Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Genre: Wolves

Hardcover: 360 Pages

Published: July 13, 2010

Series: The Wolves of Mercy Falls

            1. Shiver

            2. Linger

            3. Forever

Rating:★

Goodreads Synopsis:

The astonishing #1 New York Times bestseller.

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.

My Review:

Hmm. When this book came out I wasn't sure if I wanted to read it. The first book was an epic fail in my opinion, but I wanted to give this series a chance to see if it would turn the story around. I'm sad to report that it did not.

We're back at Mercy Falls with Grace, Sam and their struggle of being together. Grace suddenly feels sick and is told that her destiny to become a wolf is near and she can't escape her fate. (Wait! What now??) In the first book Grace was introduced as a lonely human and now she is turning into a wolf! Okay that just seems odd. Why would she turn into a wolf and not know that she was able to? Sam on the other hand, is struggling with his new found life and dealing with the young wolves Beck brought with him from Canada. So basically, this book was very slow and the plot didn't really progress. The only thing that I noticed that was added to this was the point of views of Isabel and Cole which brought an interesting and fresh idea to the story. Overall, it just wasn't my cup of tea and I was really looking for something different to read.    

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Genre: Werewolves

Hardcover: 390 Pages

Published: August 1, 2009

Series: The Wolves of Mercy Falls

            1. Shiver

            2. Linger

            3. Forever

Rating:★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

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.

My Review:

            So I read this book right after Twilight came out and I was in love with the idea of wolves turning into humans. I mean it was a pretty popular topic a few years ago. So when I read Shiver I was interested in the book and I liked the story line. However, as I kept reading I realized it was very similar to Twilight.

            Grace is basically a boring girl who loves to watch the wolves in her back yard. Her favorite one in particular is a yellow eyed wolf who she can't help but be drawn too. So when summer comes around and she meets a yellow eyed boy, she immediately thinks of the wolf. Turns out Sam (the wolf) lives two lives. During the winter he is forced to turn into a wolf and during the few months of summer he is human. Grace and Sam start to get to know each other and eventually they start to have feelings. But things start getting interesting when its winter again and Sam is struggling to turn into a wolf. He wants to stay human, but if he can't resist the change he won't turn human again. Will Grace and Sam be able to fight for their relationship or will life get in their way?

      Overall, this book could have been a good one, but the fact that it is so similar to Twilight turns me off. I think Maggie could have used a little more originality and spruced things up. But after reading Twilight, Shiver just wasn't good in comparison.

Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Genre: Urban Fantasy 

Hardcover: 416 Pages

Published: October 18, 2011

Series: None

Rating:★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die.

At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.

Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.

My Review: 

            To be honest Scorpio Races was a very boring book. Don't get me wrong, the concept and the characters were interesting, but the book it self was just boring. Basically,  nothing happened. N-o-t-h-i-n-g. A third of the way through the book I was bored to tears because the plot wasn't going anywhere. It was building up to the actual races that takes place in the last 15 or so pages of the book. Ahhh. There was nothing in the plot to keep me interested, yet I continued to the end of the book.

            I couldn't even remember the main characters names or why they were so determined to participate in the Scorpio Races. The relationship between the two main characters seemed very off. I didn't buy the reasoning behind Sean's participating in the races and there wasn't a lot of romance. Since I am a huge fan of romance and there wasn't that much in this book, I didn't connect to any of the characters. Although this book wasn't it for me, I do know that there are others who really enjoyed this book. So if this is something that interests you as a reader then by all means I say give it a shot. Hopefully, you'll enjoy reading this book more than I did.