Linger By Maggie Stiefvater

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 finds herself changing in ways she could never have expected...

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This book is told in not one, not two, not even three, but four different points of view and somehow it was still completely absorbing. It is told from the perspectives of Grace, Sam, Isabel and a new character, Cole.

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We left Grace and Sam at the end of Shiver in love and happy together, but now in Linger that is starting to unravel. Grace is struggling to keep a secret hidden, one that would change her whole life, whilst trying to convince herself that everything will be alright. Sam is still trying to get used to not having to fear the cold, so is very wary about any long term plans. He's glad to be in human form but really misses his family, the pack, in the woods.

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In Linger, Cole is introduced. He appears to be the complete opposite of Sam, with his shallow bad boy persona, yet, he has the same pure motivations that make you like him. However, he made the choice to become a wolf to try and escape and forget a painful past. Not unlike Cole, Isabel is also try to deal with her own personal demons, the guilt she feels from the loss of her brother. Both Isabel and Cole's characters were developed beautifully throughout the novel, enhancing the depth and complexity of their characters. I think I even started to like them more than Grace and Sam. There was one scene with Cole and a deer that really made me love his character because it showed a really vunerable and emotional side to him.

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One thing I didn't quite understand though, is why Grace's parents were all of a sudden against her and Sams relationship. I felt they didn't have any right telling her what to do since they have basically ignored her and left her to her own devices thus far. The sudden upsurge in interest involving Grace didn't really make any sense and felt a bit out of place. However, you can't know for sure whether it is significant or not until the sequel.

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As with Shiver, I felt Linger was enchantingly written with such intensity and beauty. Stiefvater just seems to have a way with words that brings the story to life. It's full of imagery and descriptions that fill your senses. It may be a supernatural story, but it is also about love and loss. It was definitely a cliffhanger that ended on a sad and unsure note, so I can't wait to read the next installment, Forever, to see what's in store for the perfectly balanced Grace and Sam.

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Random Passage: He'd only been gone two seconds, but the room got brighter when they were together, as if they were two elements that became brilliant in proximity. At Sam's clumsy efforts to carry the vacuum, Grace smiled a new smile that I thought only he ever got, and he shot her a withering look full of the sort of subtext you could only get from a lot of conversations whispered after dark. It made me think of Isabel, back at her house. We didn't have what Sam and Grace had. We weren't even close to having it. I didn't think what we had could get to this, even if you gave it a thousand years.

In My Mailbox (9)

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi of The Story Siren.

I got six books this week, three of which I got from my local market:

1. Stargazer By Claudia Gray
2. Hourglass By Claudia Gray
3. Reckless By Cornelia Funke
4. Torment By Lauren Kate
5. Peril At End House By Agatha Christie
6. March By Geraldine Brooks


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I've already read March when I picked it up from the library (I've actually got a review of it on this blog), and it quickly became one of my favourites, so when I saw it at the market for £2 I couldn't resist. I'm also really looking forward to reading Reckless, since I adored the Inkheart trilogy by Cornelia Funke.

Perfect Chemistry By Simone Elkeles

When Brittany Ellis walks into chemistry class on the first day of senior year, she has no clue that her carefully created "perfect" life is about to unravel before her eyes. She's forced to be lab partners with Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, and he is about to threaten everything she's worked so hard for - her flawless reputation, her relationship with her boyfriend, and the secret that her home life is anyhing but perfect.
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Alex is a bad boy and he knows it. So when he makes a bet with his friends to lure Brittany into his life, he thinks nothing of it. But soon Alex realizes Brittany is a real person with real problems, and suddenely the bet he made in arrogance turns into something much more.
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In a passionate story about looking beneath the surface, Simone Elkeles breaks through the barriers that threaten to keep Brittany and Alex apart.
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Billed as 'a fresh, urban twist on the classic tale of star-crossed lovers', this story is definitely a modern take on Romeo and Juliet. The book alternates between the two main characters (Alex and Brittany) with each chapter, so you get two different perspectives. Elkeles really channels their individual personalities. They are both in a way completely different from one another due to their different backgrounds and this is why they clash at the start. Yet, as the story progresses they discover that they may not be so different after all. They both want what's best for the people they love, including each other.
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Brittany is one tough cookie when it comes to her mother. She keeps up this facade that makes everyone thinks she is perfect. She is always trying to please her mother and never cracks even when her mother makes snide remarks about what she is wearing or who she is hanging out with. Brittany's kindness and devotion to her sister is inspiring.
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Alex is also trying to keep up a facade, but his isn't anything to do with being perfect, his is more to do with making sure he's intimidating to others. Alex's involvement with a gang really comes across as real and quite scary. He is torn between doing what he really wants with his life and staying loyal to the gang because if any of the gang, especially the leader, doubt his loyalty he will end up in grave danger.
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One of the big theme's in this novel is sacrifice. Brittany has to sacrifice her time and happiness to keep up a front for her family. Whereas, Alex has to sacrifice his safety and freedom to make sure his family can try and lead a carefree life. Both Alex and Brittany have their problems, but they never complain or moan about them, they just get on with it. They are both strong and brave which makes them fantastic and lovable characters.
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Whilst I did find some of the romance a bit cheesy at times, it still didn't make it feel any less real. The tension and attraction between them steadily grew until it finally lead to them falling in love. Yes, Alex is cocky and yes, Brittany is a bit of a snob at the start, but this all falls apart when they are with each other. Elkeles writing is smooth the whole way through which made it very addictive. Overall it was a very exciting and passionate book about forbidden love and the ability to overcome social barriers.

Random Passage: 'The reason I want you to put your shirt on is, well, because, um...'

'You've never seen a guy with his short off?'

'Ha, ha. Very funny. Believe me, you don't have anything I haven't seen before.'

'Wanna, bet?' he says, then moves his hand to the button on his jeans and pops it open.

Isabel walks in at that exact moment. 'Whoa, Alex. Please keep your pants on.'

In My Mailbox (8)

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.
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It's been three weeks since I've done an IMM! I've got so many books to read that I thought to myself that I should cut down on the amount of books I buy and didn't realise that I would actually be able to do it. Alas, I did end up buying one book this week but it is a book thats been on my wish list for ages.

1. Crescendo By Becca Fitzpatrick

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I loved the first book Hush Hush, so I can't wait to get stuck into this one.

Eat, Pray, Love By Elizabeth Gilbert

It's 3 a.m. and Elizabeth Gilbert is sobbing on the bathroom floor. She's in her thirties, she has a husband, a house, they're trying for a baby - and she doesn't want any of it. A divorce and a turbulent love affair later, she emerges battered and bewildered and realises its time to pursue her own journey in search of three things she has been missing; pleasure, devotion and balance. So she travels to Rome, where she learns Italian from handsome, brown-eyed identical twins and gains twenty-five pounds, an ashram in India, where she finds that enlightenment entails getting up in the middle of the night to scrub the temple floor, and Bali where a toothless medicine man of indeterminate age offers her a new path to peace; simply sit still and smile. And slowly happiness begins to creep up on her.
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Who hasn't dreamed about being able to drop everything for a year and travel to three different countries and immerse yourself in their culture. Well, that's exactly what Elizabeth Gilbert did! First off she travelled to Italy where she ate like crazy, then to India where she learned the fine art of prayer, and finally Indonesia, where she learned to love again.
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I loved the descriptions of the three places she went to and how she tried to become a part of the different cultures. Italy, for Elizabeth Gilbert, was all about pleasure, whereas India was all about simplicity and contemplation, and Indonesia was about finding a balnce between the two. I loved the one part in Italy where she shows how simple things can make you happy and fulfilled, where she is sitting down eating a meal slowly that she has cooked. She explains how sometimes we should be more deliberate about our actions instead of running around like headless chickens always on the go. That sometimes we should be able to sit and relax and experience our surroundings instead of just rushing past them like we are in a continuous race. The part in India felt a bit slow at times compared with the pace in Italy but I suppose that signifies the change in pace of her life where she had to sit for hours in prayer.

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She has a quite a witty humour but sometimes it felt as if she was trying too hard to be liked due to how self-indulgent her journey is. I suppose if you expect to read a memoir that isn't all 'me me me' you are probably a bit naive, yet, she doesn't seem to have any thought about the people around her in these countries that are living in poverty. When she did help somebody in Indonesia it seemd like more of an impulse that an actual need to improve somebody's life. She doesn't question the rightness of the fact that she is able to take this journey whilst others will never be able to do this because of their situation.

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Some of the people she met in these different places are really interesting characters yet sometimes they felt too convienient, like they all arrived at exactly the right time to allow the story to flow and for Elizabeth Gilbert to recieve some sort of enlightenment from their words so she can move on. So I'm not sure how much of the story I actually believed in and whether she just added more stuff to make it more exciting and interesting. However, whether they were real or not I really enjoyed reading and learning about them all, especially her healer friend from Bali.

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One of the reason's I thought I would be fascinated by Gilbert's journey is how she was able to give up the security of her life to do what she felt was right in her heart. I would have admired her more though if she wasn't pre-paid to write a memoir about it all. It seems a bit like she's cheating in a way since she still has the safety net back home and it begs the question 'How can she truly discover herself if she is still trapped within a comfort zone?'

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Overall, I did enjoy reading about her experiences and life but I'm still not completely sure what she got out of it and whether she actually learnt more about the real world or even cared whether she did or not, but I suppose the only thing she was searching for was happiness and what truly mattered to her and she did seem to find it in the end.

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Random Passage: When I get lonely these days, I think: So BE lonely Liz. Learn your way around loneliness. Make a map of it. Sit with it, for once in your life. Welcome to the human experience. But never again use another person's body or emotions as a scratching post for you own unfulfilled yearnings.