The Wolves of Mercy Falls by Maggie Stiefvater – Series Review (Reread)

Series Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Books in the Series:

• Shiver

• Linger

• Forever

• Sinner

Best Book: Forever (Book 3)

Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Romance

Spice: Medium

Summary:

Ever since Grace was attacked by wolves as a child, she’s been obsessed. They linger in the woods behind her home every winter, and though most consider them pests at best, Grace feels a kinship to them. One of them with yellow eyes has always been Grace’s favorite, her wolf, who makes her feel less alone in the world. So, when she meets a boy with those same yellow eyes, she believes there must be some connection between this boy she’s immediately drawn in by and her quiet, steadfast wolf.

Sam is running out of time. For the last few years, he’s spent the long winters as a wolf and a few hot months as a human. But each year, his time as a human gets shorter. He’s afraid of losing himself, but he’s also scared he will lose the chance to know the girl he has watched as a wolf from the woods. When the wolves are hunted in retribution for a local teen’s death, Sam is injured, and the only one he can turn to is the girl, Grace.

Drawn together, Grace and Sam will have to try to keep Sam from turning back into a wolf forever while navigating an unstable new wolf bringing chaos to the town of Mercy Falls.

Reaction:

I first read the Wolves of Mercy Falls series some years ago after I read one of Maggie’s other books, The Scorpio Races, and loved it. The first three books in the Wolves of Mercy Falls series take place in and around a small town, Mercy Falls, Minnesota with two main characters and two secondary characters, all of which have alternating POVs. The fourth book, Sinner, follows the secondary characters as they head to L.A, so it’s a very different vibe both from a plot and writing perspective. The first three have a much bigger paranormal aspect when compared to the fourth book as well. I think each book was a favorite of mine in a different way. Linger has the best character development, Forever has the best plot, and Sinner was the best writing.

The series definitely has a slower pace than I usually read. There are exciting and memorable moments, but a lot of writing seems to be devoted to character work and setup in between. I enjoyed the alternating POVs throughout. They introduced great contrasts between characters and their views on the same events. There are some plot points that are really predictable, and others that were surprising, so overall the plot was perfectly fine, but not extraordinary.

I appreciated the major theme present in the series focusing on difficult parent/child relationships. In a lot of YA books, the parents seem like plot points or are very bland in a way that doesn’t connect to the child’s personality. While the parents in this novel weren’t necessarily wholly present characters, they were critically cited as influencing the way the main characters developed. All the main characters also had a moment of reckoning with their parents that brought home how they really felt about that relationship, and what it meant to them in their life moving forward.

I loved the concept behind the werewolves! The idea that it is related to temperature and is rooted in science is novel and introduced an interesting wrinkle to the story. The backdrop of Mercy Falls was rather non-descriptive besides its location near lots of wooded areas and the weather patterns. In the fourth book, the move to L.A. injected a whole level of culture and vibrancy that reminds me more of Maggie’s more recent writing.

I really didn’t have any strong connection to Grace or Sam, the two main characters at the start of the series. Maybe they were too predictable or too understated, but when Cole and Isabel’s POVs came in Linger, it was like a breath of fresh air. They are so vibrant and not afraid to ruffle feathers that it even made me like Sam and Grace more just for the fact I had contrasts to their extremely calm and logical thoughts. From a development perspective, these books have so much character work. Building backstory and establishing habits, and every character has their own arc; their own lesson they must learn. That’s one of the aspects I liked the most that kept me interested throughout the series.

While the romance is ever present and (at least for Sam & Grace) sweet, it’s not presented as the reason for the story to have meaning. The relationships are really there to serve the character development. This is a hallmark of Maggie’s writing that I really appreciate and I enjoy that tentative balance between full on romance and pure fiction.

Overall, I thought this series shows hints of what I love in Maggie’s later writing: the attitude, the atmosphere, and the characters that are just a step beyond what anyone else in the genre is doing. I loved the paranormal elements and how unique they were in the werewolf paranormal romance genre, and the character development is top notch. I feel like since I know how good Maggie’s writing gets, this is good but not great for me, but if you love werewolf books and want a different flavor of romance from them, this series is it!

What I enjoyed:

·       The vibes of Sinner are just immaculate. You can picture Cole jumping out of a car stuck on the freeway and walking away. You can feel Isabel’s boredom as she works in a clothing shop. I love all the L.A. vibes of that entire book.

·       The character development, especially when it comes to their relationships with their parents. I don’t think I fully appreciated it when I was younger, but reading it as an adult, it reminds me of the different aspects of my own relationship with my parents.

·       I was so enchanted by the idea that werewolves are influenced by the temperature fluctuations in their environment. It just makes so much more sense than the full moon! Even though that might have proven to not exactly be the correct trigger, the idea was brilliant.

What I didn't enjoy:

·       Sometimes Grace & Sam’s POV was just uninteresting, and I honestly can’t put my finger on exactly why. But other times they were fine, so I’m not sure.