There will be spoilers.
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THE BOOK
Maggie Stiefvater has written a a trilogy entitled The Wolves of Mercy Falls. While her latest, The Scorpio Races, has her on the front pages of literary news, this trilogy has excelled as well.
THE PLOT
Grace lives in Mercy Falls. As a child, she was bitten by what she now knows to be werewolves. She never turned, but the connection between herself and one wolf in particular is undeniable. That wolf saved her from the rest of the pack’s ferocity, and now he lingers at the periphery of Boundary Woods, watching and protecting her still.
When her guardian werewolf reverts to human form and introduces himself, the unobtainable becomes real. Sam and Grace can finally love each other. Unfortunately, Sam has this bad habit of reverting to the wolf, and Grace can feel the inevitable rise of the animal within her as well.
Can two people so badly damaged find true love? Can Sam and Grace find a way to put the monster behind them and become fully human? And will they live long enough to find out?
Based on interviews, Mrs. Stiefvater wanted to capture (among other things) the war inside between the human and animal parts of our nature, and as such the story starkly addresses moral dilemmas and murky lines between truth and lies. She noted in an interview with Teen Ink, “I wish teens would step outside themselves and see how their actions are really affecting themselves and others — and then do their best to be heroes in their own lives.”
That’s not a bad goal. The question is whether or not she achieved it.
