Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Book two of the Wolves of Mercy Falls series. Some spoilers for book one, Shiver, ahead.

"I feel the weight of the pack's gaze...

Grace and Sam must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping dangerous secrets. For Sam, it means grappling with his werewolf past...and figuring out a way to survive the future.

But just when they manage to find happiness, Grace realizes she's changing in ways she could never have expected..."

Linger is the second book in the Wolves of Mercy Falls series from Maggie Stiefvater. I made no secret of my dislike of book one, Shiver. I barely got through it, and then just about everyone who was reading it around the same time was loving it and I was wondering what the hell I had missed. It wasn't bad exactly, but it was all romance and nothing else. Sometimes, I can deal with that, but I didn't like Sam. He was too sappy and soft. I didn't like Grace much more, so between them, I had no interest in seeing if the relationship would work or not. I think, had Maggie not been coming to the UK, not been taking part in a joint talk about writing werewolves with Jennifer Lynn Barnes (author of the awesome Raised by Wolves) this weekend one town over from me, I wouldn't have bothered reading Linger. But she is, and as such I felt I should probably read book 2 before I go. To say I'm surprised in my opinion of Linger would be an understatement. I liked it. A lot. Verged on loving it at times. *shakes head wryly*

Linger continues Sam and Grace's story, but it involves two other characters as well: Isabel, and Cole one of Beck's new wolves from Shiver. So instead of being from two different view points, the story is told from four. I could very happily have read a book solely from Isabel and Cole's POV's. I still don't like Same or Grace very much, they grated on my nerves several times, but when ever it switched to Cole or Isabel, I struggled to put it down. Both characters are, to me at any rate, far more interesting, with a much bigger story to tell.

Isabel is obviously dealing with the death of her brother still. While Cole is, well, more than a little damaged for many reasons. But unlike Sam who is kinda lost in sadness a lot, Cole is a straight up asshole who makes it clear right from the start. Damaged, werewolf, being a total jerk because it's easier? Help. I totally fell for him. And Isabel with her issues and often less than warm personality I also liked. I a lot. I felt I could actually connect with these characters, get involved in their issues. I wanted to fight for them, hug them when they needed it and slap them when they deserved it as well. I'm sure it comes as no surprise to anyone that there is a little romance between the two. But what surprised me, was how little there was between them in that sense. Unlike Grace and Sam who have only ever had romance between them, these two have a whole lot more going on with them. Thank goodness. I don't mean to sound harsh saying that, but for me, it's needed. It's the whole reason why I liked this book so much.

And, I confess, I did like some of the story with Grace and Sam as well. It played well in to the rest, fitting with Cole and Isabel. Actually, there is more focus on Grace and Sam still, but I paid less attention to them. I wish there had been more of Isabel and Cole, more of their story, because while I am now interested in what's going to happen with Grace and Sam (something I really didn't think I could care about), I'm still far more interested and invested in Isabel and Cole's story.

I found Shiver pretty predictable, and because I didn't care enough about the characters, I was happy to skip to the end and see if I was right about it (which I was). Linger was similar, not in plot, but in how early you can figure out the outcome. I guessed early on what I thought would happen, but unlike Shiver, I wanted to see it unfold for Cole and Isabel, I didn't want to skip over anything. I wasn't wrong in my predictions, although there were a couple little things I hadn't guessed, but they weren't a surprise either. I'm already predicting the outcome of the final book, Forever (out 2011), but I am looking forward to it now, I want to see how it unfolds. I think my biggest disappointment with this book (which, admittedly I'm not too disappointed with cause hey, never expected to even like the book) is that while I felt Sam and Grace's story kind of got to a suitable 'stopping point' for the end of this book, I didn't feel the same about Cole and Isabel. I felt they got a little forgotten at the end when Grace and Sam's story took over completely again. But, like I said, I didn't expect to like this, so I'm not that disappointed really, just would have been nice to have more of them. Overall, very pleased with this book and while I don't think I can really recommend Shiver (plenty love it, I'm sure my best friend who has it but hasn't yet started will adore it) because of how much I didn't enjoy it, I would certainly recommend this. The internal conflict both Isabel and Cole face, and the way they play off each other, Sam and Grace, is very well done and makes for a very interesting story I found oddly hard to turn away from.

Rating: 7/10

Kiss Me Deadly edited by Trisha Telep

Kiss Me Deadly is a new young adult paranormal romance anthology containing 13 new stories. It is, sort of, the follow up to 'The Eternal Kiss' YA vampire romance anthology that was out last summer. TEK was awesome and completely worth the money, which not all anthos are, and this one had another great line up of authors so I was really looking forward to it.

It is a decent anthology. Lots of different tales, different styles and some interesting romance options. Probably not the best anthology I've read, or rather not the one I've most enjoyed. I actually liked the majority of the stories, but it was more a case of them being great and loving them, or not thinking much of them at all, no real in-between stories. I still think its well worth owning, for the stories from Rachel Vincent, Karen Mahoney and Maggie Stiefvater alone!

The stories in order:
1. The Assassin's Apprentice by Michelle Zink - 8/10 - descendants of angels hunting demons on earth. Nice short, wish it had been longer, liked the characters and the ideas a lot.
2. Errant by Diana Peterfreund - 4/10 - strange story featuring odd unicorns. Not much paranormal love to it, mostly just strange. Just didn't really work for me.
3. The Spirit Jar by Karen Mahoney - 9/10 - Moth, the vampire girl from Karen's short 'Falling To Ash' in TEK, is back and this time in London after a rare book for her maker, and she's not the only one after it. Great short story, I completely love Moth and really hope there is a full book from her POV in the future!
4. Lost by Justine Musk - 9/10 - fantastic short about a girl good at finding lost things, who meets a guy who's not quite human in an abandoned house.
5. The Spy Who Never Grew Up by Sarah Rees Brennan - 5/10 - Peter Pan working for Her Majesty's secret service. Bit strange, but fun as well. Liked it.
6. The Dungeons of Langeais by Becca Fitzpatrick - 5/10 - short set in her Hush, Hush world. An angel, the man tied to him, and the two women who they try to protect. Okay, but nothing great.
7. Behind The Red Door by Caitlin Kittredge - 5/10 - girl meets ghost who is not as great as first appears. Not bad, but felt quite detached. Wasn't too bothered which way things would go.
8. Hare Moon by Carrie Ryan - 8/10 - focuses on Sister Tabitha from The Forest of Hands and Teeth as a teenager, showing where she came from. Great story explaining how she came to be the way she is. Really liked it.
9. Familiar by Michelle Rowen - 8/10 - a reluctant witch has to pick out a familiar. She chooses a little runt of a kitten, who turns out to be a shifter and not a kitten at all. Fun and sweet. Loved it.
10. Fearless by Rachel Vincent - 9/10 - set in Rachel's Soul Screamers world, this story introduces us to Sabine Campbell, in a short set before the SS series begins. Sabine is a mara, someone who feeds off of nightmares to survive, but finds herself somewhere that's oddly empty of them. Really great short and I love Sabine. Looking forward to seeing more of her in SS #4 My Soul To Steal (out Jan 1st 2011), even if she and Kaylee are going to be enemies.
11. Vermillion by Daniel Marks - 4/10 - ghosts causing chaos, or not causing it. Basic idea was fine, but I didn't like the main character. The girl was just too volatile, going from calm happy to enraged too quickly and she wasn't too smart either, though she was meant to be. Could have been better.
12. The Hounds of Ulster by Maggie Stiefvater - 9/10 - beautiful, sad tale of two best friends and the fey girl who comes between them. Wish it had been longer! Loved the characters and the story and would have loved more about all of it.
13. Many Happy Returns by Daniel Waters - 8/10 - very sad tale of a father hoping, wishing, his daughter will rise again as a zombie after she and her boyfriend, and other friends, are killed in a car accident. Not often a zombie fan, but like the ideas and it's enough for me to look in to his Generation Dead series which is the same world as this short.

Overall, 7/10 but like I said, few of the stories would be worth owning the whole antho for on their own!

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

"The pack circled around me, tongues and teeth and growls.

When a local boy is killed by wolves, Grace's small town becomes a place of fear and suspicion. But Grace can't help being fascinated by the pack, and by one yellow-eyed wolf in particular. There's something about him - something almost human. Then she meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away..."

Shiver is the first book in the Wolves of Mercy Falls series. When she was about 13, Grace was attacked by the local pack of wolves, but survived. Since then she's always been completely fascinated by them. When a local boy is killed by the pack, most of the town turns against them, but Grace is determined to protect them. There is one wolf in particular who's been the one she obsessed over. A yellow-eyed one. And when a yellow-eyed boy appears, she knows that it has to be her wolf.

This book is told in first person, from both Grace and Sam's (the yellow-eyed wolf) POV, giving a better view of the world and what both characters are thinking. The book started well, and held my interest, but I made it about a quarter of the way through and while it was holding my interest, I couldn't decide if I liked it or not. By the halfway mark, I still couldn't decide and my interest was fading rapidly. I forced myself to skim the final 100 pages to finish it, or I wouldn't have. There isn't anything particularly bad but for me, it didn't work. There were a few good moments, but overall I felt it could have been better. There was such a push early on for how the town were against the pack, wanting them dead or gone, then it just...stopped. And soon the whole book became about the angst between Sam and Grace and the 'situation' (not saying more for spoilers sake).

I can take angst, I can read something that is simply a love story. I can't take a wishy-washy love story that is only angst. From the review stats I've glanced at, and the opinions of some book buddies who's opinions I value highly, this is not the general opinion. But it's how I saw it. I got tired of the back/forth on certain emotions/problems and I found it repetitive. Grace isn't entirely passive, she does have some strong moments, which is good to see because most heroine's in young adult fiction right now seem to be far too passive and weak. But it's not nearly enough to make up for the over the top, constant angst. As hero's go, Sam really isn't one and I tired of him very quickly. I did like the werewolf lore here, but overall I felt the book could have been much better than it actually was. A shame, I was looking forward to this book. Won't be bothering with the next one. 3/10