REVIEW: FOREVER (WOLVES OF MERCY FALLS #3)

There are writers that create magic, and there are series and characters that hook you in. The Wolves of Mercy Falls is one of those series…

Forever
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Series: Yes, Wolves of Mercy Falls series #3
UK Publisher: Scholastic
UK release date: July 2011
Genre: YA

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. (Goodreads)

Review: One of the main endearing qualities to this series is the characters. Grace is undergoing huge changes, which feel both natural and unwanted at the same time. Sam is accused of Olivia and Grace’s disappearance, whilst trying to come to terms with Beck’s past and Grace’s future.
I love the contrast between quiet, thoughtful Sam and brash Cole, who is quickly becoming my favourite character. Cole and Isabel both feature a lot more in Forever, which I really enjoyed. They fight against each other, both scared to open up and be themselves. I really do root for them as I know deep down they are good people.

Mr Culpepper is one of those guys that not only loves power and seeing other things destroyed, but feels that other people must pay for his losses. The irony is that as I start hating him more for wanting to hunt down the wolves, his relationship as a husband and father improves. Hating him is easy and hard at the same time.

Forever has a perfect balance between being character and plot driven. You get right inside the heads of Sam, Grace, Cole and Isabel, all of whom are very different. Yet each of their stories is endearing and gripping. At the same time, there is a definite race against time to protect the wolves from Mr Culpepper’s plans to destroy them.

Maggie Stiefvater’s writing is undoubtedly beautiful, poetic and flowing. What I love best (and I’ve probably said this before) are the little details that make things seem so real and true. Minute details and nuances that nonetheless make the characters jump up off the page in full 3D glory.

When you get to the last book in any series, there is always an underlying expectation as a reader…for the story to go out with a bang, for the perfect happy ending, or for some real resolutions. What I like about Forever is that Maggie Stievfater doesn’t give you these things in bucket loads, but the story is better for it. I like that little bit of mystery. I can understand that some people might find this frustrating, but I wonder whether happy endings really exist anyway?

Forever is a beautiful, heart wrenching and gripping end to the Wolves of Mercy Falls series.

Rating: 5*