Linger Blog Tour Part 2 and 3: Review//Interview//WINNER

And the WINNER of the LINGER giveaway is......

MY NAME IS PATRICIA!!

Please email me (blackdiamond508 AT aol DOT com) with your mailing address within the next 48 hours.

Thanks to everyone who participate in my first contest!

Part 2 and 3 of the Maggie Stiefvater's book, Linger, is an interview and review.

Here's the link to my review of Linger: http://bclement412.blogspot.com/2010/05/review-linger-by-maggie-stiefvater.html

And here is my interview with Maggie about Linger:

1. Why did you decide to have 4 alternating narrators in Linger?

Because two just wasn’t hard enough! No, actually, it was because I really wanted to have two characters to play off Sam and Grace and their relationship. In order to really dig into the angst back story, I had to get inside their heads.

2. Who is your favorite character from Linger, and why?

You can’t really pick favorite characters for the same reason you can’t pick favorite children: they’ll come and kill you in the night. But I have to say I really enjoyed writing Cole’s narrative arc. He changes really dramatically and that is fun and challenging for a writer.

3. What element(s) of Linger do you wish could be part of your own life?

The chicken parmesan Grace and Rachel made. Everything else would send me to therapy. Oh, well, I guess I’d like to hear Sam’s music from this book. I have a couple of tunes I’ve written for his songs, but I think they’d sound better if he sang them.

4. Do you ever dream about your characters/stories? If so, do those dreams ever become part of the actual book?

I dream about my characters and stories all the time. Dreams are often the genesis of my short stories and while I usually can’t use them exactly as they happen, they often have kernels of great stuff that I couldn’t think of while awake. I can always tell when I’m really deep into a rough draft because I’ll start dreaming scenes from the book. Yay, subconscious. I think a lot of authors take inspiration from their dreams.

5. When you were writing the Shiver, did you have an idea of what was to come in Linger?

Not at first, but as I dug deeper into Grace’s backstory, little pieces began to fall into place. I’m afraid I’m a rather loosy-goosy plotter -- I come up with final scenes and a few key scenes along the way and then I just go from there.

6. Can you share anything at all about the third and final book in the series, Forever?

No. But nice try :)

Linger Blog Tour Part 1: GIVEAWAY!

Okay, so time-out on that vacation thingy, because I am holding my first GIVEAWAY! Yup, that's right. I was asked by Scholastic to participate in Maggie Stiefvater's blog tour for Linger, and they are giving away ONE copy to a lucky winner.

Rules:

* US only

* Must be over 13

* Must become a blog follower

Extra Points- Max of 28 extra points! (don't forget to leave links or it will not count):

+5 for a blog post

+5 for a tweet

+5 for facebook status

+3 for posting this on your sidebar

+3 for referring someone (mention each others names, and you will both get +3)

+1 for posting each of these links:

Maggie's website:

http://www.maggiestiefvater.com/

SHIVER series site:

http://www.maggiestiefvater.com/shiver/

Maggie Stiefvater’s blog:

http://m-stiefvater.livejournal.com/

Author Twitter:

http://twitter.com/mstiefvater

Author Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Maggie-Stiefvater-Really-its-me/412830324465?v=wall

Maggie Stiefvater’s Linger Book Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l59sMzeA_vQ

Scholastic.com official Shiver page

http://www.scholastic.com/shiver/

The winner will be announced JULY 21

Thank you for participating and helping me promote both my blog and Linger!

*leave points and links in the comments if you want to enter*

for other people hosting giveaways, here's a website that might help: http://www.giveawayscout.com/

From their website:

Giveaway Scout is a giveaway search engine. Our users subscribe to receive updates on the latest giveaways on the web. Add your blog and your giveaways will be exposed to our large network or users.

Cover Comparison Thursday: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Cover Comparison Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by me to showcase international covers of a certain book, and share our opinions on each.

<-- Catalan Edition

I LOVE the color scheme on this..! The dusty rose is really gorgeous, probably more so in person. It's nearly identical to the light blue US version, which I also love.

VERDICT: OF COURSE! Of course I would pick up this book, don't be silly ;)

SCORE: 10/10

Greek-->

I really like this cover. The design is really similar to the US version, but a little eerier. My only worry is that because there is so much black, it would really blend in to a darker bookshelf.

VERDICT: I would definitely pick up this book. I love this cover.

SCORE: 9/10

ETA: ooh i just noticed the heart shaped leaves!! i'm a big fan of those :)

<-- German

(title means After the Summer)

I love the girl giving her heart to the wolf, as well as the German title, "After the Summer," but not much else. The parchment-y look and the font makes the book look older and more geared towards adults. It's not really a teen-oriented cover.

VERDICT: I don't think I would pick up this book based on the cover.

SCORE: 4/10

Brazil -->

Again, this cover looks more like an adult novel. I do like it more than the German edition though. The wolf stalking through the forest is a nice touch. The color scheme is sort of bland, not really sure it would stick out on a shelf.

VERDICT: It's debatable whether I would pick this up. Probably depends on my mood.

SCORE: 6/10

So, I definitely like the Catalan edition, as well as the US edition. They're both stunning, like the words and the story inside the cover.

Which is your favorite?

*If you choose to participate in this meme, leave the link to your post in the comments and I'll be sure to comment!

In My Mailbox (2)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at the Story Siren.

I'm a bit behind with my IMM, so this post is going to be from what I've received the past few weeks/since my last IMM.

ARCS for Review:

(cover not final)

Where the Truth Lies by Jessica Warman

(sorry couldn't find a picture of a cover for this one, but here is the authors website: http://jessicawarman.com/)

Store-Bought

Other:

Swag for the Body Finder (autographed)

Swag for the The Tension of Opposites

So what did you get this week?

Trailer for Linger

Superfantabulous trailer for Linger, done by Maggie Stiefvater herself:

Review: Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: Linger (sequel to Shiver)
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Release Date: July 20, 2010
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Length: 358pages
Format: ARC

Summary:

The Longing.

Once Grace and Sam have found each other, they know they must fight to stay together. For Sam, this means a reckoning with his werewolf past. For Grace, it means facing a future that is less and less certain.

The Loss.

Into their world comes a new wolf named Cole, whose past is full of hurt and danger. He is wrestling with his own demons, embracing the life of a wold while denying the ties of being human.

The Linger.

For Grace, Sam, and Cole, life is a constant struggle between two forces--wolf and human-- with love baring its two sides as well. It is harrowing and euphoric, freeing and entrapping, enticing and alarming. As their world falls apart, love is what lingers. But will it be enough?


Review:

Linger was like reading butter. The writing was silky smooth, fatty, and addicting. A guilty pleasure. But eating too much butter at once gives you a stomach ache, so I read this in pieces at a time, because the writing was so thick and beautiful that I would have become obese with jealousy and awe if I read it in one sitting.

Linger is told in the four alternating viewpoints of Sam, Grace, Isabel, and Cole. I did have a few issues with this, as Sam, Grace, and Isabel's voices so closely mirrored each other I had to keep flipping back to the beginning of the chapter to remind myself who was speaking. Cole's voice, however, was distinct and by far the most interesting and complex character. He opted to become a wolf in an attempt to forget about the complications, pain, and regret in his human life. This created an unbelievable tension between Sam and Cole, a tension that makes your stomach twist with apprehension.

The beginning of the book did linger for me a bit (no pun intended), as it took the time to set the stage for the events to come in the latter pages. I admit, I probably would have put it down if 1. The writing hadn't been so magnificent. 2. I hadn't been so compelled to figure out Cole and 3. The mystery of Grace's illness wasn't so gut-wrenching. You may be in for a surprise for this one, because I definitely was. I also have to admit this: If I had put the book down after the first 30 pages, I would have made a huge mistake. This book is worth reading again and again and again.

And you should be prepared to possibly shed a tear at the end.



Grade: A-