(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!

Waiting on Wednesday

This is my first Waiting on Wednesday post, in which bloggers highlight a book they're anxiously anticipating the release of. Frankly, right now how do I pick just one at the moment? There are four that I'm dying to get my grubby little paws on this summer, with plenty of others that I'm definitely eyeballing.

So for the purposes of this post, I'll draw from a hat in my mind.

And I pick... Linger by Maggie Stiefvater.

















If you missed it, I read and loved Shiver, the first book in Stiefvater's The Wolves of Mercy Falls series. You can read about it and admire its absolutely gorgeous cover artwork here. Linger is the next book in the series, and I can't wait to see where the story goes. It will be coming to your local bookstore on July 1, 2010.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

My apologies for being away for a few days. I finished Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater early Saturday morning (and by early I mean approximately 1:30 AM), but I've been a bit preoccupied this weekend with other things such as the hubbie's birthday celebrations. Oh, and when we checked into a hotel he made fun of me for bringing a book. So I felt obligated to not read said book.

Anyway, let me preface this review by saying WOW. Wow, wow, wow. This is probably the best-written Young Adult book I've read since The Book Thief. The writing complemented the story so well, and it was just so beautiful in a way that also made it still easy to read. I can't stand book with such flourished writing that you lose a total sense of what is going on because you're lost in the adjectives. This wasn't like that at all, and that was so wonderfully refreshing!

Shiver tells the story of Grace and Sam, two teenagers who have been staring at each other every winter for six years. The catch? Sam is a wolf. He gets to be human for a few short months each summer until the winter cold changes him again and again. But when Grace one day meets a boy whose eyes are strikingly familiar to her, a love story blooms as these two try to stay together despite the cold creeping in.

The first thing that I noticed about this book was the cover. I can't tell you how long I stared at it, soaking in every detail. It's breathtakingly beautiful, which I know isn't a description many use often for book covers. But this one was. I loved it, and I knew that a book with such a gorgeous front had to be great on the inside too, right?

I am so pleased that I wasn't disappointed despite my unnaturally-high expectations! The characters in Shiver are so well-defined, each one possessing both strengths and faults that are realistic and undeniably human. The writing is delightful as I already mentioned, and the story is fascinating. I can't imagine where it will lead from here. This book is naturally going to get some comparisons to Twilight as it's a supernatural romance, and obviously there is also the werewolf thing (and if I spoiled New Moon for anyone, umm, sorry). Even I couldn't help but compare as I read it. However, I really think Shiver is able to stand on its own because it's THAT fun. Sure it will get a lot of readers because someone told them "It's just like Twilight but without vampires!" But I think plenty of other readers will enjoy it just as it is as well because it's NOT just like Twilight but without vampires. And I'm going to end this here because I'm starting to confuse myself.

The sequel, Linger, is being released this summer. I am definitely highly anticipating it, along with the as-of-yet-known series finale.