked it in Shiver – I thought it was one of the best parts of the book but the switch mid-chapters and looking at the story from four points of view was a bit much for me … especially when it seemed to be all tragic teenager emotions.
And.. instead of just one singer we now have two with the addition of Cole.
So I don’t get it. I wanted to like these books because I’ve heard such fantastic things about them but instead I feel like I’ve just gone on a long, meandering walk and ended up right back where I started out having seen a bit of pretty scenery along the way.
