Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater Review

Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater
(Wolves of Mercy Falls, #3.5)
Release Date: July 1, 2014
Publisher: Scholastic; 368 pages
Rating:

A standalone companion book to the internationally bestselling Shiver Trilogy.

Sinner follows Cole St. Clair, a pivotal character from the #1 New York Times bestselling Shiver Trilogy. Everybody thinks they know Cole's story. Stardom. Addiction. Downfall. Disappearance. But only a few people know Cole's darkest secret -- his ability to shift into a wolf. One of these people is Isabel. At one point, they may have even loved each other. But that feels like a lifetime ago. Now Cole is back. Back in the spotlight. Back in the danger zone. Back in Isabel's life. Can this sinner be saved?

I fangirled so hard when she first announced this book. The reason I kept reading the Shiver books was because of Cole and Isabel. No lie. He is one of my favorite male YA characters and for him to get his own book? Oh man, I was literally counting down the days. When I got my copy, I may have hugged it (actually, I did, I won't lie). But the big question is, did it live up to my expectations? Yes . . . and no.

We'll start with the no part first, shall we? I was expecting more paranormal but what I got was more contemporary. Not necessarily a bad thing except when you're a person like me who isn't the biggest fan of YA contemp. However, I said I didn't care because I mean, hello! It's Cole St. Clair and Isabel Culpeper. But really, this was my only negative thing about this book. I'd say that's a pretty good thing, right?

On to the good. COLE. Okay, so we got to be in his head in both Linger and Forever but having an entire book (okay, really more like half since it's split with Isabel but you get my point) from him and about him? Oh yeah, I'm all over that. I may not have loved the Wolves of Mercy Falls series, as Sam and Grace bored to me death but I liked it enough that the chance to read more made me do the jig. The one thing I loved most but also frustrated me the most about this book was the fact that both Cole and Isabel were dealing with personal demons. Isabel frustrated me more than Cole did but I think that's because Cole has such a laid back personality that you just shrug it off. Let's be honest, Isabel has family issues. We came across these issues in the previous books but you really see a lot more in these books. Because of this, she doesn't believe in love and definitely doesn't believe in marriage but yet, she can't escape these feelings she has for Cole, again.

There are random appearances, per say, of both Sam and Grace so fans of the previous books will get a little excitement out of those. They're both short but I enjoyed having them in there. Cole makes friends with one of the most random guys in this book and you know what? It's one of the best parts about this book. You don't have to be a somebody for Cole to take notice of you, you just have to hold his interest enough to care. I want to meet someone like him in real life, I just feel like it would be an adventure in itself.

For those who love romance and kissing, let me just say you will not be disappointed. There is so much kissing and Cole's version of romancing that it made me giddy reading it.

If you liked the Wolves of Mercy Falls series and especially if you're like me and a big fan of Cole, this is something you don't want to miss out on. However, if you haven't read the series, I feel like this could be read on it's own and you'd enjoy just the same. There's references to things that happened in the previous books but they tell you enough about what's happened that I don't think you'd be lost.

Thank you so much to Scholastic for allowing us the opportunity to get this book at BEA in exchange for an honest review.