(the misadventures of) Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

I normally would have gone, "OMG OMG OMG!!!" upon receiving my copy of Linger, but fate apparently decided to make other plans.

So here's the story of my copy of Linger by Maggie Stiefvater: It started when I discovered that barnesandnoble.com was shipping out all their pre-orders early. And by early, I mean the book was [at the time] being released on July 20th, and the books were shipping July 2nd. Not wanting to miss out on that party, I promptly decided to pre-order my copy from B&N's site, and sure enough: It shipped that day. Squee!

However, this is where karma kicks in, along with my guilty conscience. Because let's face it: I should have been good and waited for this most-eagerly-anticipated-book-of-summer-2010 and purchased it when it actually was released. But seriously? This was like someone telling me that Mockingjay was being sold three weeks early, something we all are wishing fervently for but know it won't happen. It was like finding a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on the shelf before it was released! ...Okay, that's stretching it. Because if that had happened, I probably would have died on the spot way back in 2007. Nevertheless, you get the idea. I have no self control.

So for several days I logged onto UPS.com religiously to track my package is it slowly made its journey from Nevada to California to Kentucky to Oklahoma (where it then sat for a full 24 hours before finally being thrown on a truck for delivery). The scheduled delivery date was July 8th, and that morning I was practically bouncing with excitement to the extent that I barely heeded the signs that rain was on its way.

Karma's butt kick number one: Our UPS guy usually delivers to our house at about 9 AM. At 8:55 I saw him in our neighborhood. At 9:15 I conceded that he wasn't coming, and I had to get to work... without my Linger. Sad. I had so many Twitpics planned with it that were missed!

Karma's butt kick number two: At approximately 1:30 PM as I sat in my boss' car, I checked the radar on my phone and discovered it was raining at our house. I checked my package's tracking number, and sure enough it had been delivered almost an hour before. I crossed my fingers that the UPS guy put the box in a little bag that UPS drivers are supposed to use when it's raining or is threatening rain (and I know this for a fact because hubs is a UPS driver. I'm educated and informed!). So not a big deal... right?

Karma's butt kick number three: What is usually a 20-25 minute drive in traffic turned into an almost two-hour ordeal as I attempted to get from work to home that evening. Flooding was awful, and people were driving like crap and getting their cars stuck in rising water. Dumb butts.

...you see where this is going, right?

Karma's butt kick number four: I got home. The box had no bag on it. It wasn't even sitting against my door where water would've had trouble getting to it. It was sitting pretty much in a puddle. Book was wet. Sigh.

The moral of this story? Don't flaunt publishing dates!!!

Anyway, now about the book (which luckily wasn't wet enough that it wasn't readable). Linger is the second book in the Wolves of Mercy Falls series. You can read my review of the first book, Shiver, here. The story picks up where Shiver left off, and unfortunately due to potential spoilers I won't say anything more than that. If you haven't read Shiver though, I do recommend it: I loved it!

Linger, I am happy to report, is just as beautiful as Shiver, both inside and out. The cover art is just as entrancing as its predecessor, which makes me so happy because I love the artwork so much! The writing is equally amazing: It's gorgeous, lyrical, and captures the characters so well. The story went in an unexpected direction, so I have to admit I really enjoyed that aspect of it too. We got to see a lot of old characters along with a few new ones, namely Cole, who I loved watching grow as the story progressed! We also saw Isabel's point of view in this story, which was wonderful. She has such an amazing voice.

The final verdict is definitely a big thumbs up for this installment of the series! I am eagerly anticipating Forever! And for those who are curious, due to B&N's shipping early and Borders putting the book on shelves early in many stores, the release date for Linger was moved up to July 13th in the US. Which means tomorrow you will be able to waltz into your book store and grab your own, hopefully dry, copy!