Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

Title: Linger (Wolves of Mercy Falls, Book 2)

Author:  Maggie Stiefvater

Ratings Explanation

Language: Exclamations of deity are used frequently.  Hell and damn in various forms and phrases are also used frequently.  Bastard, SOB and ass are used a handful of times each.  References to swearing are made and a few crude words are used.

Violence: Cole becomes conscious to find blood in his mouth and all over himself.  There is a deer, still alive, but half eaten beside him.  He takes a stick and stabs it through its lungs to kill it.  The deer screams out. Cole trashes the house in anger, breaking things and making a big mess.  Grace’s dad hits Sam twice.  A wolf is shot and dies.  Cole cuts Grace and then spits in her cut.  There is much blood.

Sexual Conten: Sam and Grace, both seventeen, sleep together every night.  They have sex, but it is implied and not described.  “I folded myself against her body, matching my heartbeat to hers.”  There are many kisses between several different people.  Whenever wolves change back to human form, they are naked.  Cole is naked in the bathtub and says,”care to join me?”  There are many phrases referring to sex and sexual things, conversations about using protection, and love VS lust.  “I was still aching from kissing him.”  “At least I’m not on a street corner selling myself.”  “You guys are having sex?”  “Letting some girls slide my pants off.”

Adult Themes: Most characters come from dysfunctional homes and families.  Marital problems including yelling and throwing things are described. Sam’s parents tried to kill him in a bathtub by cutting his wrists.  Alcohol and drug abuse are frequently described in detail.  “It was starting to feel like time for a needle or a beer or a razor.”  “Some spiraling trip contained in a bottle or syringe.”  Cole frequently talks about killing himself and his under-aged drug and alcohol use.  Characters in this book show a general disregard for parental rules and authority.

Synopsis

Linger is the second book in the Wolves of Mercy Falls series.  In this book, Sam has been cured of his werewolf problem, but Grace is showing signs of becoming a wolf herself due to an early childhood bite.  Sam and Grace are caught sleeping together and are forced apart as Grace is sick and also in serious trouble with her parents.  Cole is introduced as one of the pack’s newest members.  He is volatile, unstable and secretive.  Sam’s new role as the keeper of the wolves proves to be a tough assignment with the new wolves in the pack, especially Cole.  Balancing the wolf pack with his growing concerns for Grace is even harder.

This book is very much like other paranormal “young adult” books I’ve been reading.  The storylines feel similar but with different character names.  As this is the second book in this series, it really wasn’t meant to be a standalone book.  I read the first book, Shiver, earlier so I was able to understand the storyline better.  This book was full of language and sexual references I feel are inappropriate for young teenage readers.  I would recommend 12^th grade and higher for this book.  My favorite line from this book is, “Right now it’s hard to imagine it is raining anywhere in the world.”