Blog Tour: Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Welcome to today's stop on the blog tour for Linger by Maggie Stiefvater! To celebrate the release of the second book in the Wolves of Mercy Falls series, I'm re-posting my review and throwing in a few extra tidbits for my readers and.....what do you think about another giveaway? Really, who doesn't love a giveaway? So, read on, check out the book trailer and enjoy :-)

I reviewed Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater earlier this year (click here to read my review) so I was very excited to read the next installment in the Wolves of Mercy Falls series. And, fortunately, I was able to do this in advance (I feel very lucky :-)

Linger basically starts off a few months after Shiver. Sam and Grace are getting into the day to day of their lives. It seems Grace is not feeling quite right, but Sam and Grace would rather enjoy the time they have together (because it was almost lost to them) than discuss what may be happening to her.

We get to meet one of the new wolves brought in by Beck towards the end of Shiver. I have to say, I loved the dynamics of the Cole/Isabel dialogues. Linger takes a darker turn with Cole's character and I was impressed with Stiefvater's handling of his "problems". He's definitely an interesting addition to the mix and I can see what impact he could potentially have in the next book.

The story this times is told through the 4 perspectives of Isabel, Cole, Sam, and Grace, which means we get to understand more about Sam (cause through a bunch of Shiver he was a wolf) but we see less of Grace. Sam is a boy after my own heart: he works in a book store, listens to Damien Rice (among others) and quotes sad poetry, as well as writing some pretty emotional song lyrics himself.

Overall, I felt a sense of melancholy reading this story (but not in a bad way, if that's possible, lol.) Maggie Stiefvater gives us a little hope, then seems to dash it away but leaves just enough of a glimmer for the hopeless romantic (like myself) to continue to believe in never-ending love.

I absolutely devoured Linger! For me, Linger was even better than Shiver! I am very anxious now to get my hands on Forever, the final book of the trilogy, but will have to wait (im)patiently until July 2011.



You can also find information about Maggie and her books through these links:


Blog: http://m-stiefvater.livejournal.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/mstiefvater
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Maggie-Stiefvater-Really-its-me/412830324465?v=wall
Also, Shiver has been nominated as a Best Read in the 1st annual Indigo Teen Read Awards so, if you are eligible, pop over to www.teenreadawards.ca to cast your vote!

And now, some good news for my followers....


I have one copy to offer to a lucky Canadian! Please enter your info into the form for your chance to win! Contest open to Canadian mailing addresses only and you must be a follower to enter (I have to be able to verify easily:-) The closing date is August 5th at midnight and the winner wil be drawn August 6th using random.org. Good luck to all!

Contest: The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Thanks to Harlequin Teen, I'm very excited to offer up 2 copies of The Iron King, book one of the Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa to my awesome followers! I have heard nothing but great things about The Iron King and its follow-up, The Iron Daughter. I will be reviewing both books in the near future but until then, take a look at the synopsis, book trailer and bio below (then head on down to the bottom to enter my contest):

ABOUT THE IRON KING

In less than twenty-four hours Meghan Chase will be sixteen. Countless stories, songs and poems have been written about this wonderful age, when a girl finds true love and the stars shine for her and the handsome prince carries her off into the sunset.

But Meghan suspects that it won’t be that way for her.

After all, Meghan has a secret destiny—one she could never have imagined….

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan’s life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school…or at home.

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she’s known is about to change.

But she could never have guessed the truth—that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and a pawn in a deadly war.

Now Meghan will learn just how far she’ll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face…and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.


ABOUT THE IRON DAUGHTER

Half Summer faery princess, half human, Meghan Chase has never fit in anywhere. Deserted by the Winter prince she thought loved her, she is prisoner to the Winter faery queen.

As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows that the real danger comes from the Iron fey—ironbound faeries that only she and her absent prince have seen. But no one believes her.

Worse, Meghan’s own fey powers have been cut off. She’s stuck in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone would be foolish. Trusting a seeming traitor could be deadly.

But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can’t help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart.

ABOUT JULIE KAGAWA:

Julie Kagawa was born in Sacramento, California. But nothing exciting really happened to her there. So, at the age of nine, she and her family moved to Hawaii, which she soon discovered was inhabited by large carnivorous insects, colonies of house geckos and frequent hurricanes. She spent much of her time in the ocean, when she wasn’t getting chased out of it by reef sharks, jellyfish and the odd eel.

When not swimming for her life, Julie immersed herself in books, often to the chagrin of her schoolteachers, who would find she hid novels behind her math textbooks during class. Her love of reading led her to pen some very dark and gruesome stories, complete with colored illustrations, to shock her hapless teachers. The gory tales faded with time, but the passion for writing remained, long after she graduated and was supposed to get a real job.

To pay the rent, Julie worked in different bookstores over the years, but discovered the managers frowned upon her reading the books she was supposed to be shelving. So she turned to her other passion: training animals. She worked as a professional dog trainer for several years, dodging Chihuahua bites and overly enthusiastic Labradors, until her first book sold and she stopped training to write full-time.

Julie now lives in Louisville, Kentucky, where the frequency of shark attacks is at an all-time low. She lives with her husband, two obnoxious cats, one Australian shepherd who is too smart for his own good and the latest addition, a hyperactive papillon puppy.


Rules for contest entry are as follows:

The contest is open to U.S. and Canadian mailing addresses only. The contest runs from July 19th, 2010 until midnight on August 5th, 2010. Winners will be selected using random.org. You must follow my blog (in a way I can verify) in order to enter the contest. Fill out the info below to enter and the data will appear on my spreadsheet. Thanks and good luck to all!