Linger Review (No Spoilers)

As most of you know, I was EXTREMELY lucky to win an ARC of Linger and I literally jumped up and down screaming when I found out! I got the book and stupidly developed a mental block - I told myself I could not read Linger until I had refreshed my memory and read Shiver again. Thankfully, I have now done this *phew*and have finally written a review for it.

I was scared to read Linger for many reasons – firstly, whilst I had an inkling of where the story might go, I wasn’t sure whether I wanted it to go in that direction, I wasn’t really sure what I was expecting to be honest. Shiver could easily have been a standalone book. I was also scared because Maggie is my favourite YA author and I knew that she would be reading this review. Would I be able to do it justice? Would it match up to Maggie’s writing?

Yes I admit, I was having insecurities about my writing. However, I read a blog post recently about plagiarism (courtesy of Persnickity Snark) and decided that at least my reviews were written from the heart and in my own words. This is MY voice and MY style. I may not use as many fancy big words or literary terms as others but if we all sounded the same, then it would be very boring indeed! So, just like that I got over my fear and I feel tons better for it. Without further ado, here is my review of Linger.

In the words of Jacob from Twilight, “Have you ever had a secret that you couldn’t tell anyone? One that wasn’t yours to share?”. THAT pretty much sums up how I feel about Linger because I desperately want to share it with you guys but I don’t want to spoil it for you either! This makes writing a review very difficult indeed but I’m going to try. Linger follows on from Shiver and we get to see what happens AFTER the happy ending. Sam and Grace continue to develop their relationship and as in any normal relationship, obstacles and challenges come along to test it. Sam and Grace are still fighting to be together but in slightly different ways than in Shiver. Sam is also trying to get used to being in his own skin as a human when ironically Grace never feels more unlike herself.

This time around, we get four protagonists – Grace, Sam, Isabel and Cole. In shiver, we were introduced to several new wolves that were created by Beck (the pack’s leader) to ensure the survival of the wolf pack after Beck leaves humanity behind and changes for the last time. We get to see how they influence the pack through both Sam and Cole’s eyes. Reading from four points of view was admittedly a bit disorientating at first but I soon got used to it and I learnt so much more about the characters by seeing things from their perspective. It definitely gave me a deeper understanding into their psyche.

Another beautifully written book from Maggie, Linger was wonderful. I read it in two sittings as I didn’t want to rush my way through it. Both times it kept me up until 3am though! And yes I did cry at the end (dammit Maggie, you’ve done it again!). The journey was pretty wild and and not quite what I expected. There was lots of tension, lots of drama and all of the romance of the first book. As always, the cover art is gorgeous and definitely fits the spring feel. I'm going to place a bet now on the final cover being gold to represent the feel of Summer and also the Golden Woods which is alluded to in both books.

For all of you people out there who are feeling a bit put out that I got to read it early, know this. I’ve almost done myself a disservice here because now I have to wait that much longer for “FOREVER” which is the final book in the series and is not released until 2011. I can’t wait to read how this is all going to turn out and once you’ve read Linger, you won’t be able to either.

If you are a book blogger and are desperate to read Linger for yourself, please comment on my blog post “Want to read Linger?” so that you have a chance to join my mini ARC tour.

As you know by now, Maggie has her own blog which you can access by clicking here. She is also a prolific internet user and can be found on facebook and Twitter. If you enjoy Maggie's writing, check out the Merry Sister's of Fate which is a group made up of Maggie and her crit partners Tessa Gratton (Blood Magic, 2011) and Brenna Yovanoff (The Replacement, 2010). They publish original short stories every month. Click here to visit the site.