Linger was just as beautifully written as Shiver (see review). The love between Sam and Grace was really beautiful. I could really feel their love through Maggie's writing; the emotions were so clear. In fact the emotions of all the characters were strong and compelling. 
 In linger, Maggie uses two more points of view (POV): Isabelle and Cole. Both of these characters were complex with hidden torments and motivations. All the characters were completely human. No character was perfect. All were realistic in that that had times where they could be selfish or considerate. Isabelle and Cole were not always kind or sensitive but this did not make them unlovable. They had too much character and enough redeeming qualities to move them away from bad or unfeeling to complex and relatable. In fact Isabelle was my favourite character. Their story of improving themselves, self-forgiveness and healing was touching and confronting. I also adored how honest and upfront Isabelle was. 
 However, once again, I found Linger slow to read. Not really a lot happened for the first half of the story. While the characters explored their relationships with each other, their own feelings and reminisced a lot for the purpose of character introduction, when I got to half way and thought about what had happened it was interesting to realize that I couldn't really identify much of a plot-line. As a result of this I enjoyed the second half of the book far more than the first half. While I liked the introduction of Isabelle and Cole the four different POV's contributed to slowing down the plot progression. In essence, the story had emotional development with little plot development. The exception to this was the cliff-hanger ending. The ending was well thought out and interesting leading to a (potentially) really good book with Forever. 
 While I enjoyed Linger I can't say I think it is as good as the hype lead me to believe (sorry to those who loved it). In fact there were times when I was a little bored and went off to do other things even though there was nothing else I particularly needed or wanted to do. While Maggie's lyrical writing makes wonderful quotable material; I don't think the story was particularly memorable. 
 My rating out of 5: 
 3/5