Forever by Maggie Steifvater

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
Release Date: July 12th 2011
Publisher: Scholastic Inc
Add it: Goodreads
Overall:  ♥♥♥

This is going to be an incredibly difficult review.

Shiver had me interested, however it wasn't my favourite, Linger was even better and again, Maggie had me a snivelling wreck throughout the book. As for Forever? Oh, I wanted to love it, I really really did. There were bits I loved but honestly, my emotions were ALL OVER THE PLACE whilst reading that I just can't love it the way I loved Linger especially.

Forever explores Isabel's and Cole's relationship, this really pleased me because Isabel and Cole are two of my favourite literary characters ever. They're both just so messed up in the head and real that I can't help but want the two to hurry up and be in a relationship. I was once again impressed with Isabel's character, due to the fact that she actually gave a shit that her brother died. In alot of YA novels, a character's family member or friend may die, and said character then finds true love and forgets all about their lost loved one. This seriously pisses me off and I'm so so glad that even though Isabel's feelings for Cole were blossoming, she didn't forget the fact that she just happened to lose her brother a few months earlier. Her inner dialogue really made me sympathise with her because in reality, which Wolves of Mercy Falls manages to portray, this very real depression happens.

As for Cole, I really grew to love Cole. His presence sort of annoyed me in Linger because I didn't know why he was even in the story and I thought that he was just added as a balm for Isabel's pain. However, Cole proved to be extremely intelligent and emotional in this installment and reminded me of many guys I know - not the whole rockstar thing, but the hiding the true emotion thing.

In regards to Grace and Sam's relationship. I was disappointed. If you happened to turn into a wolf and hadn't seen your love for months on end, would you not be DESPERATE to find them? I mean, I know Grace was a wolf and wolves forget their human memories and feelings and all that jazz but AFTER SHE TURNS BACK INTO A HUMAN, she FORGETS his name. WTF. She redeemed herself in my eyes when she finally went off her face at her dimwitted parents - her father in particular. As for Sam, well, if you've read my reviews of Shiver or Linger on Goodreads (or in the review archive) you will know how much of a Sam fangirl I am. That hasn't changed.

This installment took me an incredible amount of time to get into, I was over halfway the book when last night, I decided I was going to finished this series and because I found myself more invested in the book then I had the last couple of days. I  stayed up until 3 AM. The ball finally started rolling and I finally started to really get into this installment. When the ball started rolling, the tears started to flow. **SPOILER**Beck and Sam's conversation was heartbreaking and this quote undone me... "And it that split second, as Beck's face turned toward the ceiling, his eyes unchanging, I saw my own face". Really, this entire scene had me in tears, but that last sentence made me BAWL. **SPOILER ENDED**. At one point, after Cole was done waiting for the wolves to come and when he saw Sam and Shelby, I went crazy. These last few chapters had my emotions swinging one way to the other and I had emotional whiplash. One minute I was crying, then I was happy, the next minute I was angry at Maggie for ONE particular scene involving Cole, Shelby and Beck. After said particular scene, I felt numb and angry. I didn't even cry when I normally would have because I was in shock. THEN Maggie pulls another stunt, which made me happy again.

The entire second half of this installment had me going nuts with emotion and then, it just ended. Just like that. I was so so incredibly disappointed and I was extremely upset with the way it ended, because it didn't leave me with any closure, it just left me wondering if I had a dodgy copy and if pages were missing. I mean, I STAYED UP UNTIL 3AM FOR IT TO END LIKE THAT?. Due to that, and the slow beginning, it really pains me to give this a three star rating because if it ended differently, this series could have easily been up there with some of my other favourites. I'm afraid I can't say that anymore.