Linger (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #2)

Reader reviewed by Frazzletastic

Linger really danced to its own tune -- the overall tone and atmosphere of the book radically transitioned from a desperate, urgent love story in Shiver to a more passive, heart-breaking tale of four emotionally crushed teenagers that delves into the complexities of their backgrounds and personalities. Sam and Grace are forced into fighting for their love, overcoming one burden, only to be presented with the next, all the while dealing with the pain of separation and the looming knowledge that something's happening to Grace that neither are willing to admit. Isabel, making a reappearance as a new POV, has her own demons to deal with: self-inflicted guilt over Jack, conflicting emotions over Sam and Cole, and her unwillingness to feel the pain that's subsiding within her. We're introduced to a new character, Cole -- a boy who chose the 'werewolf' lifestyle -- who turns out to be as damaged as Sam; he comes off as aloof, cynical, and cocky, but redeems himself towards the end of the novel.The alternating POVs were a fresh contrast to Sam's and Grace's POVs. I'm not that fond of books with shifting POVs; however, I didn't mind it as much in Shiver or Linger because it gave us further insight to the budding relationships of our teenage lovers. Isabel and Cole had me laughing, empathizing, crying -- it was really engaging, and the pair almost usurped my love for Sam and Grace. Almost. I can say with a definite declaration, though, that Cole is now my new favorite character in this series.

Reader reviewed by iLive, iLaugh, iLove Books

Read the review at iLive, iLaugh, iLove Books!

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Reader reviewed by Jewelie

This novel is the sequel to Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater. It was just as beautiful as the first. Every single page has something that I will never forget! Maggie has a way of putting beautifully poetic language into both the dialogue and the narration itself!! While putting post-its and stickys where I find a quote that I love, I noticed that it was near impossible to keep that up considering every single sentence has its own beautiful meaning. I absolutely recommend this novel, along with the first one, to anyone and everyone!

Reader reviewed by Sab H.

First of all... *sigh*. Second... Talk about guilty pleasure! And
third... Well, if you thought you liked Sam, wait til you meet Cole...
um, yeah, Sam who?



I wish I could come up with enough praise to complement her writing. But
I'm not Maggie, so if you want to find out how fantastically inspiring
she writes you're gonna have to read her books. Look, seriously, she
could write about aliens who become vampires but in fact are fallen
angels, and I would loyally read without hesitation. And the fact that
she writes about Cole just makes it all the better.



If you read Shiver (which you should because this one cannot stand
alone) you might be wondering what else could happen in Sam and Grace's
dramatic existence. They meet Cole. Cole St. Clair is the hottest, most
famous teen rock-star of the decade (drugs included) and was just bitten
by Beck.



This time the story alternates between four points of view: Sam, Grace,
Isabel and Cole, which was a little confusing but really enjoyable. It
allows the reader to get to know these new characters thus becoming main
parts of the story. While Grace and Sam are somewhat plain and boring
characters (I love them, but they are), Isabel and Cole are the spark or
the malice that was necessary for this book to be interesting. While I
did love Shiver I knew that if she wanted to keep her slow poetic
pace she needed someone like Isabel to step up and inject some fun into
it. It totally worked, and even though the story lacked action and the
pace was slow, the character development and again, the writing, kept me
involved the whole time. I highly recommend this series.



Overall, a wonderful sequel to a wonderful book. I cannot wait for the
next one!

This book was just as good as Shiver but it wasn't as exciting at the start and the middle but the ending fixed all that up for me. It was such a spectacular ending, and I really wanted to read Forever but I had to wait a year for it to come out, as I read Linger two years ago and Forever only came out last year.

In Linger, its written in two more characters view, Isabel and Cole. I liked this because both were major characters and it gave more views on the whole story. My favorite character in this book is Isabel. Because she's not all weak like Grace, but she has a lot of power and strength, which made me like a her the most.

In 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 dangerous secrets. For Sam, it means grappling with his werewolf past ... and figuring out a way to survive the future. But just when they manage to find happiness, Grace finds herself changing in ways she could never have expected...

Linger is a great sequel to the heart-throbbing Shiver, and I was just blown away by the talent of Maggie Stiefvater.

This review can also be found at http://fortheloveofbooksreviews.blogspot.ca/2016/12/linger-by-maggie-stiefvater.html

Sam believes that he's been cured of being a werewolf and that he's going to stay a human for good. He and Grace are happy about this, but they have to consider their pasts and what they want for their future. With Sam hopeful that everything will work out and Grace dealing with tensions within her family, things get a bit more complicated when a new werewolf is brought into the mix.

Cole is adjusting to life as a werewolf, but he seems happy to escape his human life and his status as a rock star. But beneath his arrogant and confident demeanor lies unresolved issues. With the worry that he'll be spotted and that his location will be revealed to the world, Grace and Sam have a whole other problem to deal with.

Personally, I found Linger to be a lot slower than Shiver, and I thought it seemed more character-driven than plot-driven. While it had a great cliff-hanger ending and has made me excited to read the next book, I feel that it didn't live up to it's full potential, especially compared to Shiver.

I was glad to read more about one of my favourite couples in YA, Sam and Grace. I think they're so sweet together! Sam is such a sweetheart, with his concern and love for Grace, and of course, his passion for music. I like Grace because she's so ordinary, she's just a girl who got swept up into a paranormal world because of her interaction with, and love for Sam, and I think that this is a nice change from the whole "chosen one" or "secret past" trends within many YA books. One thing that has made me excited to continue reading this series is my interest in Sam and Grace's relationship and my hope that everything works out for them! I have to know how it ends with them, so I know I will definitely finish this series, even if the rest of the books aren't as great as the first.

Cole was an interesting character because I couldn't decide whether I liked him or not. He was kind of annoying with his arrogance and cockiness, however he had more beneath the surface and his own personal struggles. I thought his evolving relationship with Isabel was a nice touch and I was worried that I might find it turning cliche in the end, but I never found it to be that way at all.

I really like Maggie Stiefvater's interpretation of werewolves because it's not just a paranormal phenomenon within her books, but there's a bit of a scientific basis to it. Discussions of a possible cure throughout the book intrigued me because I wanted to learn more about werewolves and how they worked in this book's universe. Along with Sam and Grace's relationship, I'm going to be reading the rest of the books in this series with an anticipation for the conclusion of Sam's research for a cure.

Overall, while slightly disappointing, this was still an enjoyable read and I can't wait to see how everything works out in the end. I recommend this series to fans of werewolves and YA fiction! If you like romance with your werewolves, this series is a must-read.

Read this book if you're ready to be obsessed.

Reader reviewed by RuthieI don't know what it was in this book that depressed me but when I finished it, there was nothing else I wanted to do but curl up in a corner and cry. The characters were so realistic, with very real problems that hit home for me. The paranormal aspects of this book were also very original. Everything in Linger was well-done, from the plot and setting to the cover and text ink used. However, I would like to alert the Shiver fans, this book was a touch darker.

It was a decent book, better than Shiver, but ch. 28 killed it for me. I am a huge animal lover and cruelty pisses me off, even when reading it. I didn't need to read the details of someone killing a deer by hand, it was just too much. I nearly put the book down at that point, but I hate leaving a book hanging. Taking a break before I read Forever, though it is on my shelf waiting.