{Review} Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

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.

Title: Linger {Wolves of  Mercy Falls, book 2}

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Publication: 13rd July 2010

Publisher: Scholastic Press

360 pages

This review may be spoilery for the first book. This book is the second novel of a trilogy.

My review

I liked the first instalment of this trilogy, despite a pace sometimes a bit too slow for me. I also quite liked Linger even if, in my opinion, it has the same flaws as the first one. In this second instalment, four points of view and narrations are alternated. Indeed, we follow alternately: Cole, Isabel, Sam and Grace. Each of them brings his voice, his point of view and it enables Maggie Stiefvater to break the monotony. I was never confused by which character is talking, as it may be the case when a book has multiple voices. Indeed, it is clearly stated at the beginning of each chapter, moreover they are relatively short so that the reader is never lost and finally every voice is quite unique and relatively different from the others.

I enjoyed getting to know better Isabel and Cole, and discovering more about the young girl. Their stories are painful, heartbreaking and especially Cole's one, we discover a young man who is a little broken by life and above all very lost. Isabel is still stricken by her brother's loss and she tries to express her pain in her own way, sometimes very clumsily. Gradually, they begin to trust in each other. I also liked to see Grace and Sam together. However, when the reader finally thinks that everything will be alright and that they will have their happy ending, we discover that life has more trick up its sleeve.

It's sometimes a bit predictable. There are some lengths and some passages are a bit slow, especially in the middle of the book. In fact, I really don't know how to describe my feelings. On the one hand, I was sometimes a bit tired by the lack of dialogues. On the other hand, I wanted to know the end of the story, how things would evolve for the characters and I was compelled. I got into the universe and I could not help read it. In fact, I read it fairly quickly to finally know the ending, although I would have liked a faster-paced. Maggie Stiefvater's writing is still smooth and poetic, she really has a magnificent way with words.

If the beginning and middle are quite slow, the ending is really exciting. As we approach the end there are a lot of twists and suspense. The plot accelerates and Linger ends on a cliffhanger. I was really curious to find out more, and especially to discover the end of the whole story so I immediately dived into Forever. I was right to wait to have Forever in my hands before reading Linger because the wait would have been unbearable.

As in the first instalment, the ambiance and atmosphere are well-described and really pleasant. In my opinion, it's one of the strengths of this series. Feelings are also well-written, they are perhaps more varied than in Shiver. Some events are really infuriating, startling, unfair, while others are more touching and moving. If the first half of the book is very similar to Shiver and has the same kind of plot, the second half gets more exciting, captivating and unexpected.

To sum up, I enjoyed this second instalment, even if I found it a bit slow-paced. I especially liked the second part of the plot, it was less traditional and the ending leaves the reader extremely curious to know the rest of the story. Isabel and Cole's points of view are also an aspect of this book that I particularly liked, especially because it changes and brings a little variety. If you liked the first book, I think this one will not disappoint you. However, if you were waiting for more action, you may not be pleased.