"Linger"

"Linger" 
Written by Maggie Stiefvater
Review written by Diana Iozzia


I was really excited for "Linger", because I enjoyed "Shiver" much more than I expected to. I thought it would be a rip off of "Twilight" or "Teen Wolf" or "The Vampire Diaries". If we go back into my review of "Shiver", I feel that many of my points still stand, but let's see if anything changed. Please don't read this unless you've read "Shiver".

Great. Thanks. Let's begin. "Linger" picks up a couple of weeks (I think???) after Sam is exposed to meningitis, which has seemed to cure him of his wolf transformations. Interestingly enough, it seems that Grace's wolf tendencies are finally catching up to her, and she is slowly changing into one. It's not a scene from "Teen Wolf" where she slowly finds herself with fur on her skin, or her ears pop out. She just knows something is wrong until the final few moments.

"Linger" follows a lot more of the present, than "Shiver" did, which is a pretty normal thing for sophomore books. Now that it's all set up in the first, the author can continue in the present with the current problems and plot at hand. Speaking of plot, is there one???? There's not really a central conflict, other than Grace's parents disapproving of Sam. We also meet a new wolf, a drug addict musician who just decides he wants to become a wolf, because it's a better option than suicide? It's funny. This guy is Cole, right? I like Cole, only when he's in the present tense. When he talks about his music career, his ex-girlfriend, his addiction, I feel my eyes glaze over. He's seemingly into Isabel, who I absolutely love. I think if I had to pick a favorite character from this series would be Isabel. I originally thought she would be similar to Jessica Stanley from Twilight, the snobby side character who is only there to seemingly piss off the main characters. Isabel is shockingly caring towards Sam and Grace, especially the latter. I really enjoy her as a character, but honestly, my involvement in the LGBT community makes me always read a little lesbian subtext about Isabel. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Cole and the male gender alike do not really feel right for her. Anyway.

Sam's music career and songs still piss me off. I think they're awful. As I mentioned in my review of "Shiver", it's very similar to Archie Andrews from "Riverdale". No one caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaares. I think my fourteen year old self would be confused and scoff at me for saying this, but I am not reading this series for a high school guy who wants to be a musician. Grace's dialogue is still really cheesy and unbelievable. She gets caught nearly naked with her boyfriend, who has been sneaking into her room every night for a couple of months. Parents FINALLY care about her. Okay, I understand that Grace's parents are very absent, but did she really expect that her boyfriend could practically move into the house without her parents knowing? Her dialogue is very "But Mom, Dad, you don't understand! I love him!"

Ah yes, here, I had bookmarked this exact part I wanted to mention: "Mom! I am not like you. I am NOTHING like you. You have NO IDEA what goes on in my head, or how my brain works, or whether or not I am in love with Sam or vise versa. So don't even have this conversation with me. Don't even - ugh. You know what? I'm done". UGHHHHH MOOOOOM You don't understand! Calm down, Grace. Your "16 year old Disney princess thinking she knows exactly what life is about" is showing.

Let's see. As I mentioned earlier, what exactly is this plot? There's lots of cuddling and Isabel comforting Grace and new wolves emerging, but it seems like a solid half hour of plot, if we thought of this like a film. I had heard from a reputable source that the series does go a little downhill, but this quickly? I really liked the book, but I severely hope the plot picks up in the next. Pretty good, onto the next one.