This is a YA novel, the second in a series about wolves--well, werewolves, actually. But the mythology Ms. Stiefvater has created is not the usual horror-movie werewolf fare. These wolves are people who have been bitten by other wolves, and then in the winter turn into wolves, and in the summer turn back to people. The pack is made up of teens who have been turned by an older wolf, Beck. Some accept their fate, others fight against it.
The first book, Shiver, dealt with the love story between a boy wolf and a girl who has always been fascinated by the wolves, ever since she was bitten as a child. The mystery of why Grace did not become a wolf herself leads the two and their friends to discover a cure, and the book ends as Sam is cured and becomes a boy forever. In Linger, Grace has a strange sickness that worsens with every chapter. Sam is trying to find his way, now that he has a human future. And Ms. Stiefvater introduces a couple of new characters who wanted to become wolves as a way to escape their human lives.
The writing is luminous, and the story is fascinating. But there are some aspects that bother me. There are no loving, responsible adults in these books. All the parents are callous, absentee figures, some of whom are quite horrible. Drug use and teen sex are alluded to--not in an approving way, but as something expected. I don't know if this is common in teen novels nowadays, and if somehow being able to solve their own problems is empowering to teen readers. (Even in the Twilight books, you know that Bella's parents love her, and Carlisle is a wonderful adult figure.) But it made me uncomfortable. I would not recommend this book to early teen readers at all.
But all that said, it is still a haunting book, and the language is lovely.
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