Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater Book Review

Title: Sinner
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Publisher: Scholastic
Release Date: July 3rd, 2014
ISBN: 0545654572
Rating: 3.5/ 5

Cover Impressions: I quite like it. The claw marks represent the wolf inside Cole and the cover ties in well with the covers of the Wolves of Winter Falls Trilogy.

Three years after the publication of the final book of the Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy, Maggie Stiefvater takes us back into the lives of Cole St. Clair and Isabel Culpeper with her standalone companion novel Sinner. I was over the moon when I received an advance reader copy of it from Scholastic publishing house, because I adored the Shiver, Linger and Forever books and couldn’t wait to dive back into the world which Stiefvater had so wonderfully constructed in the trilogy.

Synopsis: Isabel now lives in Los Angeles, perusing her dream of becoming a doctor. Cole decides to come back to LA to shoot a television show and produce a new album; however all he really wants is to see Isabel again. Cole and Isabel shared a past, can they share a future? Isabel keeps up a cold front, but when external forces like family and ex-friends, as well as internal demons like insecurity and addiction appear, the couple must learn to trust each other or fall apart trying.

Review: I thoroughly enjoyed reading from the perspectives of Cole and Isabel during the Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy. Whereas the ties between Sam and Grace felt sweet and almost light-hearted in comparison, the bonds of Cole and Isabel felt jagged, raw and dangerous. In Sinner, another dimension was added to the characters of Cole and Isabel, Cole maintains his sarcasm, confidence and seductive smirk while Isabel keeps up her wit and sense of humour. A whole lot of other themes are introduced, to push the development of Cole and Isabel even further: issues such as vulnerability, addiction and self-harm are raised. I thought these aspects greatly strengthened the storyline, pulling the novel more out of the fantasy realm and adding a little contemporary flare to it, aided of course by the absence of the wolves.

Stiefvater’s beautiful writing style, combined with witty dialogue and sumptuous descriptions made for a very enjoyable read. I feel that Sinner should appeal to older audiences because of occurring themes. I think that to deal with Cole and Isabel exclusively was hard work, they seem to make each other miserable, but individually I loved reading about them and traveling with them on the great journey which was Sinner (their text messages particularly were touching and sincere).

Overall I give Sinner three and a half out of five stars, I really enjoyed it but I would have loved a little more information about the wolves. The writing was excellent and the characterization too was great. I loved Cole and Isabel’s banter and how they interacted with each other, and even though they did smooth each other out, unfortunately I could only cope with them for a short space of time before they became irritating.

I would defiantly recommend Sinner to any fans of the Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy.

…And breathe.