Linger (Shiver, Book 2)

How to ratchet up the teenage werewolf angst? Add rock star and shake. I enjoyed the four voices narration. Sam's singing is still a little hard to take, but it's all part of the angst.

I was very surprised to find myself enoying Linger more than I did Shiver. There's a heightened sense of urgency, and you can't help but feel the entire time that something is about to go very, very wrong. It was too easy, and now they're going to have to pay for the rash and foolish decisions they've made.

I loved the new perspectives introduced, and Cole is such an intriguing character: I can't wait to read more about him. This entire story, I hope, will end up somewhere very dark, because it does seem to be heading that way. So many mistakes are being made, which creates so many knots that I can't wait to see everyone struggle to untangle.

All in all, this is one of the best sequels I have ever read to a book that feels self-contained. It takes everything Shiver did right and amps it up a notch, adding a lingering sense of dread after every page...

The premise: ganked from BN.com: In Maggie Stiefvater's 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 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. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack. And Isabel, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.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.My RatingMust Have: I'm surprised at just how much more I enjoyed this book than the start of the trilogy. There's more conflict, and there's less focus on the gooeyness of the love story, which--while said love story is disgustingly sweet in a good way--is a GOOD THING. It feels like there's more at stake in this book, and Stiefvater had me wanting the trilogy's final chapter, Forever, a good ten minutes before I finished Linger, so it's just not fair that I have to wait a whole other year. But all of this, it's good. With Shiver, I was ambivalent about reading the sequel. With Linger, I want it ASAP. And while some people might not care for the new POVs that take the focus away from Grace and Sam, it's a welcome thing in the larger scheme of things. Add to that complex character dynamics/relationships and more world-building regarding the werewolves (which I didn't see coming at all), and I was very pleased with this installment. Of course, I don't recommend starting here if you haven't read Shiver, but know that books one and two are quite different from each other while retaining a certain central beauty.Review style: I'm getting horribly behind on reviews, so I'm afraid I'm not going to be as thorough as I otherwise might be. However, I want to talk about how this book improves on the predecessor (especially in terms of werewolf culture) as well as some of the interesting decisions the author makes that work to correct some of the "faults" of book one. We've got new POV character that I want to discuss, and I want to examine the bigger picture of this story as well as the character relationships. To say they're interesting is an understatement. There will be spoilers at the full review in my LJ, so if you're interested, please click the link below. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome.REVIEW: Maggie Stiefvater's LINGERHappy Reading!

The Little BookwormNow that Sam is human again, he can live a normal life as a normal boy with Grace. But Grace is falling seriously ill. Coupled with that is the problem of the one of the new wolves, Cole, who can't seem to stay a wolf. Sam begins to see that his problems aren't over just because he is no longer a wolf.Just like Shiver this book starts off slow. But about 1/3 of the way in, it gets really good and then I have a hard time walking away from it. I actually checked out the CDs for my car and the mp3 version from the library, just so I could have it with me. And I'm glad I did. Because once the book got going I needed to find out what happened next.I actually really liked the characters of Cole and Isabel. They are a great antidote to perfect Grace and Sam. Grace and Sam are great characters and I do like them, but they are so sweet and perfect and good all the time that the bitter and sarcastic Cole and Isabel are great. This book alternates the four characters in POV and while that seems like a lot, it works well. I was surprised and not surprised by the ending and I am curious to see how the whole thing wraps up in Forever.

Wow. Linger picks up right where Shiver left off. It picked up in the best way possible by making it into an even better story. It was wonderful to actually see all the characters from the first book growing along with the introduction of Cole St. Claire who I feel gave the book a new stronger male character just what it needed. If you liked Shiver then you should read Linger. I was more iffy on the whole story after reading the first book, but I'm now very excited to read the last book in the trilogy come summer. Overall I'd say if you kind of liked the first book then you will definitely like the second one more. Though I know the green text would have bothered me if I wasn't reading it on my kindle so keep that in mind.

Poetic is to Shiver as heartbreaking is to Linger. Yes, it was that amazing. It took a bit of reading to convince me that the addition of Cole's character to the cast was a good thing, but I suppose that's what the multiple point of views are for--which, for the record, I hold in high regard. The switches between the four point of views (instead of two, like in Linger's predecessor) are clean and jump from and to appropriate spots in the story, and each of the characters are really fleshed out when readers get to read their thoughts and peer through each of their eyes.

Furthermore, Grace, Sam, Isabel, and Cole are all clearly their own people. There are no mingling of traits--yes, both Sam and Cole are musicians, but their personalities are so unique to each of them that it only emphasizes their shared musicianship. The same holds true when any of the characters are compared to another character, and that's what makes their relationships so wonderful and believable. Grace and Isabel could very well be friends in real life, if they really existed. Everyone's humanity is made clear, and that's what brings them to life.

Wowzers this had some twists and turns in it. Did NOT expect that ending. I ache for Grace and Sam. I truly want them to get their fairy-tale ending, but it seems like everyone and everything is against them. I guess I'll find out in the next book.

Personally, I did not care for Shiver as much as I had hoped to. I found Grace and Sam's obsession with one another pretty absurdly disgusting. I suppose their are couples that want to be together 24/7/365, but they probably are not people I would want to know. This book, though, was better from the addition of Cole and Isabel's perspectives. Cole and Isabel are both sarcastic and cynical, so reading their thoughts was much more enjoyable for me than reading the love-soaked longing of Grace and Sam.

One more awesome thing about Linger: the text of the novel is green. Made me realize how awesome it is to not be reading in black and white for a change, which is rarely possible with books. That was an awesome decision on the part of the publisher, although I wish they had done Shiver in blue, so that the series was consistent.

The ending indicates that at least one more book will be coming in this series. Here's hoping that Cole and Isabel keep getting a larger portion of the book. Recommended for fans of the first book. If you're wondering whether to start the series, I might wait and see how people review the series as a whole, as I am still not entirely sold on it.

Good teen angst, but why can't stuff *happen* in the middle book in a series of three?

This high school love story between a small town girl and her werewolf boyfriend continues. Sam, cured of his curse, settles down to his new life and looks forward to a future with Grace.Grace, however, knows deep down inside that all is not well. Something's terribly wrong with her, something that doesn't get revealed until the end of the novel, something that's actually quite obvious and you can see coming from a mile away if you've even been remotely paying attention to the last couple of books.Anyway, no tale of teenage love would be complete without its insurmountable hurdles, so Linger happily provides one: DISAPPROVING PARENTS! Dun, dun, dun. Grace's mom and dad, who have until now been conveniently absent in her life, start spouting the obligatory "Sam's a bad influence" and "stay away from that boy" and "you're too young to know about true love" spiels, and are appropriately condescending and patronizing about it like all good fictional disapproving parents of teenage girls in young adult novels should be.Too bad I'm probably about 15 years too late reading this; my emo and rebellious teenage self would have eaten this book up, hook, line and sinker. However, reading this now, it just strikes me as overly hammy and melodramatic, and I think I mentioned something similar in my review of the first book.Thank goodness a couple new characters and their points of view were added; I don't know if I could have taken a whole book of just Sam and Grace making moon eyes at each other. Sam with his song singing, poetry writing, paper crane folding. Grace with her pining for his touch, yearning for his presence, missing him every single moment they're apart. The two of them are positively sickening at times, making you want to hurl a bucket of cold water over both of them.Isabelle and Cole are a breath of fresh air, though Cole constantly does and says things to make me roll my eyes. He's an arrogant and self-absorbed teen rock star who's done drugs, cheated on his girlfriend with groupies, hates the fact his music is wasted on a fanbase predominantly made up of preteen girls, entertained thoughts of suicide, and is angry at his genius scientist dad. Enough said. Isabelle, on the other hand, has become my favorite character in this series. I like that her personality is so different from Grace's, and that she seems to be the only one with a voice of reason who understands how the real world works. I so enjoyed the way she throws Cole's smugness back at him, or the scene where she finally made Sam see sense.I do have to say, Maggie Stiefvater has a beautiful way with words. As young adult fiction authors go, I think she's one of the best I've read. The way she writes sets the mood perfectly for this book.

Slightly darker theme than the first book, Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, #1), but still a great story! The ending clearly leads to the 3rd book, Forever (Wolves of Mercy Falls, #3) by a cliffhanger!

Amazing story...good to the last page...

On to the next one. I'm so glad I read these after they had come out so I didn't have to wait, because this one ends horribly!

Ms. Stiefvater is successful in writing an engaging sequel to her first novel in the "Wolves" series. She introduces new characters and new complications. Sam & Grace are together - but for how long? Where the first novel focused on the love story of Sam and Grace, this one focuses on the rules of werewolves and the mystery of how the shifting works.

I wasn't as in love with this as I thought I would be. I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as the first, although it was quite good. I don't really care for Cole and there's a lot of confusion that I still haven't figured out. I guess we'll have to see what I make of the third book.

I enjoyed this book, but not quite as much as the first book in the series (Shiver). It did keep me wanting for more and I have moved on now to the final book in the series (Forever).

I liked this one even more than Shiver. Two characters are added to the cast of narrators that add a new, interesting dynamic to the story. I even found found myself wanting to read about them more than Grace and Sam. New developments in the mythology also add interest. It did take me a little while to get hooked. Looking forward to the conclusion.

Linger was really impressive. I normally don't enjoy the 2nd book of a series for some reason, I think it's because they never really truly live up to the 1st. But Linger was so amazing, I almost loved it more than Shiver. It was a lot more suspenseful, but not in a 'scary' way. There was a lot of dramatic events that happened in this book that seemed to tie it together quite nicely considering that now we have four characters we follow, instead of just Grace and Sam. We get to see a lot more of Isabel, Jack's younger sister and we also meet Cole. Cole was one of my favourite characters in the end of this book, but it took me a while to warm up to him. Cole is one of the new wolves Beck created, but for some reason he can't seem to stay a wolf for very long, even though that's what he wants. I loved the tension between Cole and Isabel that started really fast within the novel. It was nice to have a different type of romance in the book, instead of the perfect charming romance of Grace and Sam. (I don't mean to say that their relationship is perfect, because obviously... it's not, considering the events that pass through the book.) There is A LOT of stuff happening with Grace's parents once they start to realise how serious Grace and Sam are, but they don't want to believe it. Plus, there's ever the question of why Grace isn't a wolf.

It had been quite some time since I read the first book in the series, Shiver, before I picked this up. I'm not sure why I waited so long. I suppose the end was satisfying enough that I didn't feel the need to move immediately forward. It could also be that besides really loving the sweet and quiet story and Maggie's writing, I just wasn't in love with the first book, at least not enough to care to continue it immediately. Whatever the case, one night I found myself yearning to continue Sam and Grace's story, so the next day I went out to the book store and procured the lovely paperback with its green writing, and prepared to lose myself to the sad story of the wolves again.Unfortunately, this book did not deliver for me. I get the appeal of a quieter story not filled with action, but does this book really move the plot forward at all? Do the characters develop a lot at least? For me, I don't think so. Sam and Grace are just as in love as before (and dare I say a little co-dependent...) and Sam is still the creative and emotional one to Grace's more logical personality. Other than Grace standing up to her parents there was no real development for either of them. The focus of this story is Sam and Grace just trying to hold on to each other. Grace is sick and her absentee parents have finally decided to step in and try to keep them apart. Most of the novel is spent between the two of them just wishing they were with the other. I wish they had been able to at least form deeper bonds with other characters in this book, but they didn't. Grace kept Isabel at a distance and Sam was distrustful of Cole from the start. This is slightly resolved in the end at least, but it didn't have the impact that it could have had if there had been a bit of build up to it, and Sam and Grace had been at least a little more open to other relationships throughout the story.I thought the addition of Isabel and Cole's perspectives was kind of messy. I didn't really like or care about Cole until the end. I've never been a fan of the bad-boy-who-just-doesn't-care. It was nice to see a different side to Isabel though. I don't normally mind switching perspectives but I wish they had been contained to chapters. Often we would witness a scene through one character's eyes and then move on to another character's perspective a few paragraphs later. It was hard to keep track of who was who, and it caused me to feel like the characters were kind of losing their distinct personalities, and merging into one voice.Maggie's writing is still nice here. A little purple-y during Sam's random lyrics, but otherwise just as lovely as ever. The somber tone to the story, of these humans who turn into wolves and lose themselves, who still come to witness funerals and watch over the sick, is simply beautiful. I also like that Sam isn't a jerk, always nice to see in a YA book. I'll probably wait to read Forever when it's in paperback so it can match the other two books I already have. I'm not dying to read it after reading this but I will be reading it. I do want to see how Sam and Grace's story ends.

I enjoyed reading Linger so much that I literally could not put it down. This second installment of the series was quite different from the first, bit in a good way. I liked the fact that you get to hear more than just the opinion of Sam and Grace. You get to read Isabel and Cole's point of view as well.Cole, oh Cole. So broken and misunderstood. I too had trouble understanding why in the beginning of the story he was such a jerk and basically didn't want to live. As the story progressed and he revealed more to the reader, you felt for him, because we all think that being famous is a great thing, but to those who are famous often times it is a nightmare. Made me think of legends we lost too early, like River Phoenix and Kurt Cobain.As a parent, I can't say that I agree with Grace's strategy of sleeping with Sam under her parent's roof. They had the right to scold and ground her on that basis. Doesn't matter if they were absentee parents most of the time. They were still her parents and only wanted to protect her. I however, do not approve of the part they played in the first book, Shiver, where they were hardly around.All in all, I would recommend this book to anyone. Sam and Grace's love story is conveyed throughout the book as the one where you just know this is it, that this is the person you are going to marry. The connection they have is unique and anyone that got the chance to see it at work wouldn't be able to help but feel jealous of the fact that they don't have that with their own partner.Linger is a must read. Heed my advice, set aside a weekend to read this book from from front to back because once you pick it up, you won't be able to out it down.

My rating: 4/5 starsI'd forgotten my reason for giving Shiver a 5 star rating since it's been ages since I read it, but I completely remember it now and it's the same reason why I love Linger: there's such an amazingly gentle atmosphere in the book, that I can't help liking it even though Sam is hardly my type of hero and, at best, I tend to dislike Grace's sort of character. But I found myself loving Grace and Sam more and more and their love story seems so typical yet there's still something very original about the way it's written. And the repeated narration didn't take away from the book at all, imo. My feelings for Cole are complex, but I really hope things work out for him and Isabel later in the series. I can't wait for Forever to come out!

Grace and Sam have finally been able so see each other without the harsh, painful transformation getting in their way. Sam, who no longer turns into a wolf forever, finds another living in Beck's house. One that can't control when he or she turns into a wolf. This would be one of the kids from when Beck had shown him the ones who had been bitten recently. His name; Cole St Clair who was so fed up with his life, wanting to forget the past, thinking this was a way to do that. But meeting Isabel Culpepper, one who lost her brother to the same fate, changes his mind. Now what will he do?Meanwhile, Grace is having these awful sickness. Her head aches, her temperature goes up, she coughs, snivels. Seems like a regular illness, common cold. But its her wolf bite acting up. The wolf that want to break free, trapped for so many years while she lived as a human. Now the only cure; Become a wolf. But is she ready?This story blew me away. I never wanted to put the book down, and for most of the night... I didn't. With barley any sleep, I read this book start to stop. And now I move on to the next one, the last one, the one I have been looking forward to since Christmas!

Synopsis:In Maggie Stiefvater's 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 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. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack. And Isabelle, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.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.Review:Even though I didn't rate Shiver too highly I wanted to find out if the story really held water, so here is my Linger review.Isabel and Cole stole the show in this sequel and I actually had laugh out loud moments. The relationship between Sam and Grace is more intense particulary as Sam doesn't change for winter but Grace begins to feel the stirrings of her new life. When she gets ill, everything begins to change.I did like the POV's in this story and was glad Isabel shared some of the limelight. Cole is intriguing and definitely meant for Isabel.But storywise, still not a great deal going on except for a lot of filler. A little bit too much drag for my liking. That said, it was way better than Shiver IMO.

Sam's change to human seems permanent, but he's worried about Grace, and with Beck's shift to wolf seeming permanent, Sam is also faced with playing father-figure to the newest wolves. Recounted in alternating chapters by the four main characters, Linger follows Grace, Sam, Isobel and the newest character, Cole, as they struggle to understand more about what makes the werewolves of Mercy Falls shift, or not, and try to uncover what seems to be killing Grace.Wonderful follow-up to Shiver, and I'm looking forward to reading more.