Book #25 - Forever, by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
m_stiefvater
Aug. 15th, 2011 10:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grav_ityThe first thing you need to know about FOREVER is that it has one of the best teasers ever written in a book. It's so good, in fact, that when Maggie posted a clip of herself reading it for Valentine's Day, I flipped out at the second word ("Shelby", for the record).
So I was pretty excited for this book. ;)
As far as trilogies go, The Shiver Trilogy is not the most action packed. There's action, of course, and what action there is is deftly woven into the rest of the story, but the predominant part of the book is devoted to Grace, Isabel, Sam, Cole and their feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelings. Fortunately, the girls are so wonderfully levelheaded that it evens out the aaaaaangsting of the boys. ;) Also, there's mad science, which I adore, and communication, which I like even more.
I think what makes this trilogy so interesting is that it kept getting more "real". In the first book, Shiver, it was this fantasy town with werewolves, but as Linger and Forever progressed, the world in which they were set became more and more definitely "ours". As I said in my review of Linger, this is largely thanks to Cole St. Clair whose scientific background takes us from "You cured werewolfism with MENEGITIS?" to "You can't really cure malaria" in a logical sort of way. I liked this angle quite a bit, because it's kind of unusual.
I also really, really died during Grace's showdown with her parents. It was just amazingly well put together and it hurt SO MUCH, and...GUH, Grace, honey, YOU ARE MY HERO.
I think I might have ended up liking Cole if he'd actually died. Does that make me a terrible person?
I was devastated that it was Olivia who was killed. I LOVED HER SO MUCH! And, yeah, I was kind of in denial about it, because even in the teaser it's kind of obvious that it's either her or Grace, and since it can't be Grace...but, oh!
(There may have also been something about Sam and Beck and the meaning of forgiveness and love, but see above re: aaaaaaangsting, and I may have been more concerned about the helicopters by that point than I was about Sam's journey. I mean, it was well done and all that, and the book definitely needed it to make any sense at all, particularly with the inclusion of Koenig (and Koenig's brain), but LORDY, so not my thing!)
And then, of course, Shelby. I'm never sure if I'm supposed to feel bad for her or not. I mean, obviously she's had a hard life (as a person), but that only goes so far, and as a wolf, well, she's responsible for a lot of endangering the pack (yes, I would be the girl who does not cry at the end of Old Yeller because IT HAS RABIES AND NEEDS TO DIE). But if I am supposed to feel ambiguous about her (and I think I am), JOB WELL DONE. She's not exactly the villain (another cool thing is that there isn't exactly a villain; it's all people doing what they think is best...which is of course worse), but she's not a good person by any stretch, and I may have cheered (out loud, on an airplane) when she died.
AND THE END! Oh, I loved the end. Well done, Maggie Stiefvater!
The red text didn't bother me as much as I was afraid it might (and I may have also convinced my seatmate on the plane to buy the book, based on the fact that the text was coloured!), and even the POV shifts didn't addle my fragmented attention span.
As always, the strength of Maggie's style is in her construction. This book was just so beautifully built, that each POV shift was perfect. You can really tell that every word, every reference, every punctuation mark is carefully placed to make the story better. You read books that make pictures all the time. This book is a picture, and it's stunning.
9/10 for Grace being awesome, Shelby being scary, Sam growing up, Isabel being a valkyrie, and Cole almost making me like him. ;) And, of course, for the words! (And for the ending, which I loved.)
So I was pretty excited for this book. ;)
As far as trilogies go, The Shiver Trilogy is not the most action packed. There's action, of course, and what action there is is deftly woven into the rest of the story, but the predominant part of the book is devoted to Grace, Isabel, Sam, Cole and their feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelings. Fortunately, the girls are so wonderfully levelheaded that it evens out the aaaaaangsting of the boys. ;) Also, there's mad science, which I adore, and communication, which I like even more.
I think what makes this trilogy so interesting is that it kept getting more "real". In the first book, Shiver, it was this fantasy town with werewolves, but as Linger and Forever progressed, the world in which they were set became more and more definitely "ours". As I said in my review of Linger, this is largely thanks to Cole St. Clair whose scientific background takes us from "You cured werewolfism with MENEGITIS?" to "You can't really cure malaria" in a logical sort of way. I liked this angle quite a bit, because it's kind of unusual.
I also really, really died during Grace's showdown with her parents. It was just amazingly well put together and it hurt SO MUCH, and...GUH, Grace, honey, YOU ARE MY HERO.
I think I might have ended up liking Cole if he'd actually died. Does that make me a terrible person?
I was devastated that it was Olivia who was killed. I LOVED HER SO MUCH! And, yeah, I was kind of in denial about it, because even in the teaser it's kind of obvious that it's either her or Grace, and since it can't be Grace...but, oh!
(There may have also been something about Sam and Beck and the meaning of forgiveness and love, but see above re: aaaaaaangsting, and I may have been more concerned about the helicopters by that point than I was about Sam's journey. I mean, it was well done and all that, and the book definitely needed it to make any sense at all, particularly with the inclusion of Koenig (and Koenig's brain), but LORDY, so not my thing!)
And then, of course, Shelby. I'm never sure if I'm supposed to feel bad for her or not. I mean, obviously she's had a hard life (as a person), but that only goes so far, and as a wolf, well, she's responsible for a lot of endangering the pack (yes, I would be the girl who does not cry at the end of Old Yeller because IT HAS RABIES AND NEEDS TO DIE). But if I am supposed to feel ambiguous about her (and I think I am), JOB WELL DONE. She's not exactly the villain (another cool thing is that there isn't exactly a villain; it's all people doing what they think is best...which is of course worse), but she's not a good person by any stretch, and I may have cheered (out loud, on an airplane) when she died.
AND THE END! Oh, I loved the end. Well done, Maggie Stiefvater!
The red text didn't bother me as much as I was afraid it might (and I may have also convinced my seatmate on the plane to buy the book, based on the fact that the text was coloured!), and even the POV shifts didn't addle my fragmented attention span.
As always, the strength of Maggie's style is in her construction. This book was just so beautifully built, that each POV shift was perfect. You can really tell that every word, every reference, every punctuation mark is carefully placed to make the story better. You read books that make pictures all the time. This book is a picture, and it's stunning.
9/10 for Grace being awesome, Shelby being scary, Sam growing up, Isabel being a valkyrie, and Cole almost making me like him. ;) And, of course, for the words! (And for the ending, which I loved.)
