Skip to main content

Sinner

Sinner is a YA paranormal contemporary companion novel to the Shiver trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater.

As a companion novel, I personally recommend that all readers of Sinner first read Shiver, Linger and Forever first. You can click on the titles to read my reviews.

I’m trusting that you’re only still reading this review as a bookworm who has previously read the prior books…

Cole St. Clair is a werewolf in L.A.

He’s going to make a new record, star in a short reality show and fan the flames of his past superstardom.

But that’s not why he’s in L.A.

He came for Isabel.

Isabel left her and Cole’s bruised, fragmented relationship mess and decided to try and make a life for herself in California.

She’s just as unhappy here as she was in Mercy Falls. It’s not working.

Cole and Isabel both have demons and could be a disaster together – yet they can’t seem to let go…

Maggie Stiefvater is one of my favorite authors now – especially after The Scorpio Races and The Raven Boys series. The Shiver trilogy is what introduced me to her, however.

Just as in the Shiver trilogy, Stiefvater writes a story with Sinner that has the fact that Cole’s a werewolf as a secondary, almost side story. In fact, it takes more a form of an addiction than anything else. Another struggle of Cole’s to heal himself – to refrain from the desire to stop being human, to stop feeling the pain of being human. Extraordinary.

Here we get raw emotion mixed in with the magical realism that is Maggie Stiefvater. We’re presented with real, flawed, damaged people – people that aren’t always very likable, but who we recognize an agonizing desire to be better – to be happy.

The attraction between Isabel and Cole is very readable, very palpable – but is also something deeper. There’s an understanding between them – a recognition of self-loathing, of a lost life and a desire for a new one.

Sinner, like the Shiver trilogy, faces the darker aspects of humanity and tosses in just enough of the paranormal to make it not a flat-out contemporary novel. It manages to highlight both genres, but primarily focuses on the human – the truth.

This isn’t a book with easy answers and I can’t say that I felt wholly satisfied with the end – but I appreciated it. Sinner was an excellent read written by a phenomenal writer.

Read it!

Comments

Unknown said…
I really enjoyed this book. The writing was beautiful. I highlighted several passages that spoke to me. The Cole st. Claire story is a good one. Fans of Shiver will not be disappointed.
ted plush

Popular posts from this blog

Author Q & A - Jan Eldredge Stops By!

Next Wednesday y'all will be getting my oh-so-humble opinion of Evangeline of the Bayou , the Summer 2018 Kids' Indie Next List selection! (That means it was picked via booksellers at independent bookstores countrywide.) Until then, I have a Q&A with the Louisiana born and raised author herself: Jan Eldredge! (Don't forget to come back next week for my review!!) A Conversation with JAN ELDRIDGE Author of Evangeline of the Bayou 1) The glossary in the back of the book is so helpful! Where did you learn about all these creatures? Which creature from the book is your favorite? I have a small, but growing, collection of books about mythical creatures around the world. If I couldn’t find what I was looking for there, I researched library books, online websites, and the occasional documentary. Something that really surprised me as I started learning more about mythical monsters was the number of different cultures that share very similar ...

Promotion Celebration for Maximum Ride!!!

Do you love the series Maximum Ride ? How about James Patterson? Are you a huge fan of action-packed books? Well, I’m thrilled to bring to you an opportunity to stock up on some awesome reading!!! ENTER TO WIN A SET OF JAMES PATTERSON PAGETURNERS! MAXIMUM RIDE – IF SHE LIVES, THE WORLD LIVES, IT’S THAT SIMPLE. Read “MAX” - the newest book in the bestselling Maximum Ride series. On sale in paperback 09/01/09! Still reeling from their most recent adventure, Maximum Ride and the rest of the flock must head out to sea to uncover the secret behind a brand new series of disasters—fish are dying off the coast of Hawaii, hundreds of ships are being destroyed. As if that weren’t enough, they’re also being tracked by a criminal mastermind with, oh yeah, an army of mercenaries. Can the flock save themselves and the ocean, and the world, from utter destruction? Now for the rules : The Maximum Ride: Max Promotion is open to legal US residents who are at least 13 years of age as of August 24, 200...

Werelove = YA Paranormal Contest!!!

Now that my CSN contest is coming to a close (you still have until 11:59PM PST to enter today), I am here to offer you another chance to WIN something awesome! :) Author Lakisha Spletzer (to find out more about her and her books go here: www.kishazworld.com) has so kindly offered me a chance to have a giveaway on this blog for all you bibliophiles! There will be THREE winners!!! And there are THREE different prizes that will be awarded. What are they? 1. A print copy of Lakisha's YA paranormal/sci-fi book Werelove: Dusk Conspiracy 2. An e-book version of Werelove: Dusk Conspiracy 3. A T-shirt with a Werelove logo and quote, which you can see here As someone who has just finished reading Werelove: Dusk Conspiracy I can assure you that you will never be bored and that it is a fun, fast-paced read! (For more on the book read my review in the next few weeks when it posts, or click here to look at it on the Amazon.com page.) And that's not all! (I totally sound like a g...