This review originally posted at More Than Just Magic 
 I am not a werewolf person. Not for any particular reason, I have just found throughout the years that the typical werewolf stories don't work for me. This is why I never finished the Mercy Falls series beyond Shiver. But Sinner isn't a typical werewolf story. In fact it's barely a werewolf story at all. Which is perhaps a big reason why it managed to hook me when so many others have not. 
 Sinner is a spin off from Maggie Stiefvater's previously released Mercy Falls series. It tells the story of Cole and Isabel, two secondary characters from the original series. Cole and Isabel are two incredibly damaged individuals. Cole is a recovering addict, former rock star werewolf and Isabel is the child of a broken home, in love with a werewolf and just about as angry as possible all of the time. 
 Sinner is not a complicated story plot-wise: Rock star-turned-werewolf Cole returns to LA to win back the girl he loves (Isabel) and stage a comeback for his career. But it is an extremely complex story emotionally. Cole and Isabel are such damaged characters. Cole has more demons than you can count and circumstances have made Isabel one of the angriest girls you'll ever meet. They've both lost a piece of themselves and amid the tangle of relationships and fame they are trying to find that piece again. Sinner is a story of their struggle to get back to who they were as much as to get back to one another. 
 Since they both had a clear story to tell, Stiefvater's use of dual narratives added depth to the novel. It gives the reader a distinct perspective into both characters. Each had a unique voice and nothing they did felt convenient or calculated, it was simply a natural extension of their character. I found the depiction of Cole as a recovering addict in particular to be very honest. He truly wants to stay on the straight and narrow path but his demons haunt him whenever and wherever he goes. Addiction is not something to be defeated once, it's something you continually struggle with. What also rang true of his character was that he pinned all his hopes and recovery on Isabel rather than himself - a good way to avoid personal responsibility so you can have someone else to blame when/if it all goes wrong. 
 As I mentioned before, I wasn't a big fan of Shiver, but Sinner felt different. It was written in the beautiful and poetic prose that I have come to love in Stiefvater's newest series, The Raven Boys. She has a way of getting right to the heart of things. Because Cole and Isabel are so troubled once you peel back the surface this is a story with sharp edges and the writing style reflects that. 
 Whether you're a Mercy Falls fan or not is irrelevant. Whether you're a werewolf fan or not is irrelevant. If you like stories about complex individuals with high emotional stakes, Sinner is a must read.