ARC Review--Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater

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 received this ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, I was in no way compensated for this review.


It's been years since I read Maggie Stiefvater's Wolves of Mercy trilogy, I can only vaguely recall Cole and Isabel's characters. Yet I was still so eager to return to this world with Sinner! And it was A-MAZING!

Some time has passed since we last saw Cole and Isabel in Forever. They both moved on with their lives yet Cole finds himself in L.A. not only to record a new album but also to find Isabel and win her back. Isabel is just trying to get through life; she's planning to go to med school to become a doctor, she works at a clothing boutique catering to the rich and sometimes famous, she's dealing with her parents' separation...the last thing she expects is for Cole to walk back into her life, especially with how things ended between them.

This book was far different than I  expected it to be. I'm not quite sure what I expected to happen really, but I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised with this one! Cole and Isabel are both very deep, complex characters. They're both broken in some ways, yet they strive to be better. They each have their faults and what not, but it's amazing to see them want to work on their own personalities. They're flawed, but you still care about them because their flaws seem so incredibly real!

Their romantic development was another sight to behold. As Cole wants to win Isabel back but she's afraid to trust him as she loved him before and got hurt. Cole was once your typical rock star and has a certain reputation, but you can also see that he's not that guy anymore. I loved that Isabel struggled with her feelings by not wanting to fall back in love with him and yet, still fighting with her feelings when she does. There was a lot of emotional turmoil going on with this one, but it felt right for the characters.

As far as action goes, this one was sort of lacking, yet the incredible character development more than made up for it. Cole's shifting habits also didn't really play as huge a role in the story. He still uses a needle in order to shift which I thought I vaguely recall happening in The Wolves of Mercy books. I just kinda thought there would be more "wolf-ness" to the story then there was. Other than these two little factors, I really had no problems with this one at all.

The ending was beautiful too! I couldn't have asked for something better! This is a read not to be missed by fans of The Wolves of Mercy series. Even if you haven't read them, which you should, they're a totally different take on werewolves! You don't really have to have read them in order to follow along! I haven't read them since it ended in 2011 and can't really remember much at all about Isabel and Cole and had no trouble at following along. This is a standalone companion, so reading the first books aren't necessary, yet I still highly recommend them out of sheer enjoyment!

In short, Sinner was a touching and awesome read!


Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars



Sinner releases July 1, 2014