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. 

Darklight by Lesley Livingston

Published date: 22nd December, 2009

Pages: 310

Age Group: Young Adult

Publisher: Harper Teen

My Rating: 4/5

Where to buy: Amazon

Much has changed since autumn, when Kelley Winslow learned she was Faerie royalty, fell in love with changeling guard Sonny Flannery, and saved New York City from a rampaging Faerie war band. When a terrifying encounter in Central Park sends Kelley tumbling into the Otherworld, her reunion with Sonny is joyful—but cut short. For they’ve been plunged into a game of Faerie deception and wavering allegiances in which the next move could topple a kingdom...or part them forever.

I JUST finished the book, and I thought I would review it right now, while my impressions are still fresh. Darklight starts right where Wondrous Strange ends. Lesley Livingston does such a great job in this book to immerse myself into the story without it being boring, since this is right in the middle of the trilogy. But then, how can it be boring since I learnt so much about the characters that I've already met in Wondrous Strange.

The story line in this book is definitely a lot larger, Kelley's separation from Sonny has led her into having dark dreams being a plague to her mind. And she finds out what he's capable of as he's completing a task from the King Auberon. But Fennrys is in the picture to protect her while Sonny's away. From the book I saw that each of the Faerie courts have a secret lurking in the shadows, and something's out to get Kelley, Sonny and the courts.

Kelley's character really develops in this book as she's becoming tougher as the danger keeps rolling in. I enjoyed getting to know the other characters, Fennrys (hello there...), Tyff and others from the Otherworld. Getting in touch with the characters is a big reason on why I like to read, and Lesley did an excellent job with that and also writing out the components of the Faerie Realm. Where there's danger, there's action, and it's placed so brilliantly in the book, there's more deceit games, and eye-opening facts, and some heartache. Once again, Kelley has grown so much as a character, and it was great and sometimes painful to see her make some choices. She has to come into terms about her feelings toward her parents, developing and managing her powers as a Faerie, and feelings for Sonny.

I LOVE how Lesley incorporates her knowledge of Arthurian Literature (Shakespeare) into the stroy, and that just gives her books a fantastic edge and bonus points! I'm so happy to see that in her writing, and it makes me appreciate the book a lot more. I'm still waiting for Tempestuous to be added to my shelf.

Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Whew! I just finished reading another book, Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith. Alright, the synopsis.

At last, Miranda is the life of the party: all she had to do was die. Elevated and adopted by none other than the reigning King of the Mantle of Dracul, Miranda goes from high-school theater wannabe to glamorous royal fiend overnight. Meanwhile, her reckless and adoring guardian angel, Zachary, demoted to human guise as the princess's personal assistant, has his work cut out for him trying to save his girl's soul and plan the Master's fast-approaching Death Day gala.

First of all we have seventeen year-old Miranda. All her life, she never knew that she was being watched, and loved by a guardian angel, Zachary. He has known her since birth, got to know her, and fall in love with her over the years as she grows into a beautiful yet shy and quiet young woman. Miranda has a best friend Lucy who is so much more than her and Miranda stands under her shadow. She's just the usual teen girl, quite insecure, crushing on the perfect boy and trying to make it in theatre for the school play. As said before, Zachary is always there with her, invisible to her eyes, watching, protecting. Until one night he keeps seeing this shadow of Death swirling around her, he knows something is wrong. Then another night came. And that's when everything changes for Miranda and Zach.

That is when Zach does the unforgivable thing that an angel could do. That night, he admitted his love for Miranda by showing himself to save her life. But he's too late and fails. Instead, Miranda is taken by the king of vampires, the Dracul into his underground world where vampires are called "Eternals", and he converts her into one of them, and as his heir. As for Zachary, he becomes a fallen angel. But he's been given a chance to redeem himself. Miranda's new life involves Dracul who Miranda calls "Father" while she forgets about her life as a human. She has her killer and fancy wardrobes, servants and a sleek SU. It's all so different! But then Drac tells her to get her own Personal Assistant. Zach is told about this so he jumps at the chance to help Miranda find her redemption too.

The book is told in two perspectives, Zach's and Miranda's. The story really builds up when they both reunite. I like the interaction between them two, especially Zach's humorous and delightful personality. Of course that bloomed into something more. But the story is more than the love between them. In this book I get to explore more of the mythology about vampires, angles that I've been reading about from other books. There are also some references to other classic literature, and I also love the funny and witty phrases that I find. Eternal definitely has the gothic theme to it, and it's got more of a bloodthirsty vileness to it which sets it out from the usual vampire books. Altogether, Eternal was quite the page-turner, a story of redemption, salvation, love, loyalty and grace. Cynthia has wrote a book that turned centuries of lore about these mythological creatures into something unique and spooky.

Grade: B

xoxo,

Maya