by Maggie Stiefvater
Scholastic
July 2011
First line: "I can be so, so quiet."
I can't believe I haven't written a review for this book yet. It's one of those books that is so... wow, terrific, over-the-top wonderful. I don't feel like anything I can say will do it justice! It's one of those rare books that I'm not afraid of overhyping, because it's better than any description I can summon.
And I know others have said it before, but it's true, so I'll join in the chorus, and say that this book was poetic, lyrical, magical and completely amazing.
Obviously, readers should go back and read the first two of The Wolves of Mercy Falls books if they haven't yet. Shiver and Linger establish memorable characters and magical, yet somehow believable scenarios for an active werewolf population in Minnesota. I loved that the werewolves are not controlled by the moon - rather, their shapechanging abilities hinge on the temperature. The finale of the trilogy hinges on the relationships between rock-steady Grace and Sam, and the more electric and unstable Isabel and Cole. Mad werewolf Shelby stirs up trouble by randomly attacking people and Isabel's blustering father forces the issue when he organizes a chopper hunt to shoot down the wolves outside Mercy Falls.
Grace and Sam have a really strong connection, and even if I was a little surprised at how much Sam was ready and willing to marry Grace right away, I did appreciate that Grace finally confronts her parents for essentially abandoning her to raise herself. They forbid her to see Sam, and predictably, once she's eighteen, she pretty much moves out. The story wraps up most major plot points, but what I wouldn't give for another chapter or two to hash out a few of the finer details!
Normally, I'd recommend a slew of other werewolf books (and there are plenty out there, believe me) but this time around, I'd say what makes this book really distinctive is the beautiful language, so I'll recommend some equally lyrical paranormal/fantasy/horror YA titles instead.
Compare to:
Beautiful Creatures - Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
The Forest of Hands and Teeth - Carrie Ryan
The Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor
I purchased this book.
I too loved this series. Maggie Stiefvater does such an awesome job of creating her worlds! You can see my review here.
ReplyDeleteI thought it wrapped things up very well. I was dying for another chapter or two - as I can just imagine a few more scenes that I was looking forward to. But, it's probably perfect that it ended the way it did, now I can imagine the ending the way that I want.
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