Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

Linger

By Maggie Stiefvater

            A lot of people have fears. But Isabel's not afraid of anything... except herself. In the book Linger, by Maggie Stiefvater, the main characters are Grace, Sam, Cole, and Isabel. I would like to focus on Isabel. She was an interesting character that had many interesting qualities. She faces many difficulties and finds many ways to deal with them.

            One of the difficulties Isabel faces is dealing with her brother’s death. Isabel feels responsible for killing her brother with a vaccine that was supposed to cure him. His death was not intentional, yet Isabel feels horrible. Isabel deals with her depression by not thinking about it. She pushes it to the back of her mind and focuses on reading about medicine because she is considering becoming a doctor. For example, when Sam asked, ‘ “It’s a little bit of overkill, isn’t it, unless you’re planning to become a doctor?” “I was considering it,” Isabel said, in such a stark way that I didn’t realize she was confiding in me until the door went ding again, admitting another customer.’ Isabel confessed to Sam she wanted to be a doctor, like her mom. Isabel rarely openly confesses like she did to Sam. I think this reveals that Isabel is be more then just a popular girl at school. She has dreams (becoming a doctor) and challenges (her brothers death). This makes her a real person that the reader can relate to. Everyone has their own way of escaping their fears. For Isabel, it’s learning about medicine.

            Isabel is friends with Grace, who is similar and different to Isabel. Grace and Isabel are both good liars, and they are both stubborn. They don’t open up to people easily and are afraid of what could happen if they do. Grace, on the other hand, is a good girl who rarely gets in trouble, and Isabel gets in trouble frequently. Grace strives for her parents’ affection, while Isabel doesn’t seem to care. Their relationship is perfectly balanced. I think their relationship shows that Isabel wants to be around someone who agrees with her in most cases, and has voice of reason in other situations. For example, Grace said, " 'If you crap out of school now, you won't get into a good college, and then you'll be stuck here in Mercy Falls forever,' Unlike Rachel... Isabel made a face. 'Thanks, Mom. I'll keep that in mind.' " Isabel may not seem to like the advice, but I think she secretly likes having someone look out for her. Isabel wants to find someone to replace her parents, who are not there for her.

            I like Isabel because she is not the kind of person you can take one look at and know who they are. With Isabel, you have to spend time with her to get to know her. As the book went on, I learned more about Isabel and I realized she was a hard character to read. This was refreshing because it caused me to think about her and the way she dealt with her problems.

          Isabel is a tough character who faces many challenges. The way she deals with them shows me what kind of person she is and how she reacts to certain situations. Isabel was one of my favorite characters in this book. I’m glad the author chose to write part of the book in her perspective. Although I wonder if Isabel will continue to develop into a new person in the last book of the series, called “Forever”.