Shiver by M. Stiefvater

I’ve been hearing so many great things about Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, so I decided to see what all of the fuss was about.

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf–her wolf–is a chilling presence she can’t seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It’s her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human–or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

If your looking for some kick in the pants action, Shiver probably isn’t the book for you. This book was achingly sweet. So much so that I can almost imagine that every person that reads this book is going to want to sigh at the almost fairy tale aspect of their love . The relationship that was cultivated between Grace and Sam was just that cute. Sam is every stereotypical sensitive emo guy and his being a werewolf added to his appeal.  While I can honestly say that he isn’t really the type of guy I dream about, he was perfect for Grace – the yin to her yang and all that. With her head for numbers and sense of practicality Grace really needed an artist like Sam to put a little color in her world.  As the relationship develops you can see the way their love for each other changes them. How Grace becomes happier, and how Sam tries to hold on to himself so that he can spend more time with her.

The only people that I had a problem with were Graces’ parents. They treated their daughter like she was a roommate, they almost never checked on her, and they never knew what was going on in her life. Grace might not even see her parents for days because they hardly ever made any parental effort whatsoever. It was hard for me to imagine that the parents of a seventeen year old girl with a couple of near death experiences under her belt would pay so little attention to her. And it was a really big problem for Grace too. Seeing as she was pretty much the ideal daughter, there was nothing wrong with her. But she was left feeling like there was something more she should be doing. Until Sam came along she was basically living on her own, and that kind of had me wanting to point out to them that they actually had a daughter.

Between Sam trying to avoid turning and trying to catch a newly made wolf there was enough to keep my attention.  I do have to say though that the ending was a little bit maddening.  It just left you hanging and not in a good way.  I was left feeling like there should have been a little more to it, and wondering why it was just left there with no sense of finality to it.

Overall,  Shiver very much had a Twilight feel to it. So naturally I think that any teenage girl will quickly fall in love with this story. The romance between Grace and Sam was exceedingly cute, and while the relationship may not really represent anything close to reality, it was nice and I loved it.

Read Order:
Shiver
Linger
Forever (July 2011)

Also reviewed by:
I Just Wanna Sit Here and Read
By Pen or By Sword
Sarah’s Book Reviews
Tez Says
Linus’s Blanket

3 Comments

  1. I loved Shiver it was the first book I read by Maggie Stiefvater and went on to buy her fairy books Lament and Ballad. I thought the ending was good especially because there are follow up books. If this was a stand alone book I would agree.

  2. Yes, it was a good book overall. It was just that I thought it got cut off too soon. I am looking forward to the next book. I haven’t had the chance to read either of her fairy books, but they both look like good reads. =3

  3. I was surprised by just how much I enjoyed this book. I knew that it was a slower paced book then ordinary, with much more emphasis on character development and atmosphere then most YA paranormals I’m used to, but I really liked Grace and Sam. I liked their interactions, their protectiveness of each other.

    I’m really looking forward to Linger!

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