Forever (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, #3)

by Maggie Stiefvater

[Leah]

Maggie Stiefvater is just an evil, evil writer. She put me through so much with Shiver and Linger and I think she’s damn well killed me with Forever. I’m kind of just sitting here in a daze, unable to believe everything that’s happened… That it’s all over* but it’s not really over because THAT WAS NOT THE END OF THE BOOK. That cannot possibly be the end! Yes, it ended. Yes, the ending was okay, but it wasn’t exactly happy ever after now WAS IT? WAS IT???????!!!!!! No. So I’m kinda peeved, because I like my endings happy-ever-after style, wrapped in bows, etc. I WANT ANOTHER ONE, MAGGIE. WITH PROPER CLOSURE, PLEASE.

It honestly, genuinely feels like Maggie Stiefvater ripped out my heart, stomped all over it and then attempted to put it back together. Right from the Prologue, I was devastated (even though I didn’t know it until later – Shelby was just the worst, OK? THE. WORST.) and it gets to the point where you’re wondering just how much worse it can get? How much can two people really go through, before they can be happy? If that’s even a possibility. And what of Cole and Isabel, both self-destructive and volatile? It’s a lot to take in for one 500 page book, but Stiefvater pulls it off easily. I was panicked throughout, worried about everyone – all the wolves, Grace being a new wolf, Sam and Grace being apart, Cole and his inability to not inject himself with things that might kill him, there was so much tension and angst there, but it was incredible, too? Proving, once and for all, that I am clearly a masochist.

Grace and Sam’s love story will stay with me forever (unintended pun), it’s one of those unforgettable stories that you find yourself thinking of in odd moments. In fact, the whole series will be pretty hard to forget, because it was incredible. As it turns out, it was everything I wanted in a series – and then some. I can see now why everyone LOVES Maggie’s books, why they rave about the Wolves of Mercy Falls series because it’s intoxicating, incredibly hard to put down and the characters feel so real it’s as if you can see it all playing out, like you’re watching TV instead of reading a book. I don’t feel ready to let any of the characters go, I feel like I could read about them forever (OH GOD, THERE I GO AGAIN). I do, however, wish someone had told me to stock up on the tissues. What is it with authors, final books in a series, and their wish to just kill people’s emotions, until their eyes are just continuously leaking fluid? If you read this series: BRING SOME TISSUES, for the love of wolves. Yes, I should have known better; yes, I’ve read enough series finales and watched enough series finales to know death is inevitable (I’m looking at you Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Arrow) but I hoped for different, and I was proven wrong and thoroughly devastated. But don’t let that put you off, because I promise you: This book series is extraordinary and I still feel stupid for not having read it sooner. It’s perfect in every way.

*Except for the companion book, Sinner, which doesn’t count??? As it’s about Cole and Isabel???