Shiver

I wish I could say that this book blew me out of the water. I've heard so much positive hype about the story and, honestly, I love the cover so much I almost purchased my copy instead of waiting for the library copy - I'm glad I didn't now.

I rolled my eyes a few times during the story and I

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struggled because, in spite of being easy to read, it felt like there was no actual real plot. I mean... was the plot supposed to be just a love story between Grace and Sam? Or was the plot supposed to be curing werewolves as a whole? I felt like I was just meandering through this really sappy love story (the whole composing song lyrics/poetry thing made me really feel my age, except I didn't really go for that sort of thing in a guy as a teenager).

There were a few things I enjoyed - I don't want to make this seem all negative because I know I am in the minority here when it comes to liking this book. I enjoyed the switching back and forth between Grace and Sam. I liked the take on werewolves and the temperatures having a direct affect. I appreciated the role of parents in the book (even though, while active generally speaking, they really sucked. Seriously - never checking in on your daughter when you get home?)

Overall my feeling is .. meh. It was okay. I'll read Linger because I have it checked out and I'm hoping there's more of a story there but otherwise I feel like I did after reading Twilight. That girls will go swoony over poetic Sam and envy Grace and I'll just be left wanting a plot that is a little more than teenage angst with some fantasy thrown in.

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When she was 11 Grace was attacked by a pack of wolves and saved by one. For six winters Grace has watched the mysterious wolf watching her, longing for some connection to the wild creature. Sam yearns to be with Grace, to be able to touch his summer girl, but knowing that because of what he is it

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can never be.

If I had to describe this book in two words it would be "thoroughly engrossing". Particularly lately there have not been many books which have managed to hold my attention well enough to tempt me into reading the entire story in one evening. This one kept me up until 2:00 this morning. The prose seemed almost poetic with concentration on the impossible romance between Sam and Grace. It was really very lovely. There were also the other relationships revolving around the two, including Grace's with her self-involved parents and Sam’s with his adopted father, Beck. A lot of edge of your seat moments really added to the suspense of the story. I pretty much liked all the characters, with the exception of Grace's parents, and was invested in what was happening to them throughout. The mythology of these wolves differs slightly from the norm which gave it an interesting edge, and a feeling of fighting against an inevitability. The only complaint I could possibly have is that there seemed to be one loose end that did not get tied up, but I can certainly live with it.

Overall a very entertaining and well written young adult paranormal romance which has made me rather interested in looking up this author's other stories.

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Shiver, a fantasy for young adults, is a purely enjoyable, fast-paced summer read. It debuted as #9 on the New York Times Bestseller List and was written by Fredericksburg Academy parent Maggie Stiefvater. I found it to live up to and exceed my every expectation with its multi-faceted, entrancing

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plot. In Shiver, Stiefvater gives an honest, relatable interpretation of teen romance, friendship, and family, intertwined with fantasy similar to that of the recently popular Twilight novels. Aside from the book’s similarity to Twilight, I consider Shiver to be one of my favorite books.
The fantasy intertwined with the plot adds interesting obstacles, and increased passion to Shiver without seeming ridiculous. The secret life of werewolves who live as humans during the warm part of the year unfolds to the human characters throughout the story. Twists and obstacles the werewolves create, such as their inability to remain in human form in the rapidly approaching cold weather is interesting and original. These twists added to the book, and made it impossible to put down.
Stiefvater creates a steady foundation for the romance by starting the book with a flashback to the meeting of the two main characters that embodies “love at first sight.” This set an optimistic, yet deep tone for the story that gave the reader hope throughout the darker obstacles main characters Grace and Sam faced throughout the story. For example, towards the end, when the author leads the reader to believe Sam and Grace will live happily ever after, Sam is once again shifted into his werewolf form. The strong beginning, I felt, gave me hope for a good ending. These overcome obstacles, along with a sturdy foundation for the romance intensified the happiness at revelation of the “good” ending.
Shiver, while it may seem unbelievable due to its genre, is made clear through vivid imagery. Stiefvater turns what could be boring scenes, such as a picture of woods as winter approaches into incredibly realistic images in the reader’s head. Realistic scenes such as this one made the book more memorable after I read it and more engaging while reading it. This immense detail provides real images and makes the book divinely riveting.
There is no specific part of the book that I would have changed, but overall it seemed too reflective of the popular Vampire fantasy, Twilight. Each twist and obstacle in some way reminded me of the Twilight series. In Twilight and Shiver, the main characters are both normal teen girls who fall in love with a mythical creature who pose a threat to their safety. Alone, Shiver would have been nearly flawless, but its likeness to the Twilight series made it more predictable, and eliminated some of my curiosity.
Shiver is a wonderful book with a fascinating plot, and incredible detail. I would highly recommend it to readers who enjoy romance, especially fans of the Twilight series. Stiefvater has masterfully combined exciting fantasy, romance, and imagery to create a fantastic novel.

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I guess I am just not a fan of supernatural, teen angst ridden romances and Shiver was no exception. This story involves the tragic yet noble hero magnetically drawn to the pretty yet boring young girl, who incidentally has a pair of the most inept parents I have ever read about. He is cursed with

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being a werewolf that switches from human in the summer to wolf in the winter, eventually doomed to stay wolf. She is the smart, nature loving girl that was bitten by a wolf when younger. Somehow this created a bond between the two, and he tends to lurk around in the woods behind her house.

The author does not lack talent. Her descriptive writing is good, I felt cold the whole time I was reading this book, which wasn’t bad on a warm summer day. I can certainly see the romantic appeal, I found Sam to be quite sympathetic although a rather unbelievable 18 year old. Grace, on the other hand, I just found boring, and still rather unbelievable with her goody-two shoes attitude. Together these two were a bit of a yawn fest.

Overall, I definitely prefer my werewolves to be a little more vicious, the werewolf lore was mostly ignored in this book, but the idea of shape shifting according to temperature was intriguing. I understand this book is targeted at a younger audience, but personally I prefer my romances to be a little more alluring, and my werewolves to be a little more aggressive. I doubt very much that I will continue on to the next book.

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A note: know what you are getting into if your read this book. It is a slightly sappy teen supernatural love story about a girl and a werewolf. Accept it as such, and it's pretty good. I have also tried really hard to not put spoilers in this review, so if it's a little confusing I apologize.

I

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think I need to read up on Maggie Stiefvater, the author of Shiver. Because from where I'm reading, it looks an awful lot like Stiefvater read Twilight and then said to herself, “Hm. A book about a mostly-averge teenage girl who grows up with immature parents who don't really let her have a childhood or pay much attention to her who falls in love with a supernatural boy that she probably shouldn't be in a relationship with because the supernatural forces surrounding him want to tear them apart. Yeah. I can do that WAY better.”

I stalk a wide variety of book blogs, and most of them were crazy about Shiver a few weeks ago (probably because Scholastic announced the July 20th release date for the sequel, Linger, a few weeks ago). I was very skeptical, mostly because I despise Twilight and will lecture you about its flaws until I am blue in the face, not the least of which is its unhealthy promotion of obsessive first-love as the “ideal.” But the reviewers (whose opinions I generally respect, and who are predominately rational adult women and not crazy tweens) only had high praises for it. And I have to say I agree with them. Shiver is a lot like what Twilight could have been.

First off, let's look at the basis for the love between Sam and Grace. Grace is attacked by a pack of wolves near her Minnesota house when she is eleven or so, but one of the wolves doesn't attack her. As the rest of the pack is about to kill her, this one wolf pulls her to safety. For the next six years, she sees this wolf around her house every winter, watching over her like a furry guardian. When a local boy is killed by the pack, the authorities go out to hunt the wolves... and a naked guy with a bullet wound on his neck turns up on Grace's porch. One look at his yellow eyes is all Grace needs to recognize her wolf, who goes by the name of Sam when he's human. They both fall instantly in love, but (and this is key) there's a basis for it. Reciprocated life-saving I'll buy as a means of falling in love.

And character development! Both Sam and Grace come from slightly messed-up families, though I won't elaborate on Sam's past here because I think Stiefvater does such a fabulous job unfurling that backstory that I want you to experience it first-hand. Grace is, admittedly, less developed than Sam, but she's still a big step up from Bella. More on that in a bit.

I'm on the fence about the depiction of love in this book. I love that both characters admit that they're kind of obsessed with the other person maybe just a little too much, and how it may be considered a little creepy that Sam has been watching her pretty much every day of winter for six years.

For example:
Sam laughed, a funny, self-deprecating laugh. “You did read a lot. And spent too much time just inside the kitchen window, where I couldn't see you very well.”
“And not enough time mostly naked in front of my bedroom window?” I teased.
Sam turned bright red. “That,” he said “is so not the point of this conversation.”

And to be fair, it isn't the point. Sam had a reason for watching her, which he is about to reveal. They have a lot of high school-esque romantic moments, but it's balanced with some more grown-up, practical romantic moments, mostly when one is trying to help the other deal with emotional baggage stemming from family issues. One of these instances I loved was their relationship's maturity in this one scene where Sam makes breakfast for Grace. Since Grace is essentially the only adult in the house, she usually does everything for herself, including cook. And here he is, making a thing she doesn't like in a way that she's sure to like it. They tease and flirt a little, but it has this ring of a more mature symbiotic relationship-- a team of two independent people looking out for each other-- as opposed to some of the more patronizing scenes in Twilight where Edward deliberately does things like cook for Bella because she sometimes forgets to eat, she's just so gosh darn in love with him. Don't get me wrong-- Shiver is still a story about obsessive teenage love (and we can argue the cultural and feminist significance of that for a while if you want), but I feel like Stiefvater pulls it out of the creepy, abusive-relationship-place of Twilight and makes it a bit more about the emotional co-dependence of two slightly damaged outsiders.

The suspense of what will happen to the wolf pack (both because of the hunters and because of pack-politics) and whether or not Sam and Grace can stay together (also for multiple reasons) and the fact that romantic readers will just like seeing Sam and Grace together makes Shiver a page-turning read. I literally had to tear myself away from it, promising myself that I could return to that world and the mysteries of the plot (do you hear that Smeyer? Plot! With stakes!) only after I had finished my Business Law reading. The plots that don't revolve around keeping Sam human kind of fizzle, but there's enough tension there still that I think Stiefvater will come back to them in later books. Or at least, I hope so, because they're the interesting parts.

As far as characters go, I like Sam and Beck, and I was fond of the role that Isabel takes towards the end of the book, probably because once she stops being such a “plastic,” to steal a term from Mean Girls, she reminds me a bit of Aidyn (the main character in the novel I'm working on). Also, please note the interactions between Isabel and Grace at the end of the book, compare that to New Moon and get back to me.

Grace is a bit of the “every-girl” character, and some may see her as a little bland, apart from her overpowering love for Sam, but I'm willing to overlook the blandness (at least for this first book of a projected trilogy) because of her issues with her parents. She admits to Sam that she tries to be the bland, perfect girl in order to win their affection. Some may see bad writing, I personally see a girl who tries to make as few waves as possible in order to get people to like her. Does this mean that she doesn't have very many hobbies or blatant personality traits (unlike Sam, who composes song lyrics in his head pretty regularly)? Yeah. But based on her friendship with Isabel at the end of the book as Isabel attempts to teach Grace how to browse properly, I think Grace could develop more of a personality as she grows from an awkward teenager needing approval into a young woman with a penchant for cooking and an excellent sense of smell (the candy store scene was pretty awesome, and beautifully written). In short, Grace is capable of functioning as an individual outside of her relationship with Sam, though she often chooses otherwise. Of course, I initially didn't mind Twilight, and apart from the cop-out “I can't write an action scene” ending of the plot, thought it was ok. And then the sequels happened, and my head imploded. So we shall see what Maggie Stiefvater has in store for us in July, and then I shall make more of a solid decision about her work.

All in all, if I'm bribing myself with being able to finish the book, I think that deserves at least a 8 on a scale of 0-10.

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I had low expectations of Shiver, because of how often it had been compared to Twilight (which don't get me wrong, I enjoyed even though it's not a silly book). Certainly, they are similar with their focus on young love, in which a girl falls for a supernatural creature. However, the comparisons

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pretty much fall off there.

Grace's friendship with Sam goes back a long way. As a young girl, she meets him as a wolf, and for years after, they continue to watch each other -- she as girl, he as wolf, each longing for companionship, each wanting to shift and live as the other does. There is a mutual loneliness of both, which the reader becomes aware of because the author jumps back and forth between Grace and Sam's point of view.

Also, both Grace and Sam are independent individuals outside of each other. For all their affection for each other and their sense of rightness when together, they also have interests and relationships that are not centered around romance. Both have ambiguous relationships with their parents, but have friendship to fill in the gaps. Grace has Rachel and Olivia, and Sam has Beck and the pack.

I also really appreciated the twist on werewolves. Instead of stretching the supernatural to the ridiculous (sparkling vampires, anyone?), the author asserts that the change to wolf occurs because of the cold. The colder it is, the quicker the person begins to change. Furthermore, there comes a point when the wolf can no longer return to a human state. All of which presents logical enough reasoning for such a story and an interesting obstacle for the characters to overcome.

The writing style also worked well for me. It was clean and even occasionally presented metaphors or turns of phrase that amused me. All in all, a good read, and the sequel, Linger, has jumped up on my TBR list.

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I love Stiefvater's take on werewolves. There is something fresh about her vision. Grace's dysfunctional family dynamics made her more real while the dialogue and descriptive storytelling created a real love for the wolves and ultimately for Sam. The dark side of Sam's past pulls the heartstrings

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as well as the overdone but beautiful story of star crossed lovers who are separated by uncontrollable events. Great start to the series.

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This was a unique take on the werewolf myth. To me they were more like shifters than werewolves, with an interesting twist.

When Grace was young wolves attacked her; one of the wolves saved her and got her to safety. But from then on she has a fascination with the wolves in her woods. One wolf in

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particular always catches her eye, the one with the eyes that seem to see right through her. She always has a feeling there is more to the wolves than meets the eye. When one day her suspicions are confirmed.

Sam the wolf with the eyes that watch Grace ever since he saved her as a little girl he has watched over her. Sam the boy who was shot as a wolf becomes human and Grace saves him this time.

You can probably guess the romance starts from there. But how many wolves are there and what became of the boy who was recently bitten his body is missing from the morgue. And how is it that Grace survived her attack without becoming a wolf?

I really enjoyed this book I actually ended up alternately listening to this on audio and reading the book, because when I couldn’t listen to the audio I wanted to keep reading this book. The audio narration was really good alternating back and forth between the two voices. This book was well written and I will be moving on to the next book in this series.

4 Stars

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Let me sum up how I felt about this book in two words: LOVED IT.

I've been searching for some new books to read for a little while now and I guess my biggest reservation about starting a new series is that it will let me down. But this was not the case for Shiver. I'd kept seeing it crop up here and

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there - on Twitter, GoodReads, etc. I'm not really a "werewolf kinda girl" - I mean I'm not necessarily a "vampire girl" either (Please don't get me started on Team Edward vs. Team Jacob..that is an entire post in and of itself). What I mean to say is that I initially shied away from Shiver because werewolves just weren't something I was interested in. But this isn't a werewolf story..this is a LOVE story. Beautiful and sad - just like Sam. Some people might find Sam a little..depressing? mopey? emo? Yes, he has more feelings than probably any boy that I know but that is what I love about him. So I prefer the term sensitive or maybe tender-hearted when it comes to Sam.

This book is so good for many reasons. First, much like Beth Revis' Across the Universe, I really enjoyed the dual perspectives of the protagonists Grace and Sam. I was able to really get a good feel for both of these characters, who they are when they're together and who they are when they're not. I don't think I would have understood how they felt about each other if it had just been one-sided. I might have thought that the other one was a little obsessed, as opposed to in love.

Also, the premise of the book is really unique. That werewolves don't change by the moon cycle but by the seasons. Wolf when it's cold and human when it's hot. Ingenious. And that eventually after a while, they stop shifting and become wolves forever..well you can see what the problem seems to be since Sam and Grace want to be together.

I also really liked the minor character development of Isabel. She seemed rather sketchy to be in the beginning but she has grown on me and her love for her brother Jack is something that though I don't understand much since I don't have a brother, is something that I can appreciate and admire. The lengths that she is willing to go for him proves to me how strong of a person she is. Especially since Jack is kind of a jerk. (I wish I had read this before last week's Top 10 Jerks because Jack would have definitely made my list.)

PS: the title of the book is very appropriate because after I read the last page, I had goosebumps. Oh, Maggie Stiefvater - how could you end a book like that?!

You might also like: Twilight by Stephenie Meye

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Very different from the standard human falling in love with a werewolf. Shiver is written by alternating the two main characters Sam and Grace. Grace was attacked by the werewolves as a child, and Sam is the wolf that saved her. As the years have progressed Grace has spent the season waiting and

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watching her yellow eyed wolf. Until news travels through the town of another wolf attack that killed a young ma, and they now want to handle the wolf population. In a split second decision Sam chooses Grace. Only once before has Sam been able to change back to human form by his own choice. Grace immediately knowns Sam and her yellow eyed wolf are one in the same, and thus begins a love deeper than either have ever known. Although, heaven will not last and Sam secretly knows that he can not stay human forever.

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What if you couldn't have the one you loved?

While this is archetypal theme is extremely common in literature, especially in teen fiction, Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver presents a fresh take on the idea. In her latest novel, two teenagers in love are not separated by race, social standing, or even

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parents. They're threatened with separation by the coming winter, which will force Sam into his other form, a wolf. Stiefvater's writing has the perfect amount of description, and borders on poetic at some points. Her writing style has a soft, well put together flow to it, while managing to keep the reader turning pages.

As far as the plot goes, Stiefvater has taken werewolf mythology down a whole new road. I've heard of the "change" being caused by night, the lunar cycle, or even willpower. But a change initiated by the changing of season was extremely creative, and aided in forming a gripping, original plot.

With the plethora of teen fantasy romance books being published after the onslaught of Twilight, I was afraid that this book would fall into the poorly written majority. I'm glad to say that this is not the case with Shiver. The main characters, Sam and Grace, experience the natural, everyday emotions of the average teenager, along with those problems caused by Sam’s condition, creating an interesting blend of the real and the supernatural. The only complaint I would have at all about the book is that I would have liked to see some more development of the minor characters. But overall, this book provided a unique plot with memorable characters. I would recommend Shiver to those readers who are looking for a well-written fantasy novel, as well as those who are just looking for a good read in general.

Age Recommendation: 14+ because of mild sexual references and language.

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It was a quick read. Sweet and yet…I felt detached from the narrative. Maybe it’s because I’ve read books of this genre or maybe…I’m just a cynical person. It was sweet and almost unbearably poetic. I just wasn’t able to connect with the characters in the way that I would have liked to.

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I give it four because the writing is beautiful, the plot well thought out – but there are some loose ends there that aren’t resolved at all.

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I really enjoyed this angst-y love story between Grace and Sam. Grace is one of those people who's so incredibly controlled and determined to make everything perfect. Part of this is because she's essentially raised herself due to her parents being pretty much absentee. I liked Grace a lot--she's a

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reader and, while she's a teenage girl, she's the kind I like--smart and funny and brave--and not the kind I don't--giggly and dumb. :) But I also liked that when Grace and Sam were together, she was able to actually BE a teenage girl, and not a middle-aged woman in a high-schooler's body.

The problem with Grace-and-Sam, though, is that Sam's a werewolf. In the mythology of this series, werewolves change based on temperature, not moon cycle. So wolves are human in spring, summer and early fall and wolves when it's cold out.

I thought that was a very interesting take on a very old "monster." And of course I adored love stories that are probably doomed. I got a review copy of Linger (the sequel) in the mail and I can't wait to start it. :)

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So my book bully has been telling me to read Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater almost since she first read it last May. But the arm twisting didn't fully start until after she read an Advance Reading Copy (ARC) of Linger, which is the followup book that is due to hit shelves this July. I've heard mixed

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things about Shiver so wasn't entirely sold on it but not one to resist my book bully for long I decided to pack it on the plane with me for my trip to New Mexico.

My first thoughts on Shiver was that the storyline was a little slow. I kept waiting for something bigger to happen but it never came. At about 1/2 way through I was texting my book bully asking what the deal was with the werewolves staying in MN. I mean if the change is triggered by cold then why not move south? Seems logical to me. Her response was to just wait. And so wait I did. And an answer did eventually come but I can't say its one that makes any sense to me. I don't agree with it on many levels, but its the answer that I am stuck with as that is what Stiefvater came up with. Though my initial response when I did read Stiefvater's answer was "WTF? Seriously?" and that is still what I think when it comes to it.

Overall the story wasn't bad but I am not one of the hundreds of Shiver lovers out there. The writing was solid but the world building was just so-so. Grace and Sam often came off as pretty two dimensional. I also hated the utter lack of presence of Grace's parents who were like cardboard cutouts staged just to show that she had parents but they didn't add any depth to the story. I'd be amazed if they had though as they had absolutely no depth at all. Saying all that though I didn't hate the story. I'm kind of ambivalent to the whole thing with no strong emotions either way. If I didn't pick up a copy of Linger at ALA then I'm not sure if this would be a book series that I would continue. But since I do have Linger I feel as though I should give it a shot....eventually.

As originally posted on my blog Ticket to Anywhere

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I have kept my Twilight-related rants off here thus far, mainly because I haven't read anything in the young adult paranormal romance genre recently. However, I couldn't pass this one by, so, I apologize for the potential length of this review in advance.

The key to any good young adult paranormal

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romance (or any young adult romance, for that matter) is an object of human affection who is just out of reach for some reason. In Twilight, Edward's a vampire, so that makes him slightly unattainable to Bella. In Shiver, Sam is a werewolf (I admit I giggled at the fact that the werewolf was named Sam, like one of the wolves in Twilight), so that also makes him unattainable to Grace. That sense of longing is what creates a lot of the tension, and throwing in the challenges of a human/mythological creature relationship just intensifies that tension. It's this tension that makes the stories so compelling and so utterly irresistible to already-hormonal teenagers (and adults, as it would seem).

The comparisons to Twilight stop there, however. While Twilight is a fairly compelling story (In that you want to know what happens next, which keeps you reading), it's actually a really poorly written quartet of books.

Shiver, on the other hand, is beautifully written. Stiefvater seamlessly transitions between Grace and Sam as narrators. Where Grace is pragmatic and practical, which shows in her narration, Sam is poetic. I would quote some specific passages here, but I just gave the library's copy to the mother of a teen who I think would enjoy the book. I found myself completely unable to put this book down, which is the mark of a good story, but there also were portions that I just wanted to go back and re-read a few times because they were so well-constructed from a language standpoint.

One of the things I really liked about Shiver's world was that there were actually potentially logical explanations for the folklore (Unlike in Twilight, where Meyer just throws all the previous mythology out the window and doesn't explain why people may have developed those perceptions). For example, Sam explains that he believes people think werewolves change with a full moon because it is traditionally colder at night. Since the wolves in Stiefvater's world change as the temperature gets colder, this seems a logical explanation (Unlike the complete absence of fangs in Twilight or about 1,000,000 other things).

Grace is a character I would have liked to have as a friend when I was a teenager. She's smart, funny and caring. And Sam. Well, Sam is definitely someone I would have liked to meet when I was in high school. He's protective of Grace without being overbearing and he's intelligent and not afraid to show it. His good looks don't hurt, either.

Everywhere that Twilight failed, in my mind (And it's a lot of places), Shiver soared. I was thrilled to learn that this is going to be part of a series, although I'm interested to see how Stiefvater keeps the storyline going. This is one book that needs to get into the hands of every Twilight fangirl on Earth so she can see just how good a young adult paranormal romance can be.

My rating: 10/10

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Grace is enamored with the mysterious wolves that wander the woods beyond her backyard, despite the fact that she was attacked by them as a child. Sam, her savior in that attack, has been watching her from those woods for half of his life. Their ensuing romance has the high and low points you'd

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expect, all against the ticking clock of the approaching winter.

The concept is fabulous, the writing good, but the characterization is sometimes lacking. I feel like I really got to know Sam, but Grace never came through as vibrantly. I've read this book twice now, but I still can't get a good hold on how I feel about it. There are parts that are so beautiful and wonderful that they blow me away, but there are also times when I don't want to pick it up and keep reading. I suppose I'd call it a good book, but it just doesn't stick with me the way it's intended to.

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Grace and Sam's romance is far from typical. I enjoyed reading about Grace's fascination with the wolves behind her home, even after a childhood attack. Sam's summer job at the bookstore puts him almost in reach of Grace, but their paths don't meet until later. Stiefvater has really put an unique

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spin on the werewolf story. I thought the idea of the varying temps and pack/family arrangement very interesting. Mercy Falls also has the good fortune to be in Northern Minnesota--lots of woods and cold temps for those wolves! Can't wait to see what else she comes up with in Linger.

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In a classic tale of love that's meant to be and can't possibly last, Maggie Stiefvater brings us "Shiver." The characters were well drawn, with all the imperfections of real people. They made me laugh and cry and root for them through the entire story. The love story between Grace and Sam was so

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tangible it made me love the people around me more. It could have used a little more emphasis on the mystery behind the love story, in an effort to feel more complete. All in all, an excellent read, well worth the time.

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This book was a pleasant surprise. I have to say that it is the best book I've read in quite a while if you base it on not wanting to put the book down and feeling invested in the characters lives. The author does a great job of explaining the complicated relationship between Grace and Sam,

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alternating point-of-view between the two of them. My only disappointment was that the very last page was left too abrupt and unexplained for my tastes and was not in fitting with the writing in the rest of the book. I'm hoping that just means we are being left primed for a sequel, as I am missing Grace and Sam already!

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Edward who?
After all the hype and suffocating obsession over Twilight and its like, this book is like a breath of fresh air for teen readers. Telling the story of Grace, an isolated teen who carries both emotional and physical scars, and Sam, a mysterious boy who becomes entangled in her life,

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this book is a beautiful, lyrical look at teen life.
Ignored by her parents, Grace finds comfort in watching the pack of wolves that winter in the woods behind her house. Sam, as we discover in delicously portioned flashbacks, has had a rather unconventional upbringing. When the two collide, their lives are both changed irrevocably.
I enjoyed this book for its beautifully written prose, the inclusion of some truly exquisite poetry, and the very realistic and clear-eyed view of teen relationships.
A beautiful book that readers of any age would enjoy.

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I had wanted to read ‘Shiver’, the first book in Maggie Stiefvater’s ’The Wolves of Mercy Falls’ series for a while - mainly because of the beautiful cover. Ok, so I admit, I’m a sucker for a pretty cover and this is no exception. The picture really doesn’t do it justice – those

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blues sort of shimmer and the contrast with that tiny dot of red is spectacular. Anyway, congrats to the art team, it’s beautiful.
Before I continue, there is a small spoiler near the end of the review, so read ahead at your own risk.

I hadn’t read an exclusively werewolf book before, and personally they’ve never interested me that much, but the praise that it was getting made me think that maybe casting away my preconceptions might just be beneficial for once. So, I borrowed it off a friend (who handed it over with the dust jacket on it, to my advantage, because I spent much time staring at that beautiful cover) and gave it a go.

The story revolves around American teenager Grace Brisbane who has had an obsession with the wolves that live in the forest near her house – well, one wolf in particular. She was attacked and bitten by the wolves once when she was younger, and one of the wolves with yellow eyes saves her. However, when a boy in town is thought to have been killed by the wolves a hunting party is sent out and Grace finds a naked, wounded boy slumped on her veranda. Grace and this boy, Sam, fall deeply in love but must fight to stay together.
It’s your typical paranormal romance.

The book is told from the alternating perspectives of Sam and Grace. I found this an interesting layout, though at times it became very hard to remember who was narrating. Both Sam and Grace’s voices sounded very similar, and the writing didn’t perceptibly alter for either. I also didn’t understand the temperature changes that were noted at the beginning of each chapter (ok, so I got that it was getting colder, but that was about it…), mainly because I don’t understand farenheit at all (us Aussies work in degrees celsius) so it all went straight over my head.

I wasn’t too chipper with Sam and Grace’s supposed ‘love‘. Firstly, it wasn’t what I would call love…because supposedly Grace was in love with Sam before she knew he was human, and to me, that is just creepy. I love my dog, sure…but not that much, because that is just gross. See what I mean?
Moving on.
When Sam is finally human, very quickly are he and Grace infatuated with one another. It’s a little too quick if you ask me, and Grace’s friends are way too accepting that she just ‘got a boyfriend’ overnight. If I did that, chances are my friends would be shackling me to a wall and threatening to steal my chai lattes until I told them every minute detail regarding the two of us. Basically, though I don’t pretend to be any sort of expert in love, I don’t think that this is what it’s supposed to look like.

The characters of the novel were interesting, and they were well constructed with actual ‘backstories’, such as Sam and his relationship with his parents. Another example is that of Shelby, one of the other wolves of the pack, though I felt that her story wasn’t explained very clearly…maybe I missed some glaring clues, but I just didn’t get it.
I liked Isabel’s character (though I’m not sure why), and I wish that we had seen a little more of her earlier in the book rather than later. Beck was also an interesting character, especially since he held the role of pack ‘father’, which is something I hadn’t really seen before.
Grace’s parents, however, were another story. They were careless (her father left her in a locked car when she was little…this is a serious offence where I live, and you can get find up to something like $20000), they have laid down absolutely no ground rules for her (how the hell did they not notice that Sam was living in Grace’s bedroom for most of the book…my parents sure would), they don’t even care enough to feed their child (if I don’t eat dinner my parents panic like you wouldn’t belive) and the one time they show any concern for her it lasts for mere seconds – she is in a hospital and really, they are more concerned about her going out with someone who had abusive parents than they are about her being in a hospital. Seriously, this is not realistic. I do not know anyone who has parents like this, nor have I ever previously heard of any – trust me, if there were some around, Today Tonight would be all over them like there’s no tomorrow.

The lore regarding the wolves was a very interesting adaptation on Stiefvater’s part, and I liked the idea that they ‘changed’ with the weather. She also did well to explain what are regarded as the ‘myths’ about silver bullets and the moon, keeping in line with the new lore she had created.
The idea that the wolves changed with the cold weather was quite confusingly described at the beginning of the novel, though I began to understand the concept better later on.

The descriptions were often very lyrical, and some were indeed very beautiful, though quite a few came out as just plain strange. I mean, do people really liken themselves to wombs? Not in my experience.
The descriptions of the wolves and the surrounding area were picturesque though, and I did enjoy those.

The plot was sort of a mish-mash of little sub-plots, including Shelby’s obsession with Sam, his previous relationship with his parents, the mysterious (or not so much…it was pretty obvious what happened) death and disappearance of Jack Culpeper, Grace’s fight with her friend Olive, the neglect of her parents and mainly, Sam and Grace’s desperate attempt to keep Sam human.
Quite frankly, most of the novel is composed of Grace and Sam swooning over one another, cooking and driving and fleeting attempts to keep the house/car/Sam warm. Not that much happened, and when things did happen, they didn’t stick around for long.

The ending of the novel really annoyed me. Ok, a small spoiler ahead, so shut your eyes if you don’t wish to kill the ending —> —> —> It, in my opinion, is generally not possible to steal blood samples of people infected with meningitis from your local hospital. I doesn’t happen.
And then suddenly everything was hunky-dory.

I feel like I have posted quite a lot of negative in this review, but I vowed to be honest. I didn’t hate Shiver, but I really didn’t love it either. There were too many plot holes and the storyline just didn’t do it for me. I’m not a romance lover (if you’ll pardon the pun) at the best of times, but theirs was just plain creepy, obsessive and a little over-written. The descriptions were nice most of the time, but the character voices were just too similar .

There are two more books (that I am aware of) to come in the ‘Wolves of Mercy Falls’ series, titled ‘Linger’ and ‘Forever’. I will continue the series, if only out of my obsessiveness with finishing things. Maybe it was just me, because plenty of people on Goodreads seem to have adored the book, but it wasn’t my cup of tea.

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I finished Shiver and have to let you know I was quite speechless. Its very good!

Normally, I’m not a fan of the alternating point-of-view which can be difficult to pull off without losing the flow of the narrative but in this case, it really helped in getting into the characters heads and amping

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up the emotional complexity but without straying into sappy territory.

Its actually interesting that the bestial element doesn’t really register. The love story is so intense in itself that the supernatural angle is almost secondary. You don’t really need to suspend reality to believe the story.

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Maggie Stiefvater has a way with words, I'll start off with that. Shiver was, of course, beautifully written just as everyone who has read it has claimed. The love between Grace and her wolf Sam is deep and emotional. Their connection is only heightened in the way their stories are told in

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alternate chapters. Stiefvater did a spectacular job with charactar development. I've never come across an author who was able to portray such mature voices with high school characters and yet managing to still be so believable!

Stiefvater's use of figurative language is ingenious. Once you read a sentence, you are able to soak it up like a sponge, with instant understanding and clarity. It makes the read seem that much more perfect.

While I must admit, Shiver was not as phenomenal as I thought it was going to be. When I read it was about werewolves, thoughts of raw animal instincts and epic fights came to mind. I was completely prepared for it to be your typical fantasy adventure romance. However, this was not the case. The story of Shiver is much more subtle in tone and especially setting, having much to do with the coldness of/and winter.

As I read the book, I found the story to be captivating and dream-like. It was a quiet thrill. The ending is quite satisfying and leaves you feeling fulfilled. Great stand-alone novel. Absolutely.

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This book was amazing!
I couldn't put it down.
The story was well written. Diffrent but great take on Werewolves with modern day teen romance.
I was left counting down for the release of the next book..