Shiver, Linger, Forever by maggie stiefvater on July 12th, 2011
Genres: YA
Pages: 388
Format: Audiobook
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Shiver: For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human… until the cold makes him shift back again. Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human—or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.
Linger:Â 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.
Forever: then. When Sam met Grace, he was a wolf and she was a girl. Eventually he found a way to become a boy, and their loved moved from curious distance to the intense closeness of shared lives.
now. That should have been the end of their story. But Grace was not meant to stay human. Now she is the wolf. And the wolves of Mercy Falls are about to be killed in one final, spectacular hunt.
forever. Sam would do anything for Grace. But can one boy and one love really change a hostile, predatory world? The past, the present, and the future are about to collide in one pure moment - a moment of death or life, farewell or forever.
*This review contains some spoilers*
Hey all! I decided to hold back the review on the first and second of the Wolves of Mercy Falls books until the third was complete. All three books were borrowed from the library in audiobook format. I love that our library here in Sacramento, Ca, has a deal with Overdrive to allow for audiobook checkouts from a phone app! I have a 15-30 drive to work five days a week (not too bad), then a ten minute walk to my work.
Ok, on to the wolves…
Since I am reviewing all three in one, I think I will try to be specific. Some people say that a true test to a brilliant book in a series was one that could be read alone without the others and still be understood. Each of the Mercy Falls books could not possibly stand alone in this series, but flowed beautifully together so it didn’t matter. I honestly cannot stand when authors take a good chunk of the beginning of a book to explain the history of a story. Just expect your readers to read the series! Stiefvater has done such a pristine job of writing these in a way that the books blend well, are not monotonous, and keep the reader’s interest.
Story & Characters
It took me so long to read this series because I just didn’t want to read another version of magical werewolves. But, Maggie happened to take the legend and make it her own on a very believable and realistic way. I actually questioned, “What would I do if I were bitten? Would I live out my short years as a werewolf, each year my shift lasting longer and longer until I was completely wolf and none of my self remained? Or would I take a chance and suffer the meningitis as a wolf in hopes to cure myself and have a normal human life with the wolf gnawing inside?”
Well done, Stiefvater. You made me cheer for Grace and Sam, cry for the Jack and Olivia, scream while they ran from Isabel’s father, and desperately want to smack Cole for being an idiot time and time again!
Narration
Listening to audiobooks is fairly new to me, so I am going to do my best in reviewing the reading of them as well. In my former life, I used to be an elementary school teacher and my favorite part of the day was reading to my class. Pulling voice from the words and translating emotion with inflection gave me such joy and I loved teaching that to my students.
Having Grace’s voice, narrated by Jenna Lamia, stay the same was a wonderful constant. Lamia held Grace’s character well, inducing every emotion Stiefvater expected to conjure. In Shiver and Linger, David LeDoux narrated Sam. Now, LeDoux has a wonderful voice, but it just seemed too old trying to play young. It was off-putting for me and until Pierce Cravens took over in Forever, and then the voice fit the bill. I swooned. I loved…LOVED…that Maggie narrated Isabel. Who better to establish a voice to a character than the author herself?
Altogether?
Read it, listen to it. It is a wonderful story and it seems the story will continue with Sinner, the 4th in the series. I look forward to finding out what happens to the wolves in their new home, what happens to Grace after she decides to take the cure, and if the two finally get hitched.
