Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Published Date: July 13th 2010

Pages: 360, Paperback

Age Group: Young Adult 

Publisher: Scholastic Press

My Rating: 4.9/5

In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other.  Now, inLinger, 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.

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.

I read this in just a few days, and Maggie Stiefvater continues to amaze me with her poetic writing. This book adds another character into the beautiful narrative, and he is Cole. One of the main things I look for in a book is characterization, and Maggie nailed it with Linger! There were so many external and internal conflicts between these characters. Sam and Grace deals with the continuation of their relationship, especially under her parents' watchful eyes. Sam struggles with his identity and the responsibility of being Beck's substitute. Isabel continues to be the sassy, bossy and broken girl. And Cole, well, you'll just have to figure out this damaged and beautiful boy for yourselves. He was such a great addition to mix with Isabel's character. With the tender tones of Grace and Sam's perspectives in the book, it was somehow refreshing to get into Isabel and Cole's interactions which are more humorous and heartbreaking at the same time. (I hope that made sense :P)

Maggie added more scientific aspects in the book to explain how the human-to-wolf transitions work, and to me, that was really beneficial to the story. With the addition of Cole in the book, it helped me understand why some enjoy being a wolf and why some simply doesn't. I could understand that certain joy some people are seeking to live a better life, to start all over when their previous life just wasn't worth living any more. 

I loved the pure dedication that Maggie has put into Linger. The lyrics Sam writes in his head, the songs, the description of Mercy Falls, and many more. One fun thing I'd like to point out is that Sam loves the Austrian poet, Rainer Maria Rilke. And in amazing coincidence, I love him too! I loved how she is able to fit excerpts of his poems into Sam's narrative. Talking about narratives, I loved the way the story is structured. I sympathized with the characters, it felt like I really knew them. These characters are flawed, but the way Maggie handled the story makes them beautifully flawed to me, and that also brings an amount of believability. 

This book taught me that sometimes it's okay not to be okay, it's okay to be vulnerable. But we should always remind ourselves, it makes us even stronger. I'm currently reading the last book, Forever. And I'm just so excited to see what unfolds, I can't wait to see how these characters develop. They are truly making their way into my heart.