Audiobook Review: "Linger" by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: Linger (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, #2)
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Publisher: Scholastic Audio, 2010 (print from Scholastic, 2010)
Narrators: Dan Bittner (Cole), Pierce Cravens (Sam), Emma Galvin (Isabelle), Jenna Lamia (Grace)

**Spoilers for Shiver follow. You've been warned.**


In this second installment of The Wolves of Mercy Falls series, Grace and Sam are getting used to the fact that Sam is a human for good now. Things seem wonderful on the surface, but something is happening inside Grace, something resulting from the original wolf bite she got as a child. Meanwhile, new wolf Cole can't stay wolf, as he so desperately wants to do, and Isabelle is still wracked with guilt over the death of her brother. They find they are drawn to each other despite their frosty exteriors and complicated interiors.

Though this isn't my favorite series, I did enjoy Linger, more so than I liked Shiver. Stiefvater goes much more into depth with the science behind the werewolf shifting, the characters were more interesting, and it ends on a nice little cliffhanger.

Grace and Sam are very eyeroll-inducing; they're so damn sweet it made me sick. But the book was saved by Grace's mysterious illness, throwing a wrench into their paradise, and by Cole and Isabelle's narrations. I really loved Cole and being inside his head, and his fame added a delightful problem into the plot. This book needed drama and problems, and luckily we got them.

The narrators did a nice job reading the different voices. Again, my favorite was Cole's narrator, Dan Bittner. Everyone else seemed to put a little bit too much inflection into their performances, which annoyed me at first but I got over it pretty quickly.

What I can't understand is why EVERY. SINGLE. ADULT. was so incredibly awful. I hated all of them, except the bookstore owner who was only in one scene. Grace's parents are absolutely detestable and, p.s., are horrible parents. Isabelle's father is a disgusting man and truly a villain. I can't understand why adults are painted in such a horrible light as a general rule here. I know it's supposed to be the teens against the world, but really.

Overall though, despite my misgivings, I am curious to see where the story will go. I love the werewolf mythology Stiefvater created and will certainly pick up Forever at some point.

Disclosure: I got this audiobook from my library.

Review: "Angelfire" by Courtney Allison Moulton

Title: Angelfire

Author: Courtney Allison Moulton

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (HarperTeen), 2011

Ellie considers herself to be a normal girl, nothing too out of the ordinary. She is not the best in school but tries her hardest, has a group of close friends, and enjoys going out and having fun. But she has been having the strangest nightmares for weeks, and there's a strange guy hanging around her school who seems interested in her. Then, on the eve of her 17th birthday, her worst  nightmares come to life.

It turns out she is the Preliator, the biggest defense Heaven has against Hell. She is destined to hunt reapers, monsters that drag human souls to hell, a job she has had for centuries and has died for countless times, always coming back in another life. The strange tattooed guy she's been seeing around her school is her Guardian, Will, who has known her for 500 years. But it seems like this life, as Ellie, is different from her past ones; according to Will, she is more human than she has ever been, and she is having a harder time remembering her past lives. Plus, a deeper evil exists that could to destroy Ellie forever—if it awakens.

The concept for this book is a good one. Mystery surrounds Ellie, her past, and what she is, something not even Will is sure of. She can destroy demons with an awesome set of blades that can light on fire (angelfire, a special kind that won't burn anyone except demonic reapers) when she wishes it. There is forbidden romance. On paper, it looks pretty good, but the execution was not particularly spectacular.

Despite the book's length (the ARC has just over 450 pages), I felt like there was too much crammed in too fast. Much of the worldbuilding was done through dialogue via Will, though Ellie would have the occasional flashback, which I wish there had been more of. Those were much more interesting than listening to Will explain everything. It's clear Moulton knows her world well, but it all felt rushed and confusing.

The writing was a bit clunky, as well. There were a lot of cliches, and certain phrases and words were used far too often, especially "my heart sank," and there was a lot of perking up and scoffing going on. It got to the point that I winced whenever I saw one of those phrases.

There was a lot of materialism in the book, in the form of consumption and name-dropping, especially with cars, that seemed very out of place. Ellie comes from wealth, as do her friends, and this is made abundantly clear throughout the book. The gross consumerism was just a hair shy of the fantasies that can be found in series like Gossip Girl and Blue Bloods—the consumption in those books are deliberately over the top and fun to read about, but here it just seemed unnecessary and forced.

Some people will find Ellie and Will's relationship romantic, especially fans of forbidden paranormal romance. Though I found it tiring and got bored with the long descriptions of how Will looks and the way he makes Ellie feel, I'm sure there will be at least some swooning over Will by others.

But despite all the negative aspects of the book, it was certainly a page-turner. There were a lot of action scenes that kept me interested, and the mysteries of who each character might be made me want to keep reading to find out what I could.

Overall, I don't think there is anything particularly special about Angelfire. It's a typical paranormal romance with a mixture of folklore, mythology and Biblical influences. The action makes it a page-turner, but I found myself skimming and not missing a whole lot. I'm not sure I'll pick up the sequels, but this book will find a number of fans because of its inclusion in an increasingly popular subgenre.

Disclosure: ARC provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Review: "Firelight" by Sophie Jordan

Title: Firelight
Author: Sophie Jordan
Publisher: HarperCollins, 2010
Where I got it: I got an ARC from the bookstore where I work.

Jacinda is a draki. As a descendant of dragons, she has two forms: her human one, and her truer draki form, complete with glimmering skin and gossamer wings. What makes her even more unique? Her ability to breathe fire, thought to be lost among her species.

Unfortunately for her and her family, Jacinda's pride sees her as an object to own and use, too valuable to lose. And when she almost gets captured one night by draki hunters, a decision is made by the pack leader, though Jacinda isn't sure what that decision is. Her mother, however, does understand, but refuses to let it just happen. And so she packs up Jacinda and her twin sister Tamra, fleeing from the pride and everything Jacinda knows and cares about to a dry desert that slowly begins to kill the draki within her. Until she meets Will, who is inconveniently one of the hunters she encountered that fateful night her family was forced to flee—the one who let her go. Now she must try to fight her growing attraction toward Will (as well as fight off his for her) and hide her true form from him and his family—the greatest protection they have from hunters is the well-kept secret that they can take on human form.

Finally, a paranormal romance where the paranormal one is the girl. It is a completely unique shapeshifter tale, at least among YA—dragons have never been able to shift to human form in any other book I've come across. The pacing is very quick, with scenes that will make your heart race, even if you suspect the outcome. The romance between Jacinda and Will is also very believable, even though their circumstances are obviously far from the ordinary. I understood how they were feeling, and I was rooting for them all the way. Plus, who doesn't love a Romeo-and-Juliet type romance?

I really liked that Jordan incorporated normal school issues with the supernatural ones, like bullying and fitting in at a new school. Mean girl Brooklyn is a villain I'd like to throttle, and her evil knows no bounds. She infuriated me, which I think was the point. On that front, Jordan succeeded.

I did get a little miffed with some of the characters we might have supposed to like, though, especially Jacinda's mother. She wouldn't explain anything to Jacinda, which would have made everything a lot easier (Jacinda is actually the same way, but I wasn't annoyed by that for some reason; I think it was probably because I liked her better). Granted, she is her mother and wants the best for her, and this is something Jacinda understands. But when her mother finally does let it all out, she is quite nasty about it. She's nasty through a lot of the book, actually, and as a result she never won me over. Tamra can also be nasty, but I am much more sympathetic to her situation of always being in Jacinda's shadow.

What really bugged me about this was some of the writing. A huge percentage of the sentences were fragments, and this threw me off a lot, forcing me to go back and reread a couple of sentences to understand the meaning. This is something that happens consistently throughout the book, and it was just frustrating. The short sentences work for the action scenes, but not for everything else.

Though the premise is unique, I did find that the romantic aspect was a little too familiar for me. I kept being reminded of Twilight and other love triangle books I've read, so this didn't stand out to me as much as I think it could have. That said, Jordan took an overused storyline and managed to do something slightly new with it. It's different enough to stand out in the quagmire of ever-increasing paranormal romance for teens, with the added bonus of a pretty strong and likable heroine.

Oh, by the way, it ends on a cliffhanger that will definitely make you want to find out what happens. Just to warn you.