Forever

I know I've been pretty ambivalent towards this series in my reviews so far, but the truth is that it has been decent. Maggie Stiefvater has an amazing way with words and with setting the mood, and even though some parts have been "too YA" for me, on the whole I have to say I've enjoyed the first two books.

Still, it was a bit of a chore getting through this one. It felt like there were huge stretches where nothing happened at all, nothing but just Sam and Grace professing their love to each other in the most annoying, cringe-worthy ways.

The two main characters also seem to devolve before my very eyes. Sam felt less and less like a real boy and more like some fantasy version of Mr. Sensitive, folding paper cranes and writing lovey dovey show more songs and shopping for pretty summer dresses and reciting German poetry. I have to say I still prefer Sam to Cole's "tough guy" archetype, but yeesh, come on. It's a good thing this kid spent most of his life as a wolf, because he'd be eaten alive in any high school.

Grace also went from being tolerably emo to downright bratty. Her self-righteous argument against her parents would have been a lot more persuasive, except I suspect a lot of high school seniors would actually LOVE to be in her shoes of being given so much freedom and independence. I just never bought her situation, which I felt was made to sound a lot worse than it actually is.

As much as I can't stand Cole, he and Isabel pretty much saved the book. The two of them drove the story; if it weren't for them, this would have been 300 pages of Sam and Grace groping at each other.

But the worst thing about this book was how it ended. Did Maggie Stiefvater forget to write a conclusion to this series or something? There's something to be said about open endings that let the reader use their imaginations and come up with their own ideas of what happens, and they're great when an author pulls it off right. Unfortunately, it fell completely flat here. show less

Was quite satisfied with this conclusion to the trilogy. It was much better than Linger, because the central challenge and driving force of the book was presented toward the beginning: Isabel's father, Tom Culpepper, has arranged an aerial hunt to kill all the wolves in Mercy Falls' Boundary Wood. With Grace as a wolf, Sam as a human, Cole experimenting, and Isabel angry, the pack is in trouble, but once Grace shifts back into a human, she has a solution to the problem: move the wolves.

With the time until the hunt ticking down, there was a sense of urgency to the plot that Linger was lacking. Cole and Sam are excellent foils for each other, with Sam being the dreamy emo boy and Cole being the wild risk-taker. Grace forms a bridge show more between them with her logical problem-solving. As in the previous books, Sam and Grace's relationship is portrayed beautifully: they are a mature couple who clearly love each other deeply, and there are many moments that are romantic but not sappy. (There are sparks between Cole and Isabel as well.)

All in all, I'm glad I continued on after Linger; this is a solid trilogy, and I look forward to whatever Stiefvater writes next. If The Scorpio Races is any indication, she's just going to keep getting better.

[One slight annoyance: the books' text are printed in colored ink to match their covers. I didn't notice with Shiver - the purple/blue must have been very close to black - but Linger was in green and Forever in red. Unnecessary.]

Morning lost its healing powers when it arrived and found you already wide-eyed and wary. (Sam, 46)

There is no better place than this: someone else's laughter in your mouth. (Sam, 78)

"how long it takes us, each day, to know each other" (120)

I didn't understand how someone could be both God and the devil. How the same person could destroy you and save you. (Sam, 189)

"I can't tell the difference between not fighting and giving up." (Isabel, 195)

It wasn't a touch that said I need more. It was a touch that said I want this. (196)

"That's how I would kiss you, if I loved you." (Cole, 196)

"and there stood no one
and no one entered
and no one said: welcome
and no one answered: at last" (378) show less

LOVE LOVE LOVE this conclusion to Sam and Grace's story. One thing I love about Maggie Stiefvater's writing is the way she manage to bring her characters to the end of a personal journey over the course of their narrative arc. And that was so rewarding to read here. Grace is a wolf when we start out. Sam is human, and missing her terribly. We soon find out the wolves are in terribe danger and Sam and Cole must figure out how to keep the pack safe permanently.

But again, the best part was the character journey. As we count down to the final moments and realize the wolves will be hunted down by helicopter and potentially exterminated, each character faces the thing they haven;'t been able to. Sam is no longer afraid. He willingly becomes show more his wolf to save Grace. Grace confronts her parents, FINALLY, as an adult, for all their years of neglect. Cole, who has spent how many years trying to kill himself, drags his dying carcass into the woods, desperately trying to live. And Isabel saves the wolves even though she couldn't save Jack. Loved.

Please excuse typos. Entered on screen reader. show less

Writing this review is so difficult for me because of how much I'm crying right now. I finished this book only minutes before I can't even begin to describe how much my heart aches right now. I've never been one for instalove stories. I don't believe in corny gushy romance or the whole teens in love forever and ever thing. But I found this story a summer ago and it has stayed with me this entire time. This emotional, powerful, and lovely tale of a boy, a girl, and another boy and another girl.

Let me just say that I read Linger in September while I was attending a five hour long ceremony - yes I know, I'm a terrible person - and when I finished the book, I was so close to tears. I've have counted down since that day, how long it would be show more until I would get this book. The wait was so painfully long but so painfully worth it.

Sam and Grace are beautiful to me. Plain and simple. There love is love. Its pure. Its innocent. And its forever. I've never been so captivated by a couple as these two.

And Cole and Isabel. They are flawed. But they are perfect together. I love this pairing.

There's not a lot more to say at this point. This book is officially my all time favorite series and this is my favorite book of 2011. SHIVER, LINGER, and FOREVER. I wish there was more but my heart can't take the heart ache. Maggie Stiefvater, you are amazing.

Rating: 5 out 5 FREAKING STARS

P.S. I love the pairings so much that I can't even put Cole or Sam on my Top Guys to Fuc Hide in my Closet Forever because that would feel like cheating. Anyways, I'm done for now. As Cole would say,

Da. show less

I was successful in not crying all the way until the end of this book, in spite of quite a bit of provocation to do so, but I lost the fight when I read the "Author’s Note" after the last page, which begins: "It’s a little odd to be saying good-bye to a world I’ve lived in for almost four years…”

I could relate to the difficulty of saying good-bye to some of the characters....

This is a very appealing trilogy (known collectively as "The Wolves of Mercy Falls") that is truly more about love than anything else: the unquestioning love the boy Sam has for his adoptive father Beck and Beck's fierce love for Sam, juxtaposed with the uneven and sporadic parental love experienced by the girl Grace, and how alone she has always felt show more because of it. But most of all, this trilogy centers around the steadfast love between Sam and Grace, who, on the verge of adulthood, find their true natures through their love for one another. Theirs was a love at first sight from when they were just kids, and there is no uncertainty, no misgivings, no rivals, just them. The author (also in the afterward) says:

"Many, many readers have written me asking wistfully about the nature of Sam and Grace’s relationship, and I can assure you, that sort is absolutely real. Mutual, respectful, enduring love is completely attainable as long as you swear you won’t settle for less.”

When their story begins in Shiver, Grace is 17 and Sam is 18, but they have been in love for many years. When Grace first met Sam, she was a young girl, and he was a wolf. Specifically, he was a werewolf, one of a pack who changed back to human form when the weather in Minnesota warmed up sufficiently.

In Linger, because of plot complications you’ll just have to read about, Sam stays human and it is now Grace who changes with the weather into wolf form.

In Forever, Sam and Grace look for a way to stay together all year round. But they have to battle protective parents, wolf hunters, and even other wolves. And most importantly, they need to find a way that they can both be in the same form at the same time, and plan their future with each other. But which form should that be? And how can it be accomplished?

Discussion: The sections on the wolves are a way to teach not only the readers about the benefits of wolf pack dynamics, but also to teach the characters, who learn how to live and play well with others, and how to look for the strengths and the goodness that each has to offer, because they cannot live just for themselves any longer. This is why, in the Evaluation, I maintain that this series should not be classified as "paranormal." The "paranormal" aspect is not the main focus of these books.

In the series, Sam, who is the sensitive type, composes lyrics and music to reflect his preoccupation with seeing Grace. One of the songs he writes is “Summer Girl.” The UK-based band, Jonas & Plunkett, a favorite of the author's, used the lyrics, first appearing in Shiver, to write a version of "Summer Girl" that you can hear in a trailer available on youtube. It’s really a lovely song that you can even buy on itunes, and the lyrics beautifully explain much of the plot and tone of the Series. A second video on youtube has almost identical visuals, but features music written by the author and performed by her and a collaborator. The music is absolutely stunning, and remarkably, if you've read the books, I swear you can actually see the story in this music, even though it is wordless!

Evaluation: In spite of the werewolf connection, I really would not put these books in the usual “paranormal” category, because, as indicated above, the focus is not on the paranormal aspects, but on the love between Sam and his packmates; Sam and his girl; and another very wonderful relationship that develops between two damaged friends of Sam and Grace, named Cole and Isabel. These last two are characters who I didn’t like in book two, but loved by the end of book three.

If you give these books a try, I can’t imagine not liking them. I’m not sure that the second two books can make it as standalones, but why not just go for all three?! Highly recommended! show less

I want to thrust the books in front of you and say read! Or tie you to a chair and insist, freedom comes if and when you finish reading. However, I know many readers want explanations, why must I read this? What’s so great about it?

A dash of Mandelstam, a sprinkling of Roethke, a whole mess of Rilke and every bit Maggie Stiefvater. Characters that scream their humanity from pages that beg to be read. A progressive maturity across the three books that is refreshing and increases the realness of it all. I realize that I’m making a YA series sound like a study of the human psyche, worthy of a Nobel prize, but I appreciate the books uniqueness. In that they are not like every other YA book on the market.

Werewolves? Yes. Romance? Yes. show more Tragic? Yes. But it is human, real, believable. Sam who speaks to the quiet intellect in us all. Grace, brave and yet fragile. Cole who perhaps you should hate more often than not, but can’t help feeling a kindred “lost” tie to. Isabel such a bitch, but so much more than that, you want to hold her hand and listen.

All I know is Maggie Stiefvater gave me: werewolves, introduced me to my new lover, Rilke, some musings in German, and characters I wish I was living amongst sorting through my own issues right along side of. If that’s not enough to entice you, well then, keep reading what you have been and realize you’re missing out.

The complete review is on my blog: http://with-a-flower.blogspot.com/2012/01/book-review-forever-isnt-nearly-long.h... show less

The dynamic between Grace and Sam continues to be the best thing about this trilogy. Their love is still achingly beautiful and is one of the few redeeming qualities of this book. Cole and Isabel became more likable and slightly less annoying. But at the end of this book there were too many unanswered questions...did the sharpshooters have no interest in following the wolves after the final climax? Or for picking up their trail again after the wolves disappeared into the woods? What about the meningitis...what would happen when it was finished fighting the wolf toxin? Would the meningitis remain and kill the human? I felt like the "scientific" explanation of being a werewolf was interesting in the first two books, but in this one, it show more seemed completely implausible and poorly expounded on. Also, Koenig showing up and suddenly presenting himself as an ally, not to mention his figuring out that Sam and Grace were werewolves and then being unfazed by this fact, seemed, if not a deus ex machina, like too easy a solution. I will continue to love Shiver fiercely but I don't think I'll be reading this or Linger again. show less