The final book of the trilogy, the epic finale, everything has all been leading to this… and it was a bit of a letdown. Honestly, this book seemed to remove everything that made this trilogy so fun to read in the first place. I know it’s hard to write a satisfying finale and tie up every loose end, but I was just so let down by this book. It feels like this whole book was a giant cliche and was frankly a little forgettable. I don’t have a lot to say about this book, but let’s get into it. 

     I understand what Maggie Stiefvater was trying to do with this final book, in basically reversing the roles of wolf and human from the first book, but it just annoyed me more than anything. Having Sam and Grace apart for the majority of the book did not have the effect that I think Maggie Stiefvater intended it to have. I think it was supposed to be a heartbreaking reversal, but I was over it from the start. 

     My feelings changed a lot from the last book in terms of characters. I think Sam and Grace really did not develop in any way throughout this book, and they didn’t learn anything new about each other or about themselves, and they are the exact same people that they were at the beginning of the book; and the same could be said for most of the other characters. The only character that I think really grew throughout this book is Cole, surprisingly enough. 

     The final ‘battle’, if you want to call it that, is actually entertaining, and I always respect authors who are not afraid to kill off their characters. Based on the outline of this series and the previous books in the trilogy that I have read, I did not think that Maggie Stiefvater had the guts to kill off her characters. I wrote this series off as a middle grade book series that is made of rainbows and sunshine, but it can actually pack a punch of emotions. 

     I think the ultimate reason that I read this book is because it is short, and I couldn’t justify not reading the end of a series over a 300 page book. There just wasn’t anything that was really drawing me to the story at this point, considering I was somewhat disappointed by Linger. Going into Forever with this attitude may not have been the best, but it was ultimately how I felt based on the story I was previously presented with from this world. 

     For being the last book in a trilogy though, I expected a lot more action and adventure, but this book dragged on a little bit for me. I found myself drifting off during most of this book and i had a hard time focusing and being in the story. I said it in my review of Linger, and I will say it again; this series just declines with each book. Shiver was a fun story with a twist on the werewolf trend that I thoroughly enjoyed reading; Linger was less fun but still kept some of the spark of the previous book; Forever seemed to lose everything that made the previous books special and somewhat successful. It had its moments, but I was ultimately bored and distracted during this book. 2/5 stars to Forever by Maggie Stiefvater.