Review: Shiver

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
publisher: Scholastic, Inc.

released: August 2009

hardcover, 400 pages

intended audience: Young Adult

rating:


description from goodreads.com
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.

Review: Where do I even start with this one? It was a beautiful story: haunting, romantic, suspenseful, captivating from the very first chapter, and written with an amazing amount of realism for a book about werewolves. Maggie Stiefvater created werewolves like they've never been written before, made them more human than I've even seen them portrayed. Sam's constant struggle to remain human so he could stay longer with Grace despite the oncoming winter is heartwrenching---my stomach flipped everytime he ran from a car to a front door, just waiting for the inevitable to happen! It was also nice to see a departure from the love stories where the two characters are constantly going "I'm so bad for you/I can't stay away from you/I must stay away from you/ no, I must have you...etc, and so on". Grace and Sam just let themselves be in love, enjoying the short time they had together. It was a joy to read!
Every character was written so you could see them clearly in your head, even hear their voices. So many interesting subplots going on and each one felt complete by the end. It was definitely a satisfying story---no open-ending left for a second book...I even wonder if a second one was planned when this one was completed.

But, of course, the second installment is on it's way! I am so excited to read Linger, hitting shelves in July!!