Wolfie and Maggie

Dear Reader,

This is a quick post about this amazing book that is the 2nd part in the trilogy called "The Wolves of Mercy Falls" by Maggie Steifvater. If you haven't read this trilogy or wish to read it but don't want to read any spoilers then I'd advise you not to read the second part of this post.

So, for all you naive souls, this trilogy contains:

1. Shiver
2. Linger
3. Forever (not yet released)

and here the quick synopsis(es ... synopsi?) for the first two:

Shiver:
As a child, Grace Brisbane was attacked by a pack of wolves that roam the woods behind her house. But she was saved by a particular yellow-eyed wolf. Since then, she's seen him every winter lurking at the edge of the woods; her fascination with a wolves ever increasing. Now, as a girl of 17, she dreams of running with the wolf pack. But when a local boy, Jack Culpeper, is supposedly killed by the wolves, his father become determined on wiping out every wolf in Mercy Falls. After one of these hunting expeditions, Grace discovers a bleeding-young-man on her doorstep who takes her breath away. He has the same yellow eyes as her wolf. He says his name is Sam...

Linger:
Just when things seem to be settling into normalcy for Grace and Sam and they can finally start planning for the future, Grace's parent begin paying attention to her and forbid her from seeing Sam. To add to this, Grace is beginning to not feel like herself; her inner wolf is beginning to force itself to the surface, threatening to separate Grace and Sam forever...      

In both books, there are countless other sub-plots and wonderful, memorable characters like Beck, Olivia, Isabel, Ulrik, Rachel, to name but a few, that I haven't mentioned here.    

***

When I came to the end of the final page of this book at 3am this morning, I let out a long sigh-like-breath that I hadn't known that I was holding. If you have been following this blog for sometime (if not click here), you may remember that I have been waiting for Linger for only God knows how long. And now that I've finally got my hungry hands on a copy, I must say, I have not been disappointed. It was equal parts romantic, heart-wrenching, beautifully poetical, intriguing and thrillingly flash-back-filled; all of this building a tight thick ball of suspense and tension that still clogs my throat, even though I've long finished the book. 

Yet, there is one thing I want to write about more than any of the above: Cole! You see, he's a new addition to this wolfie family but if I had known him in real life, I can quite assuredly say that we would not have gotten along well. In fact, I believe after one conversation with him I would have walked away feeling mutual disinterest, never looking back, never giving him a second thought, no matter how famous or handsome he was. (Confession: I have to admit that fame  and beauty have never held much weight with me to begin with.)

Okay okay, I know that I'm being hard on him since I can almost understand where he's coming from. After all I, of all people, know  a lot about expectations. But what really annoyed me about him was his cowardice and selfish disregard for life, his own and of those around him. And to top off that bitter but beautiful dessert that is Cole St.Clair, I became irrationally angry at him, half way through the book, for not only wasting but also ruining that intelligent, creative ... insightful mind of his. Yet - without revealing too much of the plot - I must say that, some how, impossibly,  Cole redeemed himself in my eyes by the end of the book.

Maggie Stiefvater has quite cleverly constructed him in that way. I believe it is characters like Cole St.Clair that add another dimension to the stories, allowing the reader to increase the their insight into human (or wolf) nature. A friend of mine once said that he liked meeting and talking to people who were quite completely different to him. And now (in a sudden Sam-style flash-back sort of a way) I understand why. Hearing and reading things from such different perspectives stops you from becoming narrow minded, helping you to understand the world at large. 

Another thing I'd like to mention is the shear exquisiteness of Maggie Steifvater's style of writing's and imagination. I've always thought that she's had such a way with words but some of her descriptions in this  book far surpassed my expectations. Here is a passage that I thought was particularly emotive, without being too obvious: 

"When I rolled back over to look into the rest of the room and saw birds dancing between me and the ceiling, there was no surprise. Just wonder. Dozens of origami birds of every shape, size and colour danced slowly in the air from the heating vents, life in slow motion. The now-brilliant light through the tall window cast moving bird-shaped shadows all around the room ... It was beautiful. ...

'All these perfect days, made of glass
Put on the shelf where they can cast
perfect shadows that stretch and grow
on the imperfect days down below'...

The one that had knocked against my head was folded out of newsprint. Here was one folded out of a glossy magazine cover. Another from a paper beautifully and intricately printed with flowers and leaves. On that looked like it had once been a tax sheet ... So many stories and memories folded up for safe keeping; how like Sam to hang them all above him while he slept ... I stood among his birds, with the shape of my body still impressed on the bed sheets beside me, the sun splashing over me and him, and my worries of last night seeming impossibly small in comparison to the vast glow of this morning."

  

And here is the address of the site which tells you how to make Paper Cranes (scroll down right to the bottom)

Her writing, so often, is such a pleasure to read in itself - regardless of the gripping tale it tells - tha5t you desire to read the words again and again, feeling them rolling around in your throat, prancing off your lips,  ingraining the image they convey on to your mind. The ability to induce this effect on the reader, I believe is a true talent; the reason why Maggie Stiefvater is a best selling author (and I'm not). 

Nevertheless, it would not be fair to present you with such a one-sided review. (Aside: After all people  - and books - must be flawed in order to give us motive to improve, right?) There is one think about this book that didn't particularly bother me, but may annoy some people: at parts the pace of the plot is dragged or slowed down. Considering the time span of the 300 or so pages is just slightly over a week, you can probably see why it seems so. 

But, overall, Linger is a great and worthy  follow-up to Shiver, just as Ballad was to Lament. Maggie Stiefvater, you have done it again!

Nida