Review - Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater

found.
Cole St. Clair has come to California for one reason: to get Isabel Culpeper back. She fled from his damaged, drained life, and damaged and drained it even more. He doesn't just want her. He needs her.

lost.
Isabel is trying to build herself a life in Los Angeles. It's not really working. She can play the game as well as all the other fakes...but what's the point? What is there to win?

sinner.
Cole and Isabel share a past that never seemed to have a future. They have the power to save each other and the power to tear each other apart. The only thing for certain is that they cannot let go.

Ok, so I finished Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater almost 3 weeks ago but I was putting off actually getting online and typing up a review because I am exhausted. Well, I'm less exhausted now than I was before... but still. So, sorry there hasn't been much activity on the blog as of late.

I was super stoked when I heard Sinner was coming out. I loved the Wolves of Mercy Falls series and I was so sad when it was all over. I was even more stoked when I learned that this one would be following Cole and Isabel. I love the Grace/Sam story with all my heart, but I wanted to know where Cole's story went.

Cole has gone to Los Angeles to find Isabel. In the process he's also supposed to be filming some kind of reality show and making a new record with a new band. Or at least, mostly new. Isabel is happy to see him, and she isn't happy to see him at the same time. She doesn't want to fall in love with him because she doesn't want to be hurt and she thinks that Cole is definitely the kind of person who is going to hurt her.

I have to admire Cole and his persistence. And the fact that even in the face of blatant temptation he didn't let his former addiction overcome him and cause him to undo all of the things that he's accomplished since becoming a wolf. I loved his carefree attitude and I loved being able to just be inside his head. He was trying so incredibly hard with Isabel.

Isabel kind of ticked me off a bit, but then I had to remember that she was putting up with a lot when it came to Cole's reality show. A lot that she didn't really have to put up with at all. And she was doing so quite well for the most part. I cut her some slack even though a few things she did still irritated me. Like insisting that Cole was doing things he shouldn't without really giving him a chance to plead his case.

She'd put up a wall though. One that she wasn't sure she wanted to put down for Cole. Well, in a way, she desperately wanted him to bust right through it and sweep her off her feet and carry her off in to the sunset with his mustang... but the rational part of her wanted to keep the wall in place because the lifestyle he was accustomed to (and she wasn't) was one that normally would have lead him to tear her heart to pieces and leave her broken on the ground. He had to prove himself. Over and over again. And I think he did that with flying colors. I love Cole. I really do.

And it doesn't hurt that when I read his chapters I hear Dan Bittner's voice in my head.

This was a great installment in the series. A definite deviation from the normal back and forth between Sam and Grace and their sort of ... innocence. Both Cole and Isabel are world weary and tired of the phoniness of people and the hurt they've gone through where as Sam and Grace were full of hope. Cole and Isabel hold each other up, though. They kind of find a new strength in each other and it makes the world not seem as bad.

If you've read the rest of the series, you should absolutely pick this one up. It's a fantastic read.

Sinner Giveaway!

So, I happened to buy two copies of Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater and I have one WITH a signed book wrap up for grabs over on my FACEBOOK page! Go check it out!

Review - So Silver Bright by Lisa Mantchev

Act Three, Scene One
Betrie thinks her quest is almost done. With the help of Ariel and the rest of her friends, she has managed to find her father and rescue Nate from Sedna, the Sea Goddess. Now, all she has to do is reunite her father, the Scrimshander, with her mother, Ophelia, and she will finally have a true family of her own.

Exit Stage Right
However, things are never easy for Beatrice Shakespeare Smith. Her father has vanished, Sedna is out for revenge, her own actions have trapped the Théâtre Illuminata in a strange kind of limbo, and the stress of her in-between state is tearing apart the fragile threads of her mother's sanity. Bertie's best hope for salvaging the situation may lie in a summons by Her Gracious Majesty, Queen of the Distant Castle, and the hope of winning the magical boon given to the best performance. Bertie is caught between her growing responsibilities to home and family, and the dream of flying free - just as her heart is torn between her two loves, Nate and Ariel. With so any forces pulling on her, how will Bertie be able to choose which wish to make come true?

So Silver Bright by Lisa Mantchev is definitely an amazing conclusion to the Théâtre Illuminata series. Somewhat heartbreaking, but absolutely amazing.

Bertie has rescued Nate and is in search of  a way to bring her family back together. The Scrimshander has disappeared though so that's a little difficult for Bertie. Not to mention things between her, Ariel, and Nate are as complicated as ever.

Personally, I've always been Team Nate. Sexy, rugged Pirates are kind of my thing. It honestly was never a question, even through most of book three. I always thought Ariel was cocky and arrogant and just a giant jerk. I hated the fact that he was pulling Bertie away from Nate. Hated it. But by the end of the book I was actually incredibly heartbroken that he was gone. I actually wished he'd come back. Don't get me wrong, I'm still totally team Nate... but it was a sad, sad ending.

Bertie is such a different person by the end of the series. At the beginning she seems a typical mischevious teenage girl up to no good but at the close of book three she's grown leaps and bounds beyond her years and I forgot she wasn't twice her age. From a bother to the Mistress of Revels who can bend and twist and move the earth with mere words, she's become one of my all time favorite characters.

Her silly little faerie companions are wonderful as always. And even seem to have grown up a tad themselves at times. But then they remember how hungry they are and all pretense of maturity is gone as they search for sweets to fill their bellies. I love them and their devotion to Bertie. They truly are wonderful little friends.

I think Nate has come to terms with the fact that Bertie isn't who she was before. She's not someone in constant need of a babysitter, a rescuer. Sure she gets in her fair share of seemingly impossible situations, but instead of fighting her battles for her, Nate has learned to fight along side her instead. He's there for her when she needs him and he knows to leave her be when she doesn't.

The series is, by far, one of my favorites to date. It ranks up there with the likes of Harry Potter and the Chronicles of Narnia, The Wolves of Mercy Falls and The Hunger Games, etc. I was incredibly sad with the knowledge that once I turned the final page of the book, there would be no more to follow it. That it was over.

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for something fantastical and magical to read. And even for those of you looking for the complete opposite. I don't think you'll be disappointed in the slightest.

Follow Friday #41

Thanks to Parajunkee and Alison Can Read for hosting FF every week!

This week's question:

Q: Fight! Fight! If you could have two fictional characters battle it out (preferably from books), who would they be and who do you think would win?

A: Hmmm... that's a hard one. I don't know. First thing that popped into my head was Tucker from Unearthly, by Cynthia Hand... but I don't know who I'd put him against. Then Cole from Maggie Stiefvater's Wolves of Mercy Falls series pushed Tucker out of the way. But again, don't know who I'd have him battle it out with. I think they are both phenomenal characters (I totally love them) but I don't know if I'd want them to battle anyone really. Ugh. Always with the hard questions. Maybe Eragon from the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini vs. Harry Potter. :-P What do you think? Both able to use magic, but two totally different types of magic. Would be interesting.

Who would you pick?

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!

Review - Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

There are two books that have ever made me cry. Maggie Stiefvater has written both of them. Shiver being the first one. Forever being number two.

In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. In Linger, they fought to be together. Now, in Forever, the stakes are even higher than before. Wolves are being hunted. Lives are being threatened. And love is harder and harder to hold on to as death comes closing in.

I've waited so long to be able to read this book. It was totally and completely worth the wait.

Grace is fighting to stay human, and almost fails at simply staying alive. Sam is fighting to save her. Cole is fighting to do the impossible. And Isabel is fighting her own inner demons.

Cole was my hero in this one. I absolutely adore him as a character and I can't imagine having read this series without him. When I first "met" him in this series, I thought he was cocky and arrogant and a TOTAL jerk. By the end, he was still all those things, but he has the hugest heart. Even if he doesn't realize it or want to admit it. And you've got to hand it to him for his determination and way of figuring out the impossible.

I love Sam and Grace and Isabel. They all are completely different than they were when the series started, and yet... they're the same. Isabel's icy shell gets chipped away and you see the broken person she is with a heart of gold she doesn't want anyone to see. And won't admit she has. Sam is tired of letting fear rule his life and so he faces it head on and prevails. All the while never waivering in his love and loyalty for Grace. And Grace, just as steadfast and strong as ever. Even in her weaknesses.

But Cole... Cole was my favorite. And not just because when I was reading his parts I was reading them with Dan Bittner's voice ::sigh::, but because he was just amazing.

This is now one of my favorite series of all time. Without a doubt. If you haven't read any of The Wolves of Mercy Falls books, you should. Maggie is an amazing author and I'm so glad to have read the series. I can not tell you how much I loved this book.

Loved it.