Forever (Shiver, Book 3)

This book is everything. It made me laugh, it made me cry. A perfect conclusion to Sam and Grace's story, and a perfect beginning for Isabelle and Cole's. Expertly written (tonally and pacing-wise) and excellently voice acted, as always. After falling in love with the quartet's dynamic and Maggie's beautiful, thoughtful writing, this book -Forever- will hold a special place in your heart.

(1 star is for the app no longer having this audio book)
Really sad this audiobook is no longer available. I was looking forward to finishing the trilogy!

So here we are again with a joint review. I am writing this review having not read Sash’s yet. I think our reactions were unique, as well as similar, in some aspects. Basically, she loves SAM SAM SAM and I love COLE COLE COLE. I was really surprised that he was such a prominent character because from the way that Sash talked about Shiver and Linger, I was expecting a ton of just Grace and Sam…which would have been fine…that’s how Shiver was written. However…Linger and Forever both had different characters’ point-of-views, which is amazing. I will not lie…all three books made my heart ache…but only Forever made me sob with reckless abandon.There are so many parts of this book that I loved…so I’ll go through the list that I wrote down in my little notebook and self-edit all the spoilers I probably wrote down.First of all, I was really attached to Sam & Grace…but I absolutely LOVED Cole St. Clair & Isabelle. They had such a fantastic dynamic that they reminded me of the yin to S & G’s yang—two completely different sides of a coin. Cole & Isabelle had such a palpable chemistry that it drove me crazy how stubborn they were about each other. There is plenty of foreshadowing that Stiefvater uses throughout the book…but you’ll have to wait to read about that for yourself.Staying on the topic of characters—Grace’s parents frustrated me to tears sometimes, but it was nice to see that one of them finally started to understand how deep the love ran between Grace and Sam. This book had a more defined antagonist, rather than just the uncontrollable shifting…Tom Culpeper, Esq. himself. No matter what happens though, the fabulous 4-some (S & G, C & I) always seemed to have a plan and the guts to carry it out. Their strength throughout this final book was absolutely stunning. And as if Tom Culpeper & the wolf toxin wasn’t enough crap to deal with…Shelby…Miss Angsty-Pants has to continue being a bully. This isn’t a spoiler, but I totally groaned out loud when the first chapter starts off from Shelby’s POV.Maggie did such a fantastic job with really allowing the readers to hear the character’s voices. When the point-of-views changed, it was so easy to see who is talking that you don’t need to see the name at the top of the section to know who is speaking. Cole St. Clair...he is easily my favorite character in the entire series. He has so much personality and so many internal and external conflicts going on that, personally (Sash will totally not agree), he is my favorite, most dynamic character. I was actually more attached to him in Forever than I was to Grace or Sam…even Isabelle surprised me by being one of my favorite characters as well.As for the ending, you’ll have to wait for that yourself…but I’ll tell you—I didn’t want it to end…I wanted to stay in that moment forever because it was truly peaceful & beautiful. And I would definitely recommend reading the Author’s Note…I cried through the ENTIRE thing, which sounds silly, but the end of this series was so…definite…that it really just made me feel emotionally raw when I closed the book & put it back on my bookshelf. I really hope that everyone enjoys this book (and series) as much as we did. It has definitely raised the bar for other books out there for me.

A lot of you aren't going to agree with me on this.Maggie Stiefvater's Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy has kept me interested enough to follow it to the end, but not enough to remember details. For example, Forever, the third and final book in the series, begins with a prologue where Shelby is the narrator. I had to look up who Shelby was. A character that has been an antagonist in the two previous books and caused countless drama, and I had to look her up because I just couldn't place her.I don't know why this series is like that for me. When I'm in the middle of reading each of the books, I'm glued to it and it's all I read (no switching back and forth with other books to take a break), but when it's over I'm just...done with it. It's not a book or series I really think about much after I've closed it. Which isn't to say it isn't good, it's just not mind-bending or paradigm-shifting or, apparently, all that memorable.And I feel bad for saying it, because I really enjoyed reading each of these novels. I felt that Forever was a fitting conclusion to the trilogy and I applaud Ms. Stiefvater for ending it the way she did (I won't spoil it for you; it was just nice that she took a different turn than simply putting a pretty bow on it and calling it a day).I figure if you're interested in reading Forever it's because you've also read Shiver and Linger, so I won't waste your time with a detailed synopsis. You know what's going to happen: Sam and Grace need to figure out how to beat the werewolf gene with the help of Isabel and Cole, while battling the likes of Shelby and Isabel's father. There's plenty of edge-of-your-seat moments and heartfelt romance to balance it all out, and in the end, well, it's a bit predictable, but you won't see everything coming, which is what I expect in a YA novel (especially in the conclusion of a series).3 out of 5 stars. I liked it, but I didn't love it. And if you like the genre of paranormal YA novels, you're more than likely going to like this series, as well as this particular book because it, quite simply, fits.

I enjoyed this semi-conclusion to this series. (SINNER is on my Kindle to read in a while.) This book has been sitting on my stack since 2011. So it would be safe to say that the details of the first two books in this series were quite hazy in my mind. Fortunately, I didn't have any trouble picking up the story again.The book is told in four unique viewpoints: Sam's, Grace's, Isabel's and Cole's. Each one shades the story through their perceptions and together we get a complete picture. When the story begins, Sam is "cured," Grace is spending most of her time as a wolf, Cole is desperately trying to find a "cure," and Isabel is dealing with her feeling for Cole, grief for her brother's death, and her friendship with Grace.Things are getting hard for the wolves as Isabel's father is determined to get the wolves removed from protected status and organize a helicopter hunt to exterminate them. Sam is coming to terms with his relationship with Beck as he learns things that change what he thought he knew. I really liked getting to know Cole better through this story. I also really liked Sam and Grace's romance.Though the ending is somewhat ambiguous, I am going to believe that Sam and Grace live happily ever after.

Really enjoyed this book!

In the conclusion to this trilogy, the Mercy Falls wolves are in danger when Tom Culpeper uses his connections to set up an aerial hunt. Cole, Sam, Grace, and their new ally Officer Koenig have a plan to relocate the wolves. The conclusion of the Mercy Falls saga is less than satisfying. The author misses opportunities to develop Grace's character when she confronts her parents after Grace had been absent for months - the tension is wrapped up too quickly and too neatly. The conclusion lacks the tension that the trilogy deserves. Despite the plot, it's impossible to stop reading to find out if Sam can lead the wolves out of the woods and into safety.

awesome!

Well that was more suspenseful than the last book but still not as good as the first. 3.75 stars

Before starting the book, I made a list of things I wanted/expected to happen — things that would satisfy me — and all of them did; for better or worse. In brief: 'Forever' was a near-perfect ending to The Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy.

The story was good. The lead up to the big climax was well written and kept me interested. The climax was great, I'm a little disappointed about Beck, but I kind of expected too. It's the ending that disappointed me. It was ambiguous and I hate those kinds of endings. Three books we shared with Sam and Grace and they don't get their happy ending?! Maybe it's because secretly I am sap at heart, but I feel that after everything they went through Sam and Grace--even Cole--deserved a happily ever after. Instead we get an open-ended ending. It was kind of cruel. She could have just given us an epilogue with a clear decision on if the cure worked or not and if Sam and Grace were together because of or in spite of it. Oh well, can't have everything; I still enjoyed the series.

There are werewolves in Mercy Falls. Unlike their fictional counterparts, these werewolves don't transform with the moon or by choice, but instead shift into mindless wolf form when there's a drop in temperature, and shift back to human form come summer. Early in this trilogy, overachiever Grace saved a young werewolf's life and fell in love. Together, they figured out how to cure the temperature-controlling shifting. But it turns out that the cure was only temporary, and even now that Sam's cure is still working, Grace's has worn off, and she is living the dangerous life of a wild animal. Even worse, a planned extermination of the wolf pack is being planned by the humans of Mercy Falls, who have grown scared and angry after one too many "wild animal" attacks. With the help of suicidal rock star Cole and selfish Isabel, can Sam and Grace save themselves, and the rest of the werewolf pack?

I think there were too many POV characters for this book. Each brought something new to the table and had their own fairly distinct narrative voice, but at the same time, it's a relatively slim plot and time period covered, so telling the tale through four characters feels a little like padding. I still really like Grace and Sam's relationship; it's a great mixture of teenage-first-love and been-through-a-lot-together mature love. I didn't entirely like the ending. For at least twenty years these werewolves have been killing people or turning them into werewolves, sometimes nonconsensually (like Sam and Grace). And given that almost all (if not all) of the werepack was in full beast form, with little chance of having a human mind again, it's not like killing them would have entirely been like killing humans. Frankly, I think this trilogy made a good case for how dangerous the wolves were, but a very bad case for why they should be allowed to roam free.

One of the main plot devices in this book is the conflict with Grace's parents and, just like in the last book, it seemed so forced and unrealistic. Grace was still acting like a 17 year old child and treating her parents like trash. Also, it seemed like they kind of gave up on searching for her, even if they continued to think that Sam murdered her. No combing of lakes or the forest? No search warrants for Sam's house and property?
The second is Cole suddenly becoming a genius scientist and working out how the wolf "disease" works - and actually solving it. It seemed ridiculous and, while it's hard to argue against a fantastical disease that turns a human into a wolf seamlessly, trying to explain it like it's a realistic disease and akin it to malaria and thus making malaria a "cure"... it was just hard to not roll your eyes at. Just because your dad is a famous "rocket scientist" (do we ever learn what his dad actually does?) doesn't mean you can solve complex problems, even if troubleshooting the results on yourself without fear of death.
I still give this 4 stars because overall I really enjoyed it and thought it was a decent close to the trilogy, even if it had a lot of problems. Despite all the problems I have with Steifvater's logic and plots (see my reviews for her Raven Cycle series which I liked less than Shiver), I still really enjoy her writing and characters and will continue to read her books.

Not quiet as good as the first in the series.

By far the best book in the series. Like the other two, it is beautifully written. There is a really good sense of tension throughout, and it was good to see how the different characters dealt with the issues they faced. I still felt a little indifferent towards the relationship between Grace and Sam though, but Grace was a much more interesting character in this book (although I didn't feel that she had much to do with the outcome of the story - this was mainly down to Cole, Sam and Isobel) and Sam came out of his shell a bit more. Really liked Cole as a character and it's good to know that there is another book about him. I'll definitely look out for more books by this author.

What a great series! Loved all the characters, loved the story, wasn't crazy about the end (I like tidy boxes where I know how things end up with 100% certainty) but I cannot wait until my nieces are old enough to read these. I'm sad that my time with Sam and Grace is over.

Sam and Cole work to save the wolves against a press of time initiated by Shelby killing and leaving the body of a young girl. Grace has trouble retaining human form when she can achieve it so Sam is still held to be responsible for her disappearance. But Cole has a plan, and Isabelle will help. The timeline is accelerated for extra drama and as a way of getting certain problems cleaned up, which I found excessively manipulative.

For years he had watched her from afar, waiting for her to join him in the woods as a wolf, but she never did. Years later he finally found her as a human and they thought they could finally be together. Now however, it is she that watches from the woods, torn away from him by winter and a wolf's coat.His greatest fear was losing himself to the wolf inside, but now he fears he has lost the girl he loves to the woods and is being accused of murdering her. Her life now in the woods is filled with the longing for something more and the waiting for the winter to be over, as her future is lost to the uncertainty of the cold.Meanwhile a former rock star is rediscovering life and love only now after he has given up on both. And a broken princess, whose brother's death has instigated the hunt for the wolves, will rediscover a meaning to life that was lost when she lost her brother.Forever is a story of werewolves and love, but more then anything it is a story of Sam and Grace. The heart of this story is a couple who will never give-up on each other and never stop loving each other. A tender, heart pounding and unforgettable end to a series that has been so engrossing it will make you Shiver with longing when it's over.

teen paranormal romance (werewolves). Have really enjoyed this series--ending was satisfactory and look forward to reading more from Stiefvater in her new series (with different characters).

2.5 starsPossible spoilers for previous books... Maggie is now a wolf; everyone thinks she is missing, but Sam knows otherwise as she is staying with him. Famous musician Cole (who has also been missing, I think) and friend(?) Isabelle also know that Maggie is still alive.. Isabelle’s father(?) is insisting on a wolf hunt to get rid of the wolves once and for all. I missed a bit too much in the first half to give it a higher rating. As usual, a better recap would have been appreciated... but then, maybe there was one and I missed it? It did pick up for me in the second half, and I paid more attention (I was listening to the audio, so that’s always easier for me to lose focus). It’s unfortunate I never did really figure out where Cole or Isabelle fit in, nor did I like either character very much.

WHAT A JOURNEY


I have to admit, this series kind of got me into werewolves. I love the world created, and the "rules" of the werewolves. The characters are all unique, with very distinct voices: the strongest part of this series is how the mismatch of characters all somehow fit together to create a misfit family. The bonds between everyone are very strong, and easy to see, although sometimes not easy to understand. The writing isn't as sophisticated as Stiefvater's later works, but it's clean and clear and filled with lines that make your heart skip.

Yeah, things do just kind of "fall into place," and maybe it ends a bit too perfectly, but sometimes all we want is a happy ending. I'm here for it.

Sam, Grace and Cole must save the wolves, once things warm up enough for Grace and Cole can get a microscope and Sam can make the switch from songwriting to reciting German poetry. It's all sweet and ridiculous and even exciting as I slept in on a Sunday, listening to the last installments.

Deducting stars for the seemingly unfinished ending.

I'm sad that it's over. But happy with the resolution. Still can't stand Grace's so-called parents, though.

I was looking forward to the conclusion of the series, but it fell flat for me. Did Olivia and Beck really have to die?

I liked how the series ended. I was completely satisfied. But it took too long for me to get there. Maggie Stiefvator's writing style is beautiful, but not my kind of read.

I don't like long descriptions of things, too much back history, and moaning in someone's head. We really got to know the character's but more than I cared or needed to know. I started skimming for just the action, dialogue, and important scenes and then I enjoyed the book. What do they say, don't write the parts that readers don't want to read. But that's the thing, most readers probably would want to read Stiefvator's writing style, just not me. So discount my three stars if you love language and the written word is a work of art for you. I just like action and pull and drive. This book did have them but spaced at intervals too far apart for me. And still I wonder how Stiefvater gets in the character's heads like she does. if only I could write like her, but again, that's not me.

The concept of her wolves and how they shift and the sciencey aspect was awesome. I greatly appreciated and loved Cole and how he came in. And Isabel might have been my favorite. I didn't care so much for Sam and Grace in this one. Their relationship felt too temporary, always worrying. And poor Sam. Just poor Sam. That's all I can really say. And Beck. He had an appropriate conclusion. Fitting.

One note. Excellent descriptions aside, I felt that her grammar kind of lacked. I really got tired of It was, it was, it was. There was. There is. She would tack on dialogue tags mid paragraph when the reader clearly knew who was speaking. Sometimes I felt she did it for emphasis and sometimes it got old.

Clean read.

I was very pleased with the ending to this trilogy! This series was my first to read by Maggie Stiefvater and I am so glad that I read it because it introduced me to her books. I loved Sam and Grace and was happy with how their story together turned out. I also love that the series takes place in my home state, MN. Not a lot of books or movies do so it's always cool to find one that does. I'm looking forward to reading more about Cole and Isabel in Sinner.

The story was good. The lead up to the big climax was well written and kept me interested. The climax was great, I'm a little disappointed about Beck, but I kind of expected too. It's the ending that disappointed me. It was ambiguous and I hate those kinds of endings. Three books we shared with Sam and Grace and they don't get their happy ending?! Maybe it's because secretly I am sap at heart, but I feel that after everything they went through Sam and Grace--even Cole--deserved a happily ever after. Instead we get an open-ended ending. It was kind of cruel. She could have just given us an epilogue with a clear decision on if the cure worked or not and if Sam and Grace were together because of or in spite of it. Oh well, can't have everything; I still enjoyed the series.

Much, much better than the first two.

I begin reading yesterday [Sunday, December 04, 2011] and now I'm almost half way through the book. It's going great. I have a feeling that the end will be sad.

I love Isabel and Cole even though she is cruel and he's crazy, hope they could be together. I like Grace though she is a bit cold like her mom said but Sam is so weak, I wish he could be stronger for them both. I like them as a couple but they are not my favorite.

I know that Sam is supposed to be 19 but for some reason, since the first time I read Shiver, I always imagine him played by Lee Pace. Sam seems so much older than 19, more 29 or something. Grace in my mind seems to look a lot like Tamara Hope, straight soft blond hair and innocent cold face, with petite body. AnnaLynne McCord is my Isabel and Cole is Aaron Johnson.

I reached chapter 45 in Forever... I can't wait to see why everyone is disappointed by the ending. I love Cole and Isabel together. Even when they're not together. Sam and Grace are a bit boring and old-ish in the way they act. Though I LOVED the part where Sam bought Grace the summer dress, and when she wore it for him. Very romantic!!

I just finished the book [Tuesday, December 13, 2011] finally! And I don't get why people hated the ending! It was obviously a happy ending, they are all still kids, but they will end together, the ring in the end could mean either engagement or already married. Most importantly Cole didn't die! Thank God! In my mind he and Isabel become those crazy couples living in the woods with a punch of wolves for pets, making experiments and saving lives. I think Isabel would become a doctor. But I'm not sure about Sam and Grace. Maybe Grace will fall in love with another guy or Sam could be a famous writer or singer.