Book Review & Giveaway: Forever

*Spoiler free* review

By Maggie Steifvater

Published by Scholastic

Released on July 12th, 2011 TODAY

Source- ARC from publisher to review

Purchase at: Scholastic| Amazon| The Book Depository| Barnes & Noble

5 stars- The Perfect Ending To One of My Favorite Series

The thrilling conclusion to #1 bestselling Shiver trilogy from Maggie Stiefvater

then.

When Sam met Grace, he was a wolf and she was a girl. Eventually he found a way to become a boy, and their love moved from a curious distance to the intense closeness of shared lives.

now.

That should have been the end of their story. But Grace was not meant to stay human. Now she is the wolf. And the wolves of Mercy Falls are about to be killed in one final, spectacular hunt.

forever.

Sam would do anything for Grace. But can one boy and one love really change a hostile, predatory world? The past, the present, and the future are about to collide in one pure moment - a moment of death or life, farewell or forever.

With it's well paced romance, heartache, suspense and light humor, Forever is a fitting end to a captivating series.

I love this series. Maggie Stievfater has a talent for weaving together beauty, heartache, love, yearning, change, character growth and a sense of belonging that made it so easy for me to fall in love with The Wolves of Mercy Falls. Her writing isn't just beautiful, poetic, and flawless, it's completely engaging and mesmerizing. Unlike the rest of the series I had to pace myself with Forever, which I'll admit was extremely hard to do. My wanting to savor everything that was going to happen, and wishing this series didn't have to end helped me to not devour this book as quickly as I did the others.

I loved seeing the story from four different points of views. I felt the characters bonds of friendship, their trust with each other, and the love they have for another grew a lot. I admire the inner strength and the courage they each have, to face their inner battles. Grace, Sam, Cole and Isabel are such strong characters in their own ways, and in Forever I came to love them all equally. There is a lot that happens in Forever and I liked the way Maggie paced the story. It not only allowed me to feel connected emotionally to her characters and story, but she allowed me to feel the desperation, defiance, fear, forgiveness and small glimmer of hope each of the characters had throughout the book. One of my all time favorite things about this series is Sam and Grace's love for each other. With everything Grace and Sam endure over the series and especially in Forever, their love continues to be ageless and beautiful. It's realistic, it's solid, it's enduring, forgiving and strong. The wonderful thing about it is that I'm not left feeling like it was a fairytale love, it's a love that's real and as Maggie recently said, "is completely attainable as long as you swear you won't settle for less."

I'll admit, I was a little worried to read Forever. Not just because it's the ending of one of my favorite series, but I didn't want to become a blubbering wreck after I finished it. Surprisingly I didn't cry once, though I wanted to a few times. Ending this series feels like saying good bye to an old friend. Though I'm sad the series has to come to an end I felt the ending was perfect. I'm left with a sense of fulfillment and I am completely satisfied with what Maggie did. For me the ending was perfectly fitting and I'm left feeling hopeful for my favorite character's futures.

There are so many more things I'd love to say about Forever. I really enjoyed this book as much as I have enjoyed the entire series. If you haven't already picked up Shiver & Linger, I highly recommend that you do. I definitely recommend going out and picking up a copy of Forever TODAY!

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Mark your calendars for August 12th, as we'll be chatting LIVE with Maggie about Forever!! We can't wait and yes this will be a spoiler filled chat.

You can go here to read my review of Linger.

This Is Teen:

Scholastic recently launched an online community called This Is Teen to connect readers with their favorite YA authors and books. Visit their page on Facebook for all the latest news on Maggie Stiefvater and Forever: www.facebook.com/thisisteen.

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.

Thank you to Scholastic, we have 2 copies of Forever, along with Forever keychains we're giving away. This giveaway is open to residents of the US. To enter, please fill out the form below.