Linger (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #2) by Maggie Stiefvater

SUMMARY (from Goodreads): In 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.

MY OPINION:

Linger is a fitting title for this book. It starts on a hopeful note for the main protagonists, but they soon come across new problems and questions that need to be answered, making their future once more uncertain. Sam, Grace, Cole, and Isabel have to find out not only what they want to do but what they have to do, and they can rely only on each other. The four characters narrate the story in strategically well-placed turns, each of them having a distinctive voice.

Sam and Cole are at first presented as each other’s opposites. Sam only wants to live a normal life, meanwhile Cole is longing for an escape from his life. As they both discover the other one’s motives, they also find out their own future.

Isabel’s character is developed a bit quickly, making her shifting to the good side rather abrupt. In Linger, she becomes the unlikely voice of reason and helps others deal with their problems. Therefore, she grew on me, and I would like to get to know her better.

Grace faces a very personal crisis, which I did not quite see coming. Her dealing with it, from shock through denial to acceptance, is truly well presented, both on physical and psychological level.

I did not think I could dislike Grace’s parents more than I already had in Shiver, but I could. Grace’s parents are actually a cliché type of parents which appears a lot in YA. They let Grace to take care of herself as an adult, which she does, and then they suddenly start treating her as a child, neither of which is good for Grace.

Overall, Linger felt somewhat rushed. I would like to get a deeper knowledge of some of the characters, especially Cole and Isabel. However, I enjoyed the plot and the final twist left me wanting to read Forever right away.

RECOMMENDATION: Linger raises the stakes in the lives of The Wolves of Mercy Falls to the next level from Shiver. It is a suspenseful and delightful YA read.