Thursday, March 18, 2010

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater


The only reason I picked up Shiver a week or so ago was because I had picked up the Advance Reading Copy of its sequel, Linger, at ALA Midwinter in Boston. I knew Shiver was reviewed well and that there was some hype about it, but I didn't think I would fall in love.

But I did. And immediately after finishing Shiver, I started reading Linger. And when I updated my What I'm Reading status on Goodreads, two of my librarian friends said, "Me next!"

This series is worth the mailing of ARCs to each other. Ahhhh, the romance! Here's the one reason why I love Stiefvater's writing:

"I was suddenly overwhelmed by what an incredible person this boy was, standing in front of me, and by the fact that he was mine and I was his." (p. 224 of the ARC)

and

"The door opened, revealing another Labrador, this one very much alive, and a twenty-something girl with a red bandanna tied around her head. She was so interesting-looking and unpretty that she actually traveled through ugly to someplace on the other side that was almost as good as pretty: huge, beaked nose, sleepy-looking dark brown eyes, and sharp cheekbones. Her black hair was pulled up in a half a-dozen interconnected braids coiled on top of her head, like a Mediterranean Princess Leia. " (p. 247 of the ARC)

Okay, boys and girls, THAT is writing. Maggie knows teenage romance. Heck, she knows adult romance. And the love and tension between Sam and Grace is pretty darn amazing.

And, oh, the adjectives. I don't know about you, but I know exactly what Dmitra, the mixer at Anarchy Recording, Inc. looks like. In fact, from that description, I can tell you that I would like the character if she suddenly came to life in my school library.

Stiefvater is writing darn good young adult literature with these two books--can't wait to see what's next!

And did I mention this is a werewolf love story? That isn't corny?

No comments: