Sinner

Massive rockstar Cole St. Clair is making a comeback to the music scene after disappearing for a couple of years (and only a select few know that he’s now a werewolf). So he’s moving to LA to record a new album while filming a reality show about the process. But he’s really in LA because the woman he fell for while trying to figure out how to be a wolf and not a suicidal drug-addict hot (in more ways than one) mess now lives here, and he wants to try to win her back (if, in fact, she was ever his to begin with). Complications: Isabel’s parents are imploding, her brother died trying NOT to be a werewolf, and she’s built so many walls to keep herself safe that even a guy with zero red flags would have a challenge on his hands. show more And Cole has enough red flags to make a very, very large…somethingorother…out of them. Lots of flags. Also? The person in charge of the reality show has a history of inviting hot messes to star in her projects so she can throw wrenches in their path and film them losing control. For that to happen to Cole would be bad for lots of reasons. Can he keep himself together while projecting the image of Wildman St. Clair while also convincing Isabel that he’s a safe space?

The last in the Shiver series, this is my favorite by a lot, even though (because?) the main characters are nowhere to be found. Cole and Isabel have a much more interested (and much less exhausting?) storyline, and I adore them both. Smart people doing stupid things are rarely so easy to root for as here. Steifvater, I think, was honeing her Ronan skills in Cole, and it was so fun to watch. show less

This book, y'all. Daaaaang.

I'll be the first to admit that Maggie's Mercy Falls trilogy isn't listed among my favorite books, so I was a bit reluctant to give this book a go. I was, however, a big fan of what she did in The Scorpio Races and have been blown away by her Raven Cycle books, so how could I pass up an opportunity to read her newest book?

I'm certainly glad I did.

Prickly Isabel and blunt, sometimes arrogant Cole would probably not be my first choice for friends, if I were to ever meet them in real life, but the beauty of meeting them in a novel is that we are able to get inside their heads and understand how they tick. In doing so, we learn that these are two incredibly raw, broken people whose backgrounds have made them show more wary of the vulnerability it takes to truly love another person.

Their road to healing and recovery is an emotional rollercoaster for readers, but it's worth feeling every feel just to experience the witty dialogue and snappy prose that I've come to expect from a Maggie book.

Also, I've learned that I'd rather be mauled by Cole St. Clair in wolf form than be a part of a reality tv show. show less

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The problem I had with most of the prior Stiefvater novels were the leads, who were basically the sort of people who murder banter. They bore me to tears. Cole and Isabel’s narration on the other hand crackles and pops with incendiary wit. They’re rough-edges, tremendously-flawed, violent, strange, hateful, inconsiderate, stubborn, and visceral. They’re not the sort of people I can imagine myself being friends with ever, but they’re fascinating. They’re compelling, the sort of people who, against their own will sometimes, cannot help drawing other people to them, like the flame that draws moths. These are the sort of characters that I like to read about.

In show more Sinner, I feel like Stiefvater may have realized somewhere along the line that the wolf thing isn’t really the best part. In fact, the wolf stuff hardly factors into this book at all. If you loved the Mercy Falls series for the shifting, you might be disappointed, but, if you were skeptical, then this is what you wanted. In fact, read as a standalone, the wolf is so entirely a metaphor in this book for the escapism Cole St. Clair indulged in during his younger years. The wolf is his desire to not be himself, to not think, to not deal, to not live as a human. The wolf is much more powerful this way than as an odd paranormal plot line, because, honestly, it factors into the plot not an iota.

Were I one to use the classification, I would actually put Sinner in new adult, probably. Though they’re still young, Cole and Isabel are dealing with new adult problems. Isabel’s taking a nursing class before med school and working a retail job. Cole’s a rock star trying to figure out what to do with his life. Unlike the rest of the Mercy Falls books, there’s not the slightest touch of high school in this one. Sinner is dark and edgy.

Both Isabel and Cole have inner demons to fight. That’s the real plot here. Can these two get together in spite of themselves? They’re drawn to each other, but they’re both hesitant to commit for various reasons. Ultimately, they don’t entirely trust one another and for good reason. Cole doesn’t trust Isabel to stay and Isabel doesn’t trust Cole to stay sober. Their relationship problems are their own and no one else’s. No one is trying to keep them apart and, actually, they do have some shippers trying to help these two kids work it out.

The other aspect of Sinner I found so charming were the characters that Cole and Isabel pick up along the way. I say ‘pick up’ because they don’t do anything the way ‘normal’ people do. Cole befriends his driver, Leon, an older man a bit sad with life. I also adore Isabel’s cousin Sofia and would honestly love a book about her coming of age, the poor sweet dear. There’s just something so fabulous about the way Cole and Isabel interact with people. They’ve got such powerful voices and ways of being. Plus, I have to love any two people who are so incredibly terrible at small talk as Cole and Isabel. It’s so much fun watching them either intimidate or confuse anyone they speak to.

If Sinner is what Maggie Stiefvater’s writing has become since her debut, I may just have to jump on the bandwagon. Sinner‘s a departure from the rest of the Mercy Falls books, so that’s something to be aware of. I think there’s definitely appeal here for new adult readers who might have been hesitant to try something paranormal in a series. Though part of the series, it does serve nicely as a standalone. show less

Another Maggie Stiefvater book to rave about

Indeed she said Sinner is the truest novel she’s ever written. I found that to have a dual meaning for me personally. In that it was the closest to straight contemporary fiction as well as it showed me deep truths about it’s characters. Lately I’ve been finding many YA books coming across as shallow. So it’s refreshing knowing Maggie’s got the goods right here.

Young adult, Contemporary Reality TV drama with a pinch of Paranormal

You heard me right – Sinner may have a paranormal element because of the fact that Cole is a werewolf but ultimately that is not a key part of the book to me. Substitute any other substance abuse or ‘recreational stress relief’ tactic in it’s place and show more this book would in no way be a paranormal fantasy. What it really is, is a contemporary drama. But a damn fine one at that! There are no qualms here. Just don’t go in expecting the wolf business to be a huge part of the story because at least in my opinion it was not. I think this ties into a letter that the author writes to the readers at the beginning of the book – which I notice is only in the ARC version and not in the published version because of course you know I snagged a final version as well. The last paragraph of the letter to her readers goes like this:

It’s also, despite the shape-shifting, the truest novel I’ve written. I hope that those who don’t need the truth in it will see only the werewolf, and I hope that those who do need the truth will see only the human.

I see your truth Maggie and it’s moving. We’re all a little bit broken and this novel lets you see those beautifully broken bits about the characters and how they strive towards mending themselves and how more often than not you need to allow others in to help with the mending. I know I’ve heard it said before that you can’t love someone fully until you learn to love yourself but I don’t believe that’s true – I think sometimes, you need someone to love you, to believe in you – to realize that there is something in yourself worth loving after all. Alright I’ll stop being all sappy and soggy. On with it!

Hot and Cold, In and Out – someone glue their asses to the floor

Probably some of the most fun in this book I had while reading was
wondering – “when will the bitch switch flip next?” That’s right. Isabel is more hot and cold than any other character I’ve ever seen. She wants reasons to fight what she’s feeling for Cole. I think normally behavior like this would piss me off but I love Isabel’s character and I enjoyed seeing the struggle she goes through. It read real and not contrived – so I didn’t have a problem with it at all. It is indeed one of the biggest themes in the book, so keep that in mind if that sort of thing bugs you. If so, then you might want to bugger off of this one. *wink*

Secondary characters worth their salt

You know when the secondary characters are just thrown on there as the necessary window dressing to complete a story? That is not the case here. I cared about both of the main secondary characters. Though it’s told from the dual perspectives of Isabel and Cole you still key in on the people that are important to them and they in turn become important to you. Isabel and Cole are extremely selfish, self centered people, but despite that I care about them and I didn’t get angry with them because of their behavior (as I am often want to do when I find a character selfish). Perhaps it’s because you can see underneath their selfish exteriors to the good underneath they are so used to ignoring. They invest time in people like Sophia and Leon and that proves they aren’t as selfish as we or they themselves might think they are. And in the trend of broken characters these two also have something about themselves that is unique to them that makes you want to invest your feelings in them as well.

And everything changes while it all stays the same

Does the core of a person every fundamentally change? Who the hell knows. I mean really do Isabel and Cole have these earth shattering changes to their persons making them into bright shiny new people? You’ll have to read Sinner to find out your own perspective and it is most certainly well worth the read. show less

Holy crap, it's better than the rest of the shiver books put together. I mean, you need them for background, but this book is so full of razor blade prose -- you read and you laugh and it cuts you to pieces with sharp truths and killer dialogue. Glorious writing.

I don't read romance any more because time and time again it disappoints me, falling into tropes that are fun when Jane Austen uses them, but hackneyed in the 21st century. I am telling you that so you will understand why I was so surprised to reach the end, close the book, and think that was one awesome romance book. It manages to use every romance trope to its advantage and still come off as character driven literature.

Stiefvater's characters are so brilliant and fully fleshed that I forget that she's winding her way toward a fairy tale-ish happy ending of love. Of course, Stiefvater likes her fairy tales the way I like mine: full of foggy futures and horses charging out of the surf looking for blood. Her writing carries me along for show more the ride and I find myself caught up and unable to look away. I admittedly started this book months ago and I just wasn't ready for it. Then I picked it up 4 days ago to see if it would make my list of books for my vacation reading. Huge mistake. It would have been a great beach book. Unfortunately I stayed up late two nights in a row to finish it and now I won't get to enjoy it on the beach. I was literally disappointed when I realized this shortly after midnight as I read the last paragraph and finally gave into sleep.

In all honesty I like this book better than the first three Wolves of Mercy Falls books. Cole and Isabel are angrier and sharper. They're not just ignored and sad in the wilderness, falling in love like two tragic little beat poets. They are actively the wolves out hunting, looking to hurt and slay and bracing themselves to be hurt and slain. And here I am rooting these two broken, tragic creatures on.

Starting up the "Best of 2015" list just for this book. show less

"It's not about the landing. It's about the flying."

I have to be honest. I read Mercy Falls series so long ago....I can barely remember the characters. But what I can remember is how it made me feel. I remember swooning for Sam and hoping for Grace. But I do remember the darkness and their struggle to hold on. I remember their powerlessness to stop some of the people in their town. I remember the manic anger that was Cole and Isabel. But I know I found them sweet at one point too..even if not exactly when.

So, I was nervous when I first received the ARC from my sister-in-law. I wasn't sure how much this book would require me to remember of the previous series.

as it turns out, none. It requires you to have read none of it. Although, show more having read it, I do remember Cole much better - i remember some of his sayings and his craziness. I remember everyone being weary of his "fun" back then.

But Cole is a new man now. And he's back to find Isabel and recreate himself.
Except his past, his old hollywood life, it's hard for it to let you go. and Isabel struggles with her own demons of not believing their can ever be an happy ending out there for anyone in love.

this is their story. It's brutal and honest and lovely. I will go down any rabbit hole [a:Maggie Stiefvater|1330292|Maggie Stiefvater|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1384827512p2/1330292.jpg] wants me to go. show less