Sinner is all of the things that I said above, messy, wonderful, heart eating and much more.
With main characters Isabel Culpeper and Cole St. Clair, this one was bound to hurt at least a little. Revisiting the Shiver universe, this novel answers the dangling question of their unresolved storyline and follows their attempts to keep going, day after day. Cole goes out to L.A. for Isabel, but nothing is ever easy with the two of them, and redemption is a long road for two sinners.
Both characters are gloriously damaged, broken and misunderstood by the world, and Stiefvater does a wonderful job conveying their brokenness as the two of them try to sort themselves out. As Cole tries not to crash and burn (again) on a reality show, and Isabel tries to lose the ability to feel, they gravitate around each other, constantly pulling back together even when logic advises otherwise. Cole obsesses over his inability to lose his past self, and Isabel can't understand why she has to feel everything when it would be so much easier to just let it all go.
At its heart, this is a novel about two broken people trying to find solace in each other, and at its heart it is a character study. Stiefvater is a master of writing complex, realistic, believable characters and this is some of her best work. All of the characters are stellar, from Cole and Isabel to some new favorites of mine, Leon (a chauffeur who becomes a project of Cole's) and Sofia (Isabel's neurotic and endearing cousin).
In addition to the characters, Stiefvater (who I understood took a trip to L.A. as "research" for this novel) makes L.A. into a neon wonderland, a place where pretty and ugly feed off of each other, pop stars have warehouses of sky blue cars and people are always looking out for disasters. The city becomes a character in itself, so vibrant and real that you feel as if you are there, with the sand under your toes and the sun beating down over the black and white cars stuck in traffic.
Fans of the Shiver trilogy will rejoice in small cameos from Grace and Sam, and revel in the return to Isabel and Cole's relationship. Truly one of the best novels Stiefvater has ever written, a masterpiece of heartache, longing and the pain of feeling things too strongly.
Warning: readers prepare yourselves because this book brings the feels.
Sinner will be on sale on July 1, 2014.
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