Blog Tour- Linger by Maggie Stiefvater Review + Interview + Contest!

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
"In Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past . . . and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack. And Isabel, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole."- summary from Amazon

Yes, this is a jam-packed post!! I've got my review of Linger, a short interview with Maggie, and a contest where you can win a copy of Linger! So let's get started.

In Linger, we get the same wonderful, poetic prose that was in Shiver. I absolutely love the way Stiefvater writes; the details are amazing without being overbearing and flowery. It also comes across as necessary rather than like she's trying to fill up pages.

I loved the multiple narrators too. It can be difficult to pull off, but Stiefvater did it well. It flowed smoothly for me while reading and the transitions between the narrators always made sense. It was really cool to see inside each character's head, especially the new character of Cole and Grace's friend Isabel, who I loved. Isabel was so funny and I really related to her.

The climax was amazing and it was hard to put the book down. Not only that, but the ending was one I was not expecting and it ends on such a cliffhanger. I want Forever now!!


INTERVIEW WITH MAGGIE STIEFVATER

1) You run a short story site with your critique partners called The Merry Sisters of Fate. How did that site come about? Has doing it helped your novel writing?

*preens* It is always very flattering to be asked about Merry Sisters of Fate. Yep, it’s a short story blog that I post to along with Tessa Gratton (BLOOD MAGIC, 2011) and Brenna Yovanoff (THE REPLACEMENT, 2010). It started out because of my art background. Back when I was a portrait artist, I was part of a movement called A Painting a Day. The idea was to start and finish a complete painting, even if it was small, all in one day . . . every day. I love challenges and I wanted to get better, so I did it for about two years -- floating around the world now are hundreds of Maggie paintings that I sold worldwide. What was amazing was looking at the difference between my art at the beginning of the project to the end. I mean, even though I didn’t paint any more per day than I had before, somehow the act of doing a complete painting instead of just working on part of a big one really made me get better.

Anyway. I thought that the same principle would work for my writing, so I asked Tessa and Brenna if they were up for something crazy. They were. For the first year we each wrote a short story every week, and posted it online, no editing. As we got more embroiled in professional pursuits, we had to cut it back down to one a month for this year, but it really did work. I can see a huge difference in my writing since we started.


2) What do you have planned for your readers after the release of Forever, the final Wolves of Mercy Falls book? Can you tell us anything about it?

I can tell you lies.

Well, I can also tell you that I’m working on a standalone paranormal YA quite unlike anything else I’ve ever done. With blood, beaches, and kissing. I’m really revoltingly excited about it and wish I could tell you more. But I can’t. I can tell you that it’s not about kraken, despite the rumors.


3) What is your favorite Jelly Belly jelly bean flavor? Or, if you don’t eat those, what’s your favorite snack to have while writing?

Ugh, jelly bellies are not actually food. They’re like eating flavored pustules. I prefer cookie dough. Now there’s a real food.


4) What book(s) are you currently reading, or are about to start?

I am about to start THE LAST SUMMER OF THE DEATH WARRIORS by Francisco X. Stork, because I loved his MARCELO IN THE REAL WORLD with a furious passion.


Thanks for stopping by, Maggie! Now, if you want to enter to win a copy of Linger, just leave a comment below saying what (or who) you're looking forward to seeing in Linger or say something about Maggie's interview or why you love her. If you just say "Enter me!" and nothing else, you'll be disqualified. Contest will end Wednesday, July 28 at 11:59pm.

FTC: Received ARC from publisher. Link above is Amazon Associate link; any profit goes toward funding contests.