Linger [Paperback]

Maggie Stiefvater (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic (2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1407121081
• ISBN-13: 978-1407121086
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (217 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,726,271 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

All of my life decisions have been based around my inability to be gainfully employed. Talking to yourself, staring into space, and coming to work in your pajamas are frowned upon when you're a waitress, calligraphy instructor, or technical editor (all of which I've tried), but are highly prized traits in novelists, musicians, and artists (I've made my living as one of these since I was 22).

I now live an eccentric life in the middle of nowhere, Virginia, with my charmingly straight-laced husband, two small kids, two neurotic dogs who fart recreationally, and a 1973 Camaro named Loki.

I'm an avid reader, an award-winning colored pencil artist, and play several musical instruments, including the Celtic harp, the piano, and the bagpipes.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful, elegant, and searing sequel, July 14, 2010

By 

The Compulsive Reader (Big Rapids, MI, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Linger (Wolves of Mercy Falls, Book 2) (Hardcover)

In the last weeks of winter, Sam has stayed human, much to Grace's joy, but the cold still haunts him. Grace is just happy to be with him, even though she knows that their problems are far from resolved. As spring approaches, the new wolves are changing back, even though one of them, Cole, would like nothing more than to lose himself in his wolf form, and Isabel's father is more than willing to help eradicate the wolves in the forest completely. And through it all, Grace is keeping a secret, something that could change everything.

Linger is a beautiful, elegant, and searing sequel. It contains all of the drama and romance of Shiver, but also possesses a new urgency as secrets are kept and tensions rise. Linger opens up Sam and Grace's world to include Cole and Isabel as narrators, and divulges even more about the wolves and how they live. Stiefvater reveals some wonderful character growth for each of the four narrators as well; Sam is still trying to get used to the fact that he is fully human and has a future ahead of him. Grace is feeling the stress of keeping secrets from her parents and Sam and her anger at her parents' constant absences. Sharp-tongued Isabel suffers from guilt at her part in her brother's death, and even though she'd like to stay away from the wolves, she can't help but be drawn to Cole, a sardonic boy who chose to be a wolf to escape the problems in his human life, but is finding that being a wolf is actually making him confront the things he has tried to bury. These issues that force the characters to evolve keep Linger from seeming like a transition from Shiver to the next book, and give it enough drama and tension to keep you rapt, especially during the climactic final scenes when Sam, Grace, Isabel, and Cole realize that the inner workings of lycanthropy may not be quite as they thought.

Stiefvater's writing is breathtakingly beautiful, as precise and affecting as poetry, and Linger is emotional, heartbreaking, and heart-pounding as the stakes are subtly raised for not just the main characters, but for every wolf in Mercy Falls.

30 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Linger By Maggie Stiefvater, July 25, 2010

By 

W. Burke - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Linger (Wolves of Mercy Falls, Book 2) (Hardcover)

In Linger, (the sequel to Shiver) the story picks up as life resumes for Grace and her love Sam who appears to have been cured of the werewolf curse. Having made it through the last days of winter and now entering spring, Sam and Grace are on the watch for early shifters especially those newly created like Cole St. Clair.

Cole is restless, dark, damaged. He chose this life; wanted the escape. So why was he in human form and why couldn't he shift back into the wolf? Unfathomable to Sam, who risked death to become perpetually human, Cole tries everything he can think of to make his shift into wolf form permanent. The last thing Sam needs to be worrying about is a loose canon like Cole when his entire life is on the precipice of unthinkable change.

Something is wrong with Grace. A strange illness awakens within her, depleting her body and leaving her weakened and afraid. As she slowly deteriorates, Sam who's been ordered to stay away from her after being discovered in her room one night, fears he's about to lose the only girl he has ever loved.

Not quite as riveting as the first novel, Linger has some seeming errors in logic (see spoiler alert below) that I found rather distracting. Those detractors aside, Stiefvater delivers a compelling and sometimes poignant continuation of the storyline and I look forward to the next sequel in the series.

Spoiler Alert: The following paragraph contains information that may giveaway certain details of the stories mystery or suspense...

A few problems: In Shiver Grace is 17 and in chapter 3 reflects on her wolf attack experience 6 years ago, which would have made her 11 at the time of the attack. In Linger, Grace is still 17 but she is supposed to have been originally bitten over a decade ago. Another blaring problem is that in chapter 37 of Shiver, Grace is attacked by the wolf Shelby in her kitchen and bitten on the arm. In Linger Cole hypothesizes that Grace needs to be re-infected with the wolf poison essentially resetting Grace's shifting. However, that would have already occurred with the wolf bite from Shelby if that were true. I'm hopeful that these issues will be "cleaned up" in the next sequel.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It's hard to beat a perfect first book, September 29, 2010

By 

P. Travis Millet "SeeMichelleRead" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Linger (Wolves of Mercy Falls, Book 2) (Hardcover)

As spring leisurely breaks winter's strong hold on the small town of Mercy Falls, Sam slowly begins to accept the fact that he is not going to turn back into a wolf. At times he's still unable to believe that he's been given this unexpected gift of constant humanity but with Grace by his side, he's willing to accept it. Alternately, the once unflappable, practical Grace is feeling more and more restless with the arrival of spring. On top of the strange symptoms she's been experiencing, Grace's previously non-involved parents have become increasingly more and more resistant to Sam's steady presence in her life. Which is the last thing either want to deal with as Beck's new wolves begin to return to their human form - full of confusion and uncontrollable instincts; ultimately requiring direction and protection from Sam.

Even though I adore Maggie Stiefvater's books and her unusually beautiful writing, I resisted picking up her latest, LINGER, out of sheer perversity. Really, let me explain. Hands-down, SHIVER had one of the loveliest endings I've read in quite some time and I just wasn't ready to watch life unravel for Sam and Grace as I knew it ultimately would. Eventually I gave in. And I'm glad I did. Maggie Stiefvater is truly an amazingly talented writer. Her words flow so easily from the pages, full of incredible imagery and sensory descriptions so strong I found myself thinking about particular scenes from LINGER - in detail - days after finishing the book. I also quickly fell in love with the additional narrative voices of Isabel Culpeper and Cole, one of Beck's new wolves. Isabel was a stand-out character from Shiver and her straight-forward approach to life could not be more refreshing. Undeniably, Ms. Stiefvater is unparalleled at her craft but I did find myself bothered by a couple of aspects of the novel.

Which leads me to the list of... Things that Bothered Me in Linger:

1. Another Absurdly Talented Musician. I get it that Maggie Stiefvater herself is something of a musical genius (I am not, so I will simply bow down to her prowess) but do we really need yet another dreamy boy with a passion for all things music? And then the fact that Cole and Sam never even once discuss their shared interest in music (highly improbably in my experience with musicians) is incredibly suspect. Can we not just find another interest for our characters? Which leads me to...

2. Cole. While I love me a bad-boy rocker, I have issues with certain aspects of his character. The bad-boy part I'm totally on board with - especially the whole: I'm jaded, where's my next big high? persona. Love that. It's the tortured genius thing I don't really believe. That whole explanation seemed rushed and basically wound up as a convenient plot solution. Hopefully this is addressed more in Forever, because I really, really like Cole - I just don't think he's been fully developed yet.

3. NARKOTIKA. Can someone please explain to me why in heavens name Cole's band is called NARKOTIKA?! And WHY is it always written in caps? I feel like I should be yelling it every time I read it. (Gee, I guess I'm supposed to.)

4. Crappy Parents. Yet again. And this award doesn't just go to Grace's parental units (Hello! Can you not tell your daughter is sick here?). The Culpepers, Cole's smarty-pants family, and even Sam's adopted father, Beck, all seem to be gunning for this coveted title. I know Grace tends to envy Sam's upbringing, but Beck has always seemed a little off to me with his whole "let me bite and create more unstable werewolves" thing.

Harsh, right? I know. But it's not to say that I didn't like LINGER. Really, I did. It just isn't my favorite although guaranteed I'll be tracking down FOREVER (which, HELLO! has a gorgeous new cover) once it's released next year to find out how it all ends for Sam, Grace, Isabel, and Cole.