The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater: The Book Trailer

Lets have a shout out for all the readers stuck at home rather than at BEA.

I feel you my friends.

Seriously considered purchasing a last minute ticket and kidnapping my bookish BFF for the event…If only to score an ARC of Stiefvater’s latest:

The Raven Boys

If you haven’t already read it, the first few chapters of the book are up on Shelf-Life at Entertainment Weekly.com. Read at your own risk. I personally loved it so much it only made my hunger for the book more voracious!

Ugh, take me to BEA! I need this book now!!

But unless a Fairy Godmother shows up soon I’ll just have to settle for Stiefvater’s book trailer. As always, pictures and music were all created by the amazing Maggie herself.

If you’d like a shot at an ARC head on over to Maggie’s blog Words on Words to enter the contest.

If the odds are not ever in your favor you can pre-order The Raven Boys from Fountain Bookstore, Maggie’s independent bookstore of choice. If you order from Fountain Maggie will personally sign and doodle in your copy of the book. So worth it!

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The Scorpio Races…Quotes and *Spoilers*

Because the writing was so good.

Because the story begs a little discussion.

It’s time to share some Quotes and *Spoilers*

Quotes:

After Gabe announces he’s moving to the mainland – alone – and Puck announces her intent to run in the Scorpio Races…Puck returns to her room to deal with the emotional fallout:

“Then I walk into my room, close the door, and put my pillow over my head so no one will hear.

“Selfish bastard,” I whisper, the words close under the pillowcase” (Puck, 26, 1st ed.)

I just liked the following quote. Sometimes authors phrase something in a way that hits you…explains something in the perfect phrase.

“Tommy shouts, “I didn’t hear you right.”

But I know he did. He just doesn’t believe what he heard. Dad once said people’s brains are hard of hearing” (Puck, 46, 1st ed.)

I loved the wording of the following quote. Love that it becomes layered when you compare a Capaill Usice to a regular horse; Corr to regular Capaill Usice…

“At the moment, he [Corr] can tell that he’s being watched by a stranger, so he picks his feet up and tosses his mane a little more than usual. I allow him his show. There are worse flaws than vanity in a horse.” (Sean, 84, 1st ed.)

*Spoilers*

– – – Watch Out Below! – – –

The Race

OMG.

Was everyone else on the edges of their seat too? I swear I read the whole thing tensed, as if I could jump into the pages and save someone…knock another horse out of the way. It was like being in the mires with them.

I don’t know how I felt about the ending of the race though. My emotions were so mixed. I do think it was the best way to end the race now that I have a little bit of space between myself and the end of the book. I guess I had these dreams of a simultaneous finish…like Puck and Sean crossing at the exact same time…maybe holding hands – I don’t know -. Which obviously doesn’t fit for either character, but a girl can dream right?

It’s definitely right that Puck finished first. I think it completed the feminism thought Stiefvater had running through the book. As did the fact that Puck herself didn’t overly care about the ‘fame’ that came with winning…only the fact that it saved both her family and gave her some power to help Sean with his own goal of owning Corr. I was surprised that Stiefvater chose to completely ignore the ceremony of winning. I thought it was a smart move. It said more about Puck and the place the races held for her than anything else.

And I just have to end by saying *Tear* when Corr starts hobbling back to Sean! OMG was anyone else bawling? That single scene could have made the book for me had I not already loved so much. In the end the payoff of the novel is the love between Sean and Puck and also the connection between Sean and Corr. Loved. That.

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ARC Giveaway…The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Earlier in the week I posted my Giveaway of a signed copy of Forever (Wolves of Mercy Falls #3)…

But just today I saw that over on Maggie Stiefvater’s blog she’s giving away signed and potentially doodled ARCs of her upcoming book The Scorpio Races. What’s great about Stiefvater’s next subject is that it’s not related at all to Mercy Falls. Granted I loved the series. But it felt complete in it’s ending. The next subject for Stiefvater is Irish Water Horses.

Now, I know noting about tales of Irish Water Horses. But I love the way Stiefvater writes. And judging from my recent trip to Ireland, the place is pretty magical. I need nothing more than those two criterion to suggest this next series for my reading pleasure.

Here’s a little summary from Goodreads describing the novel:

“It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die. 

At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them. 

Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.”

If the summary wasn’t enough no need to worry. Stiefvater has put together a book trailer (drawings and music done by none other than Maggie herself!) to whet the appetite.

If you’d like to enter her contest for a signed and potentially doodled on ARC of The Scorpio Races head on over to her blog…The World According to Maggie Stiefvater to join in on the fun.

And if you’d like to enter into a Giveaway for a slightly less doodled on, but signed copy of Forever (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #3) Click Here…I promise your chances are much better for winning 😉

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Library Musings…Forever Giveaway and Snorkeling

So Books and Books is this super cool Miami book chain with a cute cafe and very cool books. They also have Author Events. They had this super cool This is Teen – Live! event where Libba Bray (Beauty Queens), Maggie Stiefvater (Forever Wolves of Mercy Falls #3), and Meg Cabot (Abandon) were coming to talk and sign books. Sounds like a YA-lover’s dream! I was giddy with thoughts of book signings, author talks, and general bookish chit-chat.

Then I looked at the date: July 23

Darn…

You see my own teen (my cousin Casey) was set to visit that very weekend! Oh fates…how you play me. We’d been trying to arrange Casey’s visit for 6 months. Between our already busy visitation schedule (this happens when you live next to the beach) and Casey’s packed dance regieme…free weekends were few and far between. When we finally decided on the fourth weekend in July it seemed perfect. Until my bookish-moral-dilema that is…To ditch the family and visit my dream authors? Or not?

I’m a good cousin…I chose snorkeling with the fam instead…Anyone out there proud of me for taking the moral high road? Can a girl get a cookie?

It was pretty fun.

That being said…I still didn’t completely miss out. I called the nice people at Books and Books and had them hold a few signed copies for me. Beauty Queens was one of my favorite books this year and I just couldn’t pass up a signed copy. Plus, Forever is the last in the Wolves of Mercy Falls series…To be so close and not get a signed copy of that too…crazy talk.

So I ended up with a fun weekend, full of pictures and family fun

And a few signed books

But wait…there’s more…I picked up an extra signed copy of Forever for one lucky reader. Yep, I’m nice like that 😉

Just comment on this post and I’ll have Randomizer pick out one lucky reader on August 23 (the hubby’s B-day…this way I’ll remember the date, lol)

Oh, and what the heck…if you Tweet this giveaway I’ll throw in an extra entry…Just add another comment to the post with your Twitter link.

Good Luck to All!

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Forever (Wolves of Mercy Falls #3) by Maggie Stiefvater *Spoilers*

Click Here to enter to win a Signed copy of Forever

*Spoilers*

Review

This was by far my favorite book of the series. I know it ends without resolving the wolf/human problem…but still, it seemed strangely finished to me. Having that last image of a fall leaf as a wedding band around Grace’s finger is a beautiful one. Leaving the couple on the verge of transformation and future. Whether that future be a traditional marriage and family, or a life in the wild as wolves remains to be seen. But I guess ultimately the reader feels as though whatever the choice, the love between Grace and Sam will have its forever together.

I think Isabel and Cole will also have a future. Maybe if Cole is ever cured he’ll join Isabel in California. Their relationship was always far more realistic than Sam and Graces…never an instant forever attraction…instead it seems like one that will grow over time. Not everyone needs to find marriage at 17.

Now for just a few things I loved about Cole and Isabel’s relationship this book:

• The little black mustang Isabel gave Cole, and that scene where Cole drives the car around Isabel’s body. Seeing Cole play with it at inopportune moments. Very endearing.
• The scene where Cole and Isabel are hiding underneath the lab table – making out!? – and getting caught by Isabel’s mom…who (luckily, lol) just kind of rolls her eyes and lets the two of them off the hook.
• Isabel watching Cole give his life for Sam and Grace and then rolling that SUV off the road to save the pack. She, more than anyone, has given to a cause that has done nothing but hurt her throughout this series. For that I will always love Isabel as my favorite character from Mercy Falls. That girl has heart and guts and deserves the kisses and affection of that hot St. Claire boy.

*sigh*

Now more random notes about Forever…

I also loved the scene in the beginning of the book where Isabel loses it at the Italian restaurant and her mother again saves the day with understanding rarely seen in parents in this series. The way her mother instantly understands the situation and helps her daughter was unique and heartwarming. It was just perfect to see Isabel finally show some emotion over all that she’s been dealing with and then getting the support of her mother. That scene made me very happy.

Another happy moment was when Sam and Grace drive off to see the northern lights. Throughout these novels Grace and Sam get one good scene per book. One happy, uncomplicated, field trip where they just get to be two crazy kids in love. The whole thing reminded me of getting lost in the country with my hubby when we were teens. Granted he was never lost because he has a good sense of direction…where as I couldn’t find my way out of a paper bag with a map. Still it’s the thought that counts, and it’s always kind of romantic to be alone in a car watching the stars with the man you love.

I guess I’m a little sad to be leaving Mercy Falls. Part of me wishes I knew what really happened to all the characters in the future. But I think that the strength in the ending is really that Stiefvater picked her battle. She chose to focus on the struggle to find a new leader of the pack and the escape from the shotgun of Tom Culpepper. Her characters matured and are now ready to face their lives as adults. At the age of 18 there’s no way to ensure a happily ever after anyway…Because fans of Mercy Falls are all hoping for a long life and relationship between Grace and Sam and to have a full life is to have one full of both joy and sorrow. The ending of this series is really the beginning of life for its characters.

Who else is hoping for a 10 year update? lol. Maybe Stiefvater will return to the falls someday…

Rating: 9/10

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Linger (Wolves of Mercy Falls #2) by Maggie Stiefvater *Spoilers*

*Spoilers*

Review

One of my favorite parts of this book was when Grace told off her parents. I normally don’t support this type of outburst from teen characters. I often find that either the adult they are ranting at was such a caricature of a person that it seems unfair…or that they aren’t seeing a valid adult point of view. Not so in Mercy Falls. Grace’s parents aren’t super strict or super unfair, they just kind of ignore the fact that they have a child. And they have a good child. A cooking, homework completing, friend-having child. And that they finally care after all these years…after Grace has finally assembled her own support system is both realistic and the epitome of the word injustice. I read the section where she tells them off twice! And my only critique was that if I was Grace…I would have run away that night!

And Sam had his own bit of empowerment. In this book Sam really begins to come into his humanness. It’s like watching the thaw from winter to spring. Even when Grace is dying/changing into a wolf, Sam is still secure in his choice to stay human. It’s what makes their love so heart-wrenching…They’re obviously meant to be together but both are driven by what’s inside them to desire wolf or human. Neither feels the need to force the other to stay one way or another. You can’t help but fall for the connection these two have. Everyone who sees them feels it.

Now to the eye candy of the novel…I’ll say this first, Cole is hot! But he’s so self-centered. I just don’t think that his issues stand up to his attitude. I mean, I get that stuff went wrong in his life – jaded rock star and all. But others in these books have more valid issues and less trouble interacting with others…Sam’s parents tried to kill him, Isabelle’s parents are on the verge of divorce and she’s lost a brother, and Grace could be dying. What’s so wrong with being Cole St. Claire anyway? He’s a rock star genius whose parents believed in him. Wow, bad luck with that one. When he throws Sam into the bathroom with the tub, or is unable to help Victor…to watch Victor die because of Cole’s decision. I was really seeing no redeeming qualities in Cole. Until he saves the day at the end of the story by finally getting with the program and helping, I was ready to kick Cole out of the pack…call up Tom Culpepper!

But wait…if we got rid of Cole we wouldn’t have the relationship between Cole and Isabelle. There were those scenes where they began to break down each other’s walls. So amazing. Probably my favorite part of the book. Watching them begin to save each other – to see the life and the fight come back to each of them was invigorating. Between the kissing, muscles, and opening up I was hooked. They keep dropping lines claiming that their love is nothing like Grace and Sam’s but I think they aren’t seeing how special it is that they are able to open up to one another.

In the end I admit, sometimes in these novels I get a little lost. There’s so much seriousness…the looks, longing, moments to read into. I can get a little bogged down. But then Stiefvater writes those endings. Victor’s burial where Cole cracks, Grace’s hospital bed yearning for Sam, Cole stepping in at the 11th hour to save the day. Seeing it all come together is worth all the heavy setup. It makes me even more excited to finish the series. For an author who is so amazing at endings the finish of a series should be the ultimate read. Excited to see what she does with it.

Rating: 8/10

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Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #1) by Maggie Stiefvater

BookTalk

“I remember this: his yellow eyes.

I thought I’d never see them again.” (2, epub)

Grace was attacked by wolves as a child. They took her from her tire swing for a tasty mid-winter snack. But Grace survived. The wolf with the yellow eyes held her to her human world.

Sam is a summer boy. The warmth of Mercy Falls’ Minnesota sunny days brings him back to his human form. Bitten by a wolf as a child, Sam changed. Spending his winters as a part of a pack of others like him. His whole world changed the day he rescued Grace. And for years the two have had an unspoken connection over uncharted territory between the species.

But then it finally happened. In a moment of trauma Sam is no longer the wolf he is supposed to be. Instead he becomes the man Grace has been longing for, for far too long. Their romance is one hanging by the tenuous thread that is the weather. Because, you see, this is Sam’s last transition…his last time to change to his human form. A gust of air too cold to handle will separate Sam and Grace placing them firmly into two very different species. And banishing a love that should last forever…

Review

This book has been sitting in my library for years. Years! And yet I never read it. I think I added it to the collection around the time that Twilight was huge. I was looking for some read-a-likes for my paranormal hungry teens. I think the fact that this was about werewolves put me off. I’ve always been more of a vampire fan…Totally Team Edward, I’m a purest you know. But let me tell you, after finally finding Sam and Grace I’m wondering why it took me so long to pick this up!

*Sigh* Sam…You have to love a man who loves a girl soo much he manages to go against all animal instinct and not only save her from being eaten alive, he silently watches over her for years…just pining away. The connection Grace and Sam have is one that the reader is able to feel. All of the locking of the eyes, instinctivly knowing when the other is near, heck, even the super sensory ability to smell each other heightens the tension between these two characters. What makes this tension so wonderful is that like Twilight, the tension can be sexual, but unlike Twilight, the tension can also be full of love.

One of my favorite scenes is when Grace and Sam are in the candy store. The girl behind the register is practically getting a contact high from being close to their love. I think I like the scene so much because for most of the book Sam and Grace’s relationship happens in private. This isolation does allow for a lot of intimacy, both physical and mental, but it also gives a serious tone to a love that has the potential to be very giddy and fresh. Thus, the scene at the candy store was a breath of fresh air to me.

Obviously, I’m behind the times. I didn’t read this book when it first came out so I knew the ending before I even began (it is a trilogy people, obviously something has to go right for these two to merit other titles). What surprised me was the depth of the love developed. And how very un-paranormal this werewolf book seemed. But that’s it’s strength. The fact that the book is an honest to goodness love story, rather than a fight for good or evil, or a tale of magic. The humanity of the love is only reinforced by it’s animal counterpoint.

Pick this one up if you haven’t yet. The third book (Forever) comes out today btw. For all those still thrown by the idea of another paranormal book…or a general uninterest in the werewolf trope (holla)…Know that this book is more than it’s summary. Inside you’ll find a love story involving characters you’ll feel for, supported by lots of poetry and song lyrics to warm/break your heart. You’ll quickly find that this is the most un-paranormal book about a paranormal creature.

Rating: 8/10

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