Forever Review Brought to you by OBS staff member Erin
Synopsis:
“In Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. In Linger, they fought to be together. Now, in Forever, the stakes are even higher than before. Wolves are being hunted. Lives are being threatened. And love is harder and harder to hold on to as death comes closing in.” (via Good Reads)
Review:
I read Forever as soon as it came out in mid-July. It’s now a month later and this is the first time I can really write about it. It was nothing like I expected and I had to sit and think about it before I judged it (my initial reaction was “No, wait…what?!?”). So I’ve thought about it. I’ve read other reviews about it (this book seems to have bring out two distinct reactions: absolute adoration or utter disappointment). And at first, I was disappointed. And shocked. And almost angry. Which is why I didn’t want to write the review. I adore Shiver. It is one of my all time favorite books. So I felt almost betrayed by the final book. And then I thought about it. A lot.
So I read it again. And I looked for details I might have missed the first time. But what finally gave me closure wasn’t the book itself, it was interviews with the author. While never actually giving away details, she gave more hints about the tone, and how she felt when she was writing it (for instance, a book should keep you thinking after it’s done and that if you get a perfect ending your mind just files it away). I know most people will not look at it as intensely as I did, and they may not get the closure they were looking for.
So from that perspective, I’ll say that the book didn’t do everything it should have done, that even if the end was exactly the same, the 300-odd pages before should have gone a little deeper. But as always, it was well written and exciting, and incredibly romantic. You get to see life from the view of the pack, which I was very happy about (that’s actually my favorite part). I would still recommend it, because if you don’t mind agonizing over it for awhile, it does finish out the series nicely.
Maggie said in an interview (that contains spoilers) that she has gotten complaints about Sam and Grace: “People have said that there is no struggle inherent in their relationship, no “do they love each other?!?!?” or not, and that is the way I think a solid relationship is.” Because their relationship isn’t where the action comes from. Sam and Grace are meant to be together. In fact, that is the only sure thing in the series. It’s everything else in the world that’s uncertain.
And I recommend you keep that in mind when you read Forever.
3 1/2 out of 5 Stars
