Review - Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

This one is also very late in coming.

the longing.
Once Grace and Sam have found each other, they know they must fight to stay together. For Sam, this means a reckoning with his werewolf past. For Grace, it means facing a future that is less and less certain.

the loss.
Into their world comes a new wolf named Cole, whose past is full of hurt and danger. He is wrestling with his own demons, embracing the life of a wolf while denying the ties of being human.

the linger.
For Grace, Sam, and Cole, life is a constant struggle between two forces -- wolf and human -- with love bearing its two sides as well. It is harrowing and euphoric, freeing and entrapping, enticing and alarming. As their world falls apart, love is what lingers. But will it be enough?

In Shiver, Sam struggles to stay Sam. Grace fights to keep him human and with her.

Maggie Stiefvater's Linger introduces us to Cole St. Clair, a new (and wild) addition to the pack, chosen specifically by Beck to lead and take care of the wolves when he couldn't anymore. Because Beck hadn't know Sam would find a way to keep his humanity.

Cole ruffles some some feathers when he bulldozes his way in to Isabel's life... completely naked. As days go by, Isabel can't help but feel drawn to him. A feeling that she tries to squash pretty unsuccessfully.

Grace, who'd been bitten many years before feels something sitrring inside of her that hadn't been there until recently. Something she never thought would show itself. Something that terrifies her.

This time, Sam fights to hold on to Grace. But can he do it?

*

I think Cole was a wonderful addition to the story of the wolves. I loved him, even in all of his arrogance. Isabel is more likeable now than before despite the hard outer shell she wants to keep up. Sam is kind of lost with everything that's going on with Grace, so some of the romance from the first book is lost. But the ending more than makes up for it.

I love the twists and turns in Linger. The new characters are a great. And some of the old ones not mentioned much before make a re-appearance. Not a happy one. In fact, Tom Culpeper gets downright mean and dirty when he makes a surprise visit to Sam over at Beck's house.

The writing is amazing. It made me love the characters I was supposed to love and it made me hate the characters I was supposed to want to slap in the face.

I will honestly read anything and everything Maggie ever publishes. She's such a great author and I love her books!