Forever

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

Wolves of Mercy Falls #3

then.

When Sam met Grace, he was a wolf and she was a girl. Eventually he found a way to become a boy, and their love moved from a curious distance to the intense closeness of shared lives.

now.

That should have been the end of their story. But Grace was not meant to stay human. Now she is the wolf. And the wolves of Mercy Falls are about to be killed in one final, spectacular hunt.

forever.

Sam would do anything for Grace. But can one boy and one love really change a hostile, predatory world? The past, the present, and the future are about to collide in one pure moment - a moment of death or life, farewell or forever.

Sam and Grace's love has been tested time and time again. Now in Forever, they face the biggest challenge of all. With their roles reversed, and Grace now the wolf, Sam is utterly devastated. Not only do they have lost time to worry about, but also the huge threat of annihilation hangs over their heads as a hunt to destroy every last wolf looms in the near future. They have the fight of their lives ahead of them and they will have to rely on their very unstable friends, Cole and Isabel to have any chance. With two very different paths and hard choices they all must make, this is the turning point with one slight nudge either way being their salvation, or their doom.

Forever was breathtaking, it was beautiful, or rather I should say that it felt like it should have been those things. While I had the impression of beauty, what I mostly felt was a sense of lacking. The entire time I was reading it, I felt like I was on the precipice of something wonderful, yet it never once took that step over the edge. The entire time I was reading Forever, I kept asking "Where is the great love story that we saw in Shiver?" In Shiver, the love between Sam and Grace was so enriching and heartfelt, you just knew that they were absolutely perfect together. Flash forward to Forever, and you have a sense that love is still. Yet this time around I felt I was being told about their love rather than feeling it deeply as I did in Shiver. I felt being told rather than shown lessened the impact of their love and the overall story. In fact it seemed they were so cautious around each other as if they were walking on egg shells at times, and I just couldn't grasp why. Perhaps it was the severe role reversal that made them not so sure of themselves anymore and that translated over to their relationship as well.

The true shining stars of Forever were Cole and Isabel. They both could be described as nothing less than severely damaged, each for very different reasons. At many points throughout the series it felt as if both of them were well past the point of no return, yet in the next moment something would happen that gave a glimmer of hope. In Forever, their growth is exponential, yet very realistic as severe damage cannot heal over night. I highly doubt either of them will ever truly be "right", but at least they seem to finally be on the right path. As far as them together, well I'm not really sure what they really are, but I do know that there is something very real there under it all. A memorable quote between them would be Isabel saying "You're an addiction," and his response being "You should know." This really summed them up, showing not only the depth between them, but also the innate dysfunction they both have. Perhaps this is an even better example:

"Cole kissed me.. It was the sort of kiss that would take a long time to recover from. You could take each of our kisses, from the very first moment we'd met and put them on a slide in a microscope, and I was pretty sure what you'd find. Even an expert would see nothing on the first one, and then on the next one, the start of something - mostly outnumbered, easily destroyed - and then more and more until finally this one, something that even the untrained eye could spot. Evidence that we'd probably never be cured of each other, but we might be able to keep it from killing us."

I think this more than anything shows the utter rawness of the two, making them the complete opposite of Sam and Grace, yet somehow still as powerful of an impact in the end.

That ending, if you can really call it a true ending, just left me rather unsatisfied. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy a slightly open ending that hints at possibilities for the future. Forever just felt like it was rushed and randomly cut off with no real clear path set ahead. I prefer at least some sort of satisfaction and a sense of completeness and unfortunately Forever fell completely flat in that department. I've heard many people say that Shiver should have been a stand alone novel, and I can't help but agree with them to an extent. I do think that I would have missed the growth we saw in Cole and Isabel, both as individuals and as a potential couple. Yet again, I was left with some frustration in the lack of concreteness in their future. So in the end, I can't say I regret sticking through this series and reading past Shiver, but I am little glad that I borrowed Forever from the library rather than purchasing it. However, none of this means I have lost my faith in Maggie Stiefvater's ability to craft a truly beautiful love story and I will still be on the lookout for future novels.

Rating:

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Forever (Wolves of Mercy Falls, Book 3)

Other Reviews

• Imagination in Focus
• Reading With Tequila
• Bewitched Bookworms

Previous Books

1. Shiver
2. Linger

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Linger

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

The Wolves of Mercy Falls #2

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. 

At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love—the light and the dark, the warm and the cold—in a way you will never forget. 

At the end of Shiver, Sam and Grace got their wish for Sam's cure to work. Now however, they have new problems. Turns up his cure wouldn't instantly solve everything. Sam is having a hard time truly believing in his cure and the ability to have a future, so he is basically stuck in limbo. Grace on the other hand is ecstatic, but has problems she must come to terms with herself. Her parents decided to step in after being "absent" for as long as she can remember. She's also hiding a terrible secret, one that could rip apart everything she and Sam have worked for. Meanwhile, Isabel is still broken inside from her brother's death and finds herself drawn to Cole, who may just be more broken than she is.

The relationship between Grace and Sam didn't have the same dynamic or impact as is did before. Perhaps that is because of all the issues they were facing, which is understandable, but I found myself missing it all the same. I did enjoy the budding relationship, if you could call it that, between Cole and Isabel. I'm glad they didn't just fall instantly with each other, as that would not have worked well with the amount of "damage" they are both carrying. Perhaps in the future they will be able to overcome their own turmoils together, but I have a feeling that is going to be a very bumpy road.

Grace's parents absolutely infuriated me in this book, in fact I feel their behavior really detracted from my overall enjoyment of the book. Now, as I am a mother myself, I can say that the "incident" that spurns their behavior would greatly upset me, but I also do not and will never have the same type of relationship with my children as they have with Grace. Their parenting skills can be called nothing short of neglect, and were very lucky that Grace turned out as responsible as she did. In fact, her mother actually has a huge problem with her analytical nature as Grace is not a scatterbrain like her. Both of them gave up the rights to her life a very long time ago when they left her alone to raise herself. As it is, Grace was constantly taking care of her mother, when it should be the other way around. It just angers me that they would try and take away the one person who has shown her true love and compassion in her life. I can only hope that a miracle happens in the next book and they get a clue, or just get out of the way.

After reading Shiver, I had high expectations for this book, however it really fell flat for me. I'm not saying it wasn't a good book, just no where near Shiver's excellence. The problem with her parents made me too angry to fully enjoy the book. There also wasn't a real clear cut plot other than Sam trying to come to terms with his new found life, and Grace hiding a terrible secret. Even though I prefer Sam and Grace's characters, both Cole and Isabel's inner conflicts added a new dimension to the story. However the rotating perspectives was a little harder to follow this time as the changes were much more frequent than the last book. While the ending of Shiver was abrupt, it still left me smiling. This one, however was even more abrupt, yet did not leave me with the same happiness at all. I'm really hoping the next book will be more like Shiver as I love these characters. Overall, it was just an okay read for me, but definitely worth reading if you enjoyed the first one.

Rating:

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Linger (Wolves of Mercy Falls, Book 2)

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Shiver

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

The Wolves of Mercy Falls #1

the cold.
Grace has spent years watching the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—watches back. He feels deeply familiar to her, but she doesn't know why.

the heat.
Sam has lived two lives. As a wolf, he keeps the silent company of the girl he loves. And then, for a short time each year, he is human, never daring to talk to Grace...until now.

the shiver.
For Grace and Sam, love has always been kept at a distance. But once it's spoken, it cannot be denied. Sam must fight to stay human—and Grace must fight to keep him—even if it means taking on the scars of the past, the fragility of the present, and the impossibility of the future.

Grace was savaged by a pack of wolves when she was a child, yet she isn't afraid of them. She finds herself particularly drawn to a yellow-eyed wolf and spends all her extra time watching him in the woods behind her house. Unknown to Grace, that yellow-eyed wolf is actually a werewolf named Sam. He's watched her from a distance all these years since he only gets short periods to be human during very warm times. However once they finally meet while they are both humans, their feelings cannot be put back in the box. With a love doomed from the start, they know they are in for one heck of a fight to keep each other, as the cold and the future's uncertainty are looming over their heads.

This romance between Grace and Sam was absolutely beautiful! It was so heartfelt and sweet, making it probably the most enjoyable relationship to read about in any YA book that I have ever read. While they definitely had a physical attraction to each other, their relationship was so much more than that. It just felt natural, like they were truly meant to be together. It actually is amazing that they were even able to develop such a strong bond together at all considering the circumstances. I really hope they are able to stay strong in the future, no matter the obstacles that may try to come between them.

While this book is technically a YA paranormal romance, the characters really aren't paranormal in the strictest sense. When the werewolves shift into wolves, they do not retain their human minds as in most other books. For all intents and purposes, they are just regular wolves. In fact, once they make the final transition to complete wolf, they only live the live span of a normal wolf, about ten to fifteen years. The only thing that makes them paranormal at all is that they spend some time as human, and they heal faster than normal. I found this to be a really interesting take on the "werewolf" aspect, making it seem more like an accident of science than mystical or magical. 

This book kept me up into the wee hours of the morning as I made the mistake of starting it right before I went to bed. I just simply could not put it down. The ending almost seemed to stop mid-stride, but still left me with a sense of happiness and satisfaction. I'm extremely glad I already have the sequel so I won't have to wait. However, if it is even half as good as Shiver was, then I have a feeling the wait for the final book will be agonizing. If you enjoy a good love story mixed in with a little conflict, then Shiver is definitely the book for you.

Rating:

Buy now at Amazon:
Shiver (Wolves of Mercy Falls)

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