Review: Forever (Wolves of Mercy Falls #3), by Maggie Stiefvater

The thrilling conclusion to #1 bestselling Shiver trilogy from Maggie Stievater

In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. In Linger, they fought to be together. Now, in Forever, the stakes are even higher than before. Wolves are being hunted. Lives are being threatened. And love is harder and harder to hold on to as death comes closing in.(From GoodReads)

My Review

For some reason, still unbeknownst to me, Forever sat on my bookcase, unread, for a month. A month! I just don't know why I was putting it off. Maybe it's because I forgot how much I enjoyed Shiver and Linger, the first and second books in the series. Possibly its because I had huge expectations for this book. Most likely, it's because I did not want the series to end. I was terrified of what would happen to the characters that I love. With each of the previous books, the stakes were raised. I knew when I read Forever, I was going to have to take it all, the good, bad and the ugly. When I say bad and ugly, I don't mean bad writing or ugly choices by the author. Maggie Stiefvater's writing is beautiful, her choices painful but real. I mean bad situations and ugly outcomes the characters must face. I knew that everything would be on the line for Sam and Grace, Cole and Isabel and the wolves of Mercy Falls.

I'm striving to make this a spoiler-free review. I want each reader to experience the book the way I did. I had no idea how the scenarios would play out. There are no guarantees, up until the end. The tension builds thickly throughout the book. By the end, I felt like I had been drug through an emotional wringer.

Here's what I can talk about. Maggie Stiefvater's beautiful, torurous writing. Her writing has a poetic, even magical tone to it. Here's a line that captivated me, I read it over and over.

"In the syringe, the liquid was colorless as spit and thin as a lie. In my veins, it was razors and sand, fire and mercury."

Draws you in, huh? That kind of writing makes for delicious reading. Forever is a fast read in the sense that I read huge chunks at a time, unable to stop. But it also makes for a slow read in the sense that you find beautiful phrases that stun the brain, causing you to read them over and over, hoping to absorb them. I read the book so carefully, thoroughly, picking up insights into the characters.

Speaking of characters, if you (like me) liked, but didn't love, Cole in Linger, you are in for a treat. For me, Cole becomes the biggest, most interesting character in Forever. I won't say how (no spoilers, remember), but here's this tidbit into "All you need to know about Cole", according to Isabel:

"He saw something he didn't quite understand, liked it, and just took it to be his."

Each character's story is full of realizations, true growth. I think you can probably tell that I loved Forever, a lot. Forever is bound to stick with me for a long time. This is a book filled with hate, despair, ugly truths. But more importantly, love, friendship, selflessness. Maggie Stiefvater did her characters and their stories, justice. Forever is a book that beautifully closes the story of the Wolves of Mercy Falls.

Hardcover, 390 pages

Published July 12th 2011 by Scholastic, Inc.