Waiting on Wednesday (22)

I haven't done one of these in such a long time, so I skipped the weeks I went without posting one and just added them so, confusingly, this week is number 22. And what am I waiting for? This lovely little shocker:

...grace...

This is the story of a boy who used to be a wolf and a girl who was becoming one.

Just a few months ago, it was Sam who was the mythical creature. His was the disease we couldn't cure. His was the good-bye that meant the most. He had the body that was a mystery, too strange and wonderful and terrifying to comprehend.

But now it is spring. With the heat, the remaining wolves will soon be falling out of their wolf pelts and back into their human bodies. Sam stays Sam, and Cole stays Cole, and it's only me who's not firmly in my own skin.
Yep, Linger by Maggie Stiefvater. Who wouldn't want this book? I read Shiver and was completely blown away by the book's amazingness! I can't wait for Linger!

In My Mailbox (22)

I finally get to update you with what I've gotten over the past, what, month? I haven't been able to read as often as I used to because of my beginning high school, but thankfully, the work load has been slightly minimized. So, hurray! for that. Here is what I found in my mailbox.

DupliKate by Cherry Cheva - review:

Splendor - Anna Godbersen

The Morganville Vampires (Glass Houses and the Dead Girls' Dance) by Rachel Caine

Marked by P.C. and Kristin Cast

The Mark by Jen Nadol

Sing Me To Sleep by Angela Morrison (I absolutely love the cover!)

Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater

Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen

The Girl with the Mermaid Hair by Delia Ephron

I've already started some of them, and I'm so excited to devour all of them! What did you get?

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Release Date: August 1, 2009
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Pages: 400
Overall:

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf — her wolf — is a haunting presence she can't seem to live without.

Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human...until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears and the temperature drops, Sam must fight to stay human — or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

The first thing that caught me in this book was the lyrical writing. I've come to know that Maggie likes to incorporate music, or something music-related, in her writing--in this case, it was lyrics, ones that would pop up in Sam's head. And, like her writing, the lyrics she created were enchanting and fit the characters' situations perfectly.

The creativity of the novel was refreshing. Instead of the moon being the reason for changing from a wolf to a human or vice versa, in this novel, it was the temperature. I found this to be very creative and original.

Grace and Sam fit perfectly together, like yin and yang. Their relationship, even before Sam transformed back to his human self, was special and unique. I found it amazing that Grace fell in love with him, without even knowing his voice, only by seeking his eyes and finding his scent. And I so badly wanted them to have a happy ending, after all they had been through to get to this point, them being together. The outcome of their relationship was different than I expected, but nonetheless, satisfactory.

Shiver is a chilling tale of romance between a girl and her wolf. You won't want the story to end. Maggie Stiefvater has once again proven her amazing skill, the ablility to lure you in with her addicting words and catchy lyrics.

Writing:
Plot:
Characters:
Ending:
Cover:

Waiting On Wednesday

Nuala is part muse, part psychic vampire. While the freedom to sing or write or create is denied her, her mark across history is unmistakable: a trail of brilliant poets, musicians, and artists who have died tragically young. She has no sympathy for their abbreviated life spans; every thirteen Halloweens she burns in a bonfire and rises from her ashes with no memories of what has come before other than the knowledge of how her end will come.

James is the best bagpiper in the state of Virginia—maybe in the country—plus he's young and good-looking: just Nuala's thing. But James, supremely confident in his own abilities and in love with another girl, becomes the first to ever reject Nuala's offer. He's preoccupied with bigger things than Nuala: an enigmatic horned figure who appears at dusk and the downward spiral of Dee, his girlfriend-who-isn't.

It becomes obvious to James that Nuala's presence, the horned king of the dead, and Dee's slow self-destruction are all related, and that Dee is the center of a deadly faerie game. While James struggles to unwind the tangled threads of the story, Nuala shadows him, seeing her conflicted, dual nature reflected back at her in him. She finds herself lending him inspiration for nothing. Not quite for nothing—for the hope of requited affection. But even as James begins to realize his feelings for both Dee and Nuala have changed, the thirteenth Halloween descends, with its bonfires and rituals for the dead, one deadly to Nuala and the other to Dee. James can only save one.

Anyone else want this? I loved Lament, and can't wait for this! What are you waiting for?

Say It Again Saturday

One of my favorite reviewers, Karin, from Karin's Book Nook is hosting this meme. And I'm just jumpin' on the band wagon!

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Lament was probably one of the few novels I've read in a while that was very well written. From reading it, you could tell how much thought and effort Maggie Stiefvater put into writing this. Props to her marvelous skills!

"I'm here as long tonight as the music lasts, pretty girl. Get your harp."

I found the sentence above magical. I don't particularly know why, so don't ask me to explain. I guess it just widened the possibilities of Deirdre's future in the faerie realm, and that left me gasping for more, which is bound to happen, as it is the last sentence of the novel.

"He closed his eyes, concentrating on keeping his hold on the old well's uneven sides, willing his heart to slow."

Helplessness and desperate. Those are two words that come to mind when reading this. I felt that this sentence summed up Luke's desperate need for death. The whole prologue, this sentence especially, haunted me throughout the novel.

"But the girl in front of me, dark-haired, gray-eyed, no makeup, with a blue V-neck, wasn't a goth chick. The girl that was shimmering out of James' consciousness was me."

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What can I say? I'm a sucker for this particular thing. You know, the best friend falling in love with the best friend. Ahhh... I love romance. Ha-ha.

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I enjoyed every single sentence, but these in particular stuck out. Check back next week for more quotes from different books.

Lament by Maggie Stiefvater

I finally got my hands on one of these!

Sixteen-year-old Deirdre Monaghan is a painfully shy but prodigiously gifted musician. She's about to find out she's also a cloverhand—one who can see faeries. Deirdre finds herself infatuated with a mysterious boy who enters her ordinary suburban life, seemingly out of thin air. Trouble is, the enigmatic and gorgeous Luke turns out to be a gallowglass—a soulless faerie assassin. An equally hunky—and equally dangerous—dark faerie soldier named Aodhan is also stalking Deirdre. Sworn enemies, Luke and Aodhan each have a deadly assignment from the Faerie Queen. Namely, kill Deirdre before her music captures the attention of the Fae and threatens the Queen's sovereignty. Caught in the crossfire with Deirdre is James, her wisecracking but loyal best friend. Deirdre had been wishing her life weren't so dull, but getting trapped in the middle of a centuries-old faerie war isn't exactly what she had in mind . . .

Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception is a suspenseful adventure of love, friendship, and faerie. Its story has a uniqueness that compels you to read further. And the author's ability to incorporate musical pieces in the writing is marvelous, because it adds to the story and was relevant at times. Great job Maggie!

I still can't get over the fact of how different this story is. It may seem like just another Faerie novel, but its not. Creativity is shown superbly throughout the book, such as the reappearing clovers or the smell of thyme.

And the complicated story of Deirdre and Luke. That's just an addition to the tale. Most of the time, I didn't know whether I should trust Luke or not. During Dee's conversations with her grandmother I was convinced he was evil, but when Dee was with him, I could see nothing wrong, till Deirdre made an earth shattering discovery about him.

I was very happy to see Luke's situation end the way it did, but it left me a little confused. Was Deirdre aloud to have a relationship with one of the Daoine Sidhe, when her role in the Faerie realm was so high? And would their relationship even continue? But no worries, I'm certain my questions will be answered in Ballad, the sequel the Lament, out Fall 2009.

Ratings

Writing: 5/5
Story: 5/5
Characters: 4/5
Cover: 5/5