Posts Tagged "Maggie Stiefvater"

I can officially cross the first item off my Book Bucket List! As part of our Book Bucket List Challenge, I’m aiming to read 12 books which aren’t part of my normal review pile that I’ve been meaning to get to for a while.

Book: Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
Pages: 360
Publication Date: July 2010
Publisher: Scholastic

Rating: :

Why did you include it to your Book Bucket List?: When I first got the position as review for this site I had only just finished reading Shiver, and like everyone else, completely loved it. Linger was in one of the first boxes I received from publishers for review, only thing is, Nikki had already read, reviewed it and lined it up as our Book of the Month for July. So, there was no point in it being reviewed twice and I had plenty of books to get to so I put it off for months – till now!

To check out Nikki’s original review click here.

Was it worth it?: Yes

Brief Thoughts?: In general, I did really enjoy Linger but it didn’t have the same intensity as Shiver. The pace was a little slower and the love story wasn’t as prominent, which was what hooked me to begin with. 3.5 might seem like a low rating but when I think of it out of 10, a seven would be a fair score.

By the end of the book I LOVED Cole, which was a surprise, but I also found myself liking Sam less. He always seemed to be sad about something, first he was sad about being a werewolf, now he’s sad he’s not one since all his ‘family’ is, then he was sad about Grace, sad about Beck choosing Cole to be a wolf…just a lot of sadness. I found myself really agreeing with Isabel who tried to shake him out of it, saying he needed to step up.

Grace showed plenty of strength in this book when she faced quite a few obstacles, including her parents, but she faced them all boldly which was great to see. Isabel was as haughty as ever but let her guard down at times and developed even further as a character and a person becoming someone you could definitely sympathize with and really like.

Would you recommend it?: Yes – the second book in the series sets us up for the excitement of the last book, Forever, which is due out later this year.

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Maggie Stiefvater’s stellar novel, Linger, is our Book of the Month here for July. As promised, she sat down for a quick Q&A with us (aint she just the cutest?!) Enjoy.

What made you decide to include the additional POV(s)?

Sheer insanity. No, mostly it was because I love to see characters from all sides — often an action they think is very sympathetic is actually very unsympathetic from an outside viewpoint, or vice versa. And with a limited first person POV, you can only see so much. I wanted to see more of Mercy Falls than Sam and Grace could see, and I wanted to see more about Cole in particular. I couldn’t have tackled his character arc without seeing inside his head.

Music is a reoccurring theme in your novels. For those that may be unaware of your affinity with music, please explain.

I . . . just need it. I can’t write unless I have music playing in the background, and I write better if I have dedicated playlists with the mood of the novel or scene or character playing. I also play a bunch of musical instruments so if writing ever stops working out for me, I can go back to busking on the sidewalk with my bagpipes. I’d need to get another kilt, though.

Since the release of SHIVER, your name is now considered among the best of YA authors. How has your life changed lately?

It’s really bizarre, actually, to think that just a few years ago I was reading the “greats” in YA and now I’m on lists with them. It happened so fast that I still sort of just feel as if my hair is on fire. It’s pretty amazing to go into a library, say my name, and have the teen librarian instantly begin nodding her head because she not only knows who you are, but she read your book. It’s just sort of crazy and wonderful and intimidating. I have readers! I don’t want to let these people down!

Can you tell us anything about the SHIVER movie?

Unfortunately I don’t have too much in the way of news. The film rights were optioned by Warner Brothers/ Unique Features, they hired Nick Pustay to adapt the screenplay, and the latest news is that the script is finished. I don’t know anything else other than that! Everything in film movies glacially slowly, and that’s saying a lot, since I’m used to publishing being slow.

Who is your ideal Grace and Sam?

Alex Turner for Sam (I know he’s not an actor) and Rachel Hurd Wood for Grace — or Dakota Blue Richards. She’s a little young at the moment, but movies take so long . . .

Can you give us any information about your next novel

It is not about werewolves. Or kraken. It’s a YA paranormal, mostly realistic with a hint of supernatural, like my other books, and it involves blood and beaches and kissing. That’s all I can say!

In Maggie Stiefvater’s 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 Isabelle, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.

At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love — the light and the dark, the warm and the cold — in a way you will never forget.

When Linger kicks off, Sam finds himself in quite the situation. Their temperature is still cold enough to keep the wolves tied to the forest – and Beck, his father-figure-type – is still lost to the wolves as well. So is Grace’s friend, Olivia. So when a wolf/kid shows up in his house well before winter’s grasp should have let him go, Sam can’t help but wonder why.

Cole is brash, outspoken, conspicuous, and not exactly what Sam wants around right now. Not that there is ever a right time for someone like Cole to come crashing into your life, but it just seems that Sam’s patience has worn a little thin of late. Cole is charming in that in-your-face-annoying kind of way, but he won my heart in no time, just like he won Isabel’s.

In the absence of her brother, Isabel is going through some stuff in this novel and finds comfort in the least likely of places. Cole irritates the hell out of Isabel (and just about everyone one else, too) but she’s unable to resist his charm. Will they get together? Well, that depends on your perspective, and your definition.

But I know that you’re all dying to hear about Sam and Grace. Sam and Grace keep that innocence that makes their relationship so unique, but at the same time, they take their relationship to a new place of finality, a new place of permanency. For me, reading about Grace and Sam has always felt more like I was reading about two adults, rather than two hormonal adolescents. This time around, though, I think its safe to say that Grace and Sam make choices that very much resemble the stubbornness that teen relationships are so often littered with. It was great to see them in such a way.

I guess you’d probably act all crazy if you thought you were losing the one person you love more than life, too. And that’s exactly how Sam sees it. That’s exactly how Grace sees it. It’s exactly how I saw it.

Linger is a solid second chapter in what is possibly the best young adult werewolf tale of our generation. Grace and Sam stay true to their characters, and we even get to see them grow a little, too. It’s always so great to learn new things about your favorite characters after you thought you already knew everything there was to know. These characters will touch your heart, make you weep, and hollow you out on the inside all at the same time.

Although she’s still a fairly young and fresh writer, Maggie Stiefvater’s prose reads like that of an age old pro. Her imagery and descriptions paint a picture so vibrant and colorful I felt like I was sitting front and center in a cinema. There are four points of view in this installment, and each character’s voice is unique and distinctive enough that following their individual journeys is easy as eating pumpkin pie.

A very impressive novel from a very impressive writer.

Pages: 368

Publication date: July 2010

Rating::

Teaser Quote: “If being a wolf was scientific, not magical, then it had to follow rules and logic. And the fact that the new wolves changed at different temperatures at different times… it didn’t make sense.”

In a recent interview yaReads conducted with author Maggie Stiefvater, it was uncovered that there were ‘talks’ of Shiver - her popular new werewolf novel – being made into a film. Well, it seems that these talks have actually eventuated into something concrete. Variety’s online magazine published an article confirming that yes, Shiver WILL be made into a film:

Unique Features has acquired screen rights to “Shiver,” a bestselling supernatural romance novel by Maggie Stiefvater that is the first of a three-book series.
Pic will be produced by Unique Features partners Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne.

Unique adds “Shiver” to a slate of pic projects that include an adaptation of the Paul McCartney children’s book “High in the Clouds,” a Barry Levinson-directed adaptation of the musical “City of Angels” and the Broadway-bound musicals “Elf” and “Secondhand Lions.”

So what do we think? Yay, or nay?

Maggie Stiefvater is one of our fave authors here at yaReads. So when we were presented with the opportunity to run with her as our feature author for the month of September, we jumped on it. Although we realize we’re now in the very last days of September, we reckon her interview is better late than never. As always, she’s got some pretty interesting things to say. Be warned, this one contains spoilers!

Why did you choose Minnesota as your setting?

I was looking for someplace that already had a resident wolf population in the United States. Someplace cold. Cold and suburban. I could’ve done Wyoming, but I lived in Wisconsin, right next door to Minnesota, for a few years as a kid, so I had some experience of the landscape.

Grace thinks the reason she never turned into a wolf when she was bitten was because of the fever she got straight afterwards … are you going to elaborate on this in future books?

Oh am I ever.

When was the exact moment that Sam realised he was in love with Grace?

That is up to reader interpretation. I’m inclined to think it was probably while he watched her read on the tire swing. Readers love other readers.

Some of us here at yaReads are also wondering what exactly happened to Jack’s body. Can you tell us?

At which point? You mean, after he met his untimely end? I’m assuming he’s buried out in the back forty. The FBI could probably have a field day with Beck’s backyard.

Can you dish any goss about the next novel?

No, I can only be enigmatic and say that there is a lot more Isabel, and Grace, and it will be fun.

In an age where more and more books are being adapted for screen, we love to try and ‘cast’ the characters in our fave novels. Who can you envisage playing Sam and Grace?

I actually did a long blog post about this (http://m-stiefvater.livejournal.com/123623.html) but the short version is that I see Alex Turner (the lead singer of the Arctic Monkeys) as Sam and Eliza Bennett (from Inkheart) for Grace.

In the event that someone wanted to buy it, would you sell Shiver to a film company?

In a New York minute. There is considerable interest but that’s all I can say at the moment.

Since Lament came out, you’ve been super busy. How long did Shiver take you to write?

Four months.

For you, what has been the best thing about your ride to literary success so far?

Whew. Um. It was pretty wonderful seeing the cover for Shiver for the first time. Also, hitting the bestseller list was pretty amazing and woozy-making.

Any downsides?

There’s an incredible amount of busywork that is associated with it — a ton of emails and edits and non-writing things. Also, there’s some pressure to make the next book at least as good as the last one.

In books about paranormal teen relationships, why do you think the boy is most often the one with the supernatural abilities?

I think because it’s more interesting to look at the supernatural from the outside, and the protagonists are often girls because that’s the intended audience for a lot of YA. So we get these girls looking at these supernatural guys from the outside. Thought in Lament, Deirdre also has her supernatural bits, and it’s not at all the dynamic in Ballad. Also, you’ll see a complete shift in Linger.

The YA paranormal romance genre is huge right now. What is it specifically about werewolves, vampires and the dark side that you think is so appealing?

For me, it’s because I believe in that . . . *something more*. Something outside of ordinary. It’s not that I believe in werewolves or faeries per se, but I do believe in . . . something more. And writing about them lets me write about that feeling of wonder and curiosity. I also love to play with metaphor, and werewolves are great metaphors for all sort of different things.

Can you imagine yourself ever writing in a different genre?

I could possibly shift from urban fantasy to dystopia. I have a lot of ideas in that department. But I think I will always write something that can be classified speculative fiction.

What are you working on at the moment?

The third book in the Shiver series, Forever.