Book review: Forever, Maggie Stiefvater

 Book review

Forever, Maggie Stiefvater 

My rating: 4/5

'I closed my eyes and let myself breathe in the scent of these trees once more. This was goodbye.'

The final instalment of the Shiver trilogy was as heart-wrenchingly wholesome, difficult, serious, tense, and brilliant as I was expecting. Multiple times throughout this final novel I found myself gasping at the beauty that Stiefvater breathes into her words. It's in essence a cheesy story about two teenagers in love, with a bit of a wolf kink thrown in, and yet, Stiefvater comes up with some beautiful phrasing, gorgeous language, and breath-taking similes. I adored it. The pace of this book felt faster than Linger, partly because I read it much quicker, but largely due to the fact that there was the ever-nearing deadline of the 'Big Hunt' looming from the offset. I think this really helped the book pick up pace, bringing a sense of urgency to the characters, and to the reader's desire to get through it. Sam and Grace are still great, fully-fleshed, interesting characters, but it was Cole's story I was most interested in by this novel. His messed-up past, his difficulty deciding whether to be good or not, and the humane side to him we see grow in the finale. One of those beautiful passages I was talking about describes Cole and his internal struggle to disappear for good:

'I was an itch that I'd scratched so hard that I was bleeding. I had set out to do the impossible, whatever the impossible might be, only to find out that it was living with myself. Suicide became an expiration date, the day after which I no longer had to try.                                                                                          I had thought I had come to Minnesota to die.' (Forever, p. 358)

The rawness of Cole's prespective really enticed me in Forever, and I found myself really drawn into his character, and his redemption arc from angry and self-pitying, to friend and selfless savour. It was amazing.

The star missing that brought my rating to 4 stars was mostly because of the ending. It felt rushed, and unfinished. Rather than feeling purposefully open-ended and leaving the reader wanting more, it felt like the next steps hadn't been made, and so I felt like I was ten pages from the end when there was no more book left to read. This slightly put a damper on the three entire books I'd read to get there, but as they say, it's about the journey, not the destination, and in this case, the journey was a great one. I enjoyed dipping back into the YA genre, the supernatural, the pained teenage romance once more. Grace and Sam's relationship feels real, strong, fulfilled by the finale. I truly believe they know everything about the other, and the little moments where guess the other's next move, or what they need, or how they feel, fills me with hope, and appreciation for the proper writing. You believe in them. I know they're off somewhere, thriving, whether wolf or human. I just wanted more from that ending, for Sam and Grace, Rachel, Olivia's brother, and for Isobel and Cole. The sexual tension in this book made my heart flutter and me kick my legs in excitement. I thought FINALLY these two are going to get it done (and by that, I mean get it on). Alas, that's another thing left out, which, I can't deny, I was a little mad about. There were multiple times when it felt like the moment was right, and the set up was properly done, and the pair were romantic and sensible enough, but it was withheld, and I'm frankly a little upset. 

So, there we have it, I have finally read the Shiver trilogy that has sat on my shelf in perfect condition for years, and in the process I have fallen back in love with reading, with YA, with the supernatural, with words, and with tortured teenage lust (that's a weird thing to say but I've missed that in a novel!). I've awoken memories in friends and internet people who have suddenly messaged me saying they forgot about reading these books, or that they now want to read them, and it feels great to stir that in someone. I'm excited to read Stiefvater's Raven series too, which I've heard great things about. 

Thank you for reading this. I would recommend Shiver, Linger, and Forever, if only just for the teenager/werewolf angsty drama, but you'll fall in love with the beautiful poetic moments Stiefvater creates. 

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Ellen Victoria