Book Review: Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater

SINNER is loosely connected to the Wolves of Mercy Falls series that began with SHIVER in that it spins off the characters of Cole St. Clair and Isabel, but you probably don't have to have read that trilogy to enjoy this book.

The selling point for me was Cole St. Clair. He may fall under the familiar misunderstood-bad-boy-who-can-charm-your-pants off archetype, but he's always felt very real and human to me (even when he's actually a shapeshifter of the wolf-kind).

Cole left his life as lead singer of a rock band and dark past filled with sex, drugs and excess to live in utter obscurity. But now he's back in LA, under the glaring lights of fame.

Why? What does Cole want the most? Isabel. And Isabel is in LA.

What scares him the most? Himself. 

What is the worst situation he could get himself into? Signing up to play himself on a reality show known for destroying its subjects.

In many ways, Isabel is aligned with his reality show audience. Both Isabel and his audience expect the worst from him and can't believe that he could ever change. Both are programmed not to believe in happy endings. Both are unwittingly under his spell. But in Cole's eyes, Isabel and his audience are also at odds. To keep his audience, he must play Cole St. Clair: Rock Star. To keep Isabel, he must strip away his public persona, give up the wolf in him, and find the real boy he's been trying to bury.

SINNER pushes Cole and Isabel to their limits, breaking them just enough to make them realize what they really need. It's both an incisive character study and a carefully crafted redemptive romance. 

I loved every page.

SINNER comes out in hardcover on July 1, 2014. You can preorder signed copies at Fountain Bookstore. They'll come with a very cool custom book wrapper.

FTC disclosure: I received a review copy of SINNER at BEA.