[review] Maggie Stiefvater - Linger (Wolves of Mercy Falls, #2)

Title: Linger
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Series: Wolves of Mercy Falls, #2
Publisher: Scholastic
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased, personal collection
Buy from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookdepository
Summary (via Goodreads):

In Maggie Stiefvater's 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 Isabelle, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.

Random paragraph: "Once upon a time, Mom had really liked Sam. She'd even flirted with him in her mom way and asked him to sing and pose for a portrait. But that was back when he was just a boy that I was seeing. Now that it was clear that Sam was here to stay, Mom's friendliness had evaporated and she and I communicated in that language of silence. The length of the pauses between sentences conveyed more information than the words within them." (p. 68, paperback edition)

This review may contain spoilers for Shiver.

I really like Maggie Stiefvater's other books. She's excellent at conveying atmosphere and feeling and writes with a very poetic flourish. The Scorpio Races remains one of the best books I've read this year, and I also enjoyed her faerie books. Shiver didn't sit well with me at all -- I found Grace and Sam annoying and the world-building terribly unconvincing -- but I went ahead and read this, anyway.

The result? While I'm still not 100% on board with Grace and Sam, I'm thankful I read this because of Isabel and Cole.

Isabel was one of the few things I liked about Shiver. She's blunt, snarky, and she brought some levity to Grace and Sam's endless twu wuv. Whenever they do something stupid or act annoying, she's the one who calls them out. And I loved her POV in Linger.

In this book, we also meet Cole St. Clair, a former rockstar hotshot turned wolf. The contrast between him and Sam was fascinating. Cole's made a lot of bad decisions in his life, and he's always looking for an escape, which turning into a wolf provides. For Sam, whose only goal in life was to find a cure, this is bewildering and offensive. Cole's POV provided some pretty gritty insights on turning into a wolf and his human transitions. Without going into too much detail, there was one scene that really made my stomach turn. There's a ton of chemistry between him and Isabel, and I thought that was one of the high points of the book -- she's the type who seems too grounded to go for somebody like him, yet it happens.

As for Sam and Grace? Well... I'm not sure. I enjoyed Sam's adjusting to becoming human; now that he doesn't have to worry about changing into a wolf, he suddenly has a future that he never had to concern himself with before. I liked his indecision because it felt real. However, I still didn't like Grace at all. Some of her choices made me want to shake her. When she becomes ill, she decides to hide it from anybody instead of seeking outright help, which I found bizarre. And the problems with her parents mostly made me roll my eyes instead of feeling sympathetic.

While this shed more light on the "science" of the wolf toxin, I still had a lot of unanswered questions, one of the major ones being Olivia. She turned into a wolf in Shiver and disappeared. She was mentioned a few times in this book, and then... it was dropped? What? I was expecting to see her and was surprised that she didn't turn up.

Will I read the next one? I really might. I blew through this one pretty quickly and was surprised at how much I liked it, and though I'm cringing at the thought of more Grace and Sam, I'm curious about Cole and Isabel. Also, there were some big changes happening at the end that legitimately made me worry about the survival of some of the characters. I do wonder how it'll all fall together.

Overall: A step up from Shiver, though with some loose ends.

[review] Tara Hudson - Hereafter (Hereafter, #1)

Title: Hereafter
Author: Tara Hudson
Series: Hereafter, #1
Publisher: HarperTeen
Format: Ebook
Source: Personal collection, purchased via Sony Reader store
Buy from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookdepository
Summary (via Goodreads):

Can there truly be love after death?


Drifting in the dark waters of a mysterious river, the only thing Amelia knows for sure is that she's dead. With no recollection of her past life--or her actual death--she's trapped alone in a nightmarish existence. All of this changes when she tries to rescue a boy, Joshua, from drowning in her river. As a ghost, she can do nothing but "will" him to live. Yet in an unforgettable moment of connection, she helps him survive.

Amelia and Joshua grow ever closer as they begin to uncover the strange circumstances of her death and the secrets of the dark river that held her captive for so long. But even while they struggle to keep their bond hidden from the living world, a frightening spirit named Eli is doing everything in his power to destroy their newfound happiness and drag Amelia back into the ghost world . . . forever.
Thrilling and evocative, with moments of pure pleasure, "Hereafter" is a sensation you won't want to miss.

Random paragraph: "As he spat out the final words, his lips curled into a snarl. He now looked savage, almost feral. But I saw human emotions skirting the edges of his mouth and his eyes. Buried beneath his sneer were desolation and deep, profound loneliness." 

Several things frustrated me about this book, most of which seem to be continuous problems with the YA genre in general.

Insta-love: After Amelia saves Joshua from drowning, he becomes obsessed with her. He visits her, she follows him to school -- they hit it off pretty much instantly and can't stand being apart. There really wasn't much development leading up to this at all, and it seemed to jump from, "Wow, you're a ghost" to "Wow, I think I love you."

Bad pacing: For the first 2/3rds or so, not much really happens. Amelia and Joshua mention that they want to know about Amelia's past, but the majority of the book is spent, well, making out. He realizes that he can touch her, and she can feel him when he touches her, and it sets their skin on fire, etc etc etc. The last 1/3rd of the book is pretty high-stakes and spectacular, but I wish it didn't take so much slogging to get there in the first place.

Villains: There were some moments when Eli was interesting, and others when he was really one-dimensional and laughable.

Amelia herself: I would've liked to see, I'm not sure, more supernatural effects on her? For a ghost, she felt entirely too human to me. 

It's really a shame, because when this book shone, it shone. For example, when Amelia regains her memories and her cause of death is revealed, it's really shocking and disorienting. There was definitely a sense of urgency in the finale, and I wish more of the book had that sort of action. And I really would've liked to see more of Jillian, Joshua's sister, because she had the strongest personality in the book.

I've actually heard that Arise is better-crafted (and it has a gorgeous cover!), so I hope that holds true.

Overall: Once you look past the insta-love and pacing, there's some potential here that I hope is better realized as the series goes on.

[review] Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl - Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles, #1)

Title: Beautiful Creatures
Authors: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Series: Caster Chronicles, #1
Publisher: Little, Brown & Co.
Format read: Paperback
Source: Personal collection
Buy from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookdepository
Summary (via Goodreads):

There were no surprises in Gatlin County.

We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere.

At least, that's what I thought.

Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.

There was a curse.

There was a girl.

And in the end, there was a grave.

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

Random paragraph: "The room was frozen, except it wasn't. I was frozen. My father was frozen. His eyes were narrow, his lips rounded to form sounds that hadn't had a chance to escape his lips. Still staring at the plateful of mashed potatoes, untouched. The Sisters, Aunt Caroline, and Marian were like statues. Even the air was perfectly still. The pendulum of the grandfather clock had stopped in mid-swing." (p. 288, paperback edition)

I'll be upfront: I'm disappointed because this could have been totally awesome.

[review] Josephine Angelini - Dreamless (Starcrossed, #2)

Title: Dreamless
Author: Josephine Angelini
Series: Starcrossed, #2
Publisher: HarperTeen
Format read: ARC
Source: Publisher via Goodreads giveaway
Buy from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookdepository
Summary (via Goodreads):

Can true love be forgotten?

As the only Scion who can descend into the Underworld, Helen Hamilton has been given a nearly impossible task. By night she wanders through Hades, trying to stop the endless cycle of revenge that has cursed her family. By day she struggles to overcome the fatigue that is rapidly eroding her sanity. Without Lucas by her side, Helen is not sure she has the strength to go on.

Just as Helen is pushed to her breaking point, a mysterious new Scion comes to her rescue. Funny and brave, Orion shields her from the dangers of the Underworld. But time is running out—a ruthless foe plots against them, and the Furies’ cry for blood is growing louder.

As the ancient Greek world collides with the mortal one, Helen’s sheltered life on Nantucket descends into chaos. But the hardest task of all will be forgetting Lucas Delos.

Josephine Angelini’s compelling saga becomes ever more intricate and spellbinding as an unforgettable love triangle emerges and the eternal cycle of revenge intensifies. Eagerly awaited, this sequel to the internationally bestselling STARCROSSED delivers a gritty, action-packed love story that exceeds expectation.

Random paragraph: "The room erupted into several conversations at once. Apparently, Orion was the first Scion ever to inherit two Houses, which made sense once Helen thought about it since the Furies worked so hard to keep the Houses separate. As Helen picked snippets of conversation out of the turmoil, it became clear that there was a prophecy concerning Orion, and it wasn't a good one." (p. 131, ARC edition)

Not as strong as the first book, but a decent follow-up with an intriguing ending. WARNING: SPOILERS FOR STARCROSSED AHEAD.