Fire and Ice

Full review and ARC giveaway at http:/fireandicephoto.blogspot.com ends July 12th, 2011

The Wolves of Mercy Falls series has burned a place in my heart as one of the most well crafted I've ever read...from the candy shop in Shiver to the Crooked Shelf bookstore where Sam works, to the descriptions of the forest which creeps near Grace's home. Forever brought back for me everything I love about this series.

In book 2 I was annoyed by new character Cole St. Clair and his ex-rockstar antics, but now I'm amazed at how Maggie has brought me full circle! Isabel and Cole were my favorite characters in Forever. Cole has a new layer to him which makes him even more deep and by the end I really wanted to see where life would end up for he and Isabel. There's not much I can say that will fully do this book justice. Maggie's writing is so breathtakingly beautiful. Forever is again written in four different chraracter's perspectives which flow together seamlessly in a symphony of words. The people are broken, their relationships complex. There is action, romance, philosophy, music and poetry by Rilke rolled into the pages of Forever to make it a full sensory experience. You can smell, taste and hear Mercy Falls soaking into your bones. You can almost feel the shift to becoming a wolf.

This is a goodbye I didn't want to see-the final book of a trilogy which has left prints in the literary world. I sincerely hope we will be graced with companion novels and novellas in the years to come. For those of you waiting for the lay down date of Forever on July 12th, if you haven't already, you should pick up Maggie's other series including Lament and Ballad. They too are pure genius! Thanks so much to Scholastic for the copies of Forever and a chance to finally meet Maggie Stiefvater the author in person during their This Is Teen event New York.

Content: Recommended for readers 16 and older. Some violence, mention of drugs and sex.

Favorite Quote: from the acknowledgements in Forever..."Many, many readers have written asking me wistfully about the nature of Sam and Grace's relationship, and I can assure you, that sort is absolutely real. Mutual, respectful, enduring love is completely attainable as long as you swear you won't settle for less." -Maggie Stiefvater