Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

  Title: Shiver                                          Pages: 392
  Author: Maggie Stiefvater                       Source: Library   
  Publisher: Scholastic Press                   Published: Aug 1, 2009  
  Series: The Wolves of Mercy Falls          Purchase: Amazon
  Rating: 3 out of 5

Grace was attacked by wolves when she was young and survived. Since then, she has spent her time watching them, one in particular. Her wolf - the one with the yellow wolf eyes.

Sam has a secret. He's a wolf by winter, boy by summer. He lives his two lives, watching the girl all the while. He never dares to speak to her while he is human, until she finds him on her deck in her backyard, naked and cold.

Now that they have each other, they don't want to let go. But with winter creeping up, threatening Sam's inner animal, they must fight to keep him human.

I've heard tons of good reviews of Shiver, so I decided it was time to pick this book up to read. Let me tell you, I struggled through the first half of it. I went back and forth from hating it and liking it, but never loving it. The closest I came to loving it was during the middle to the end, where things picked up instead of seeming like a bunch of filler scenes.

I loved the character of Grace through and through. I never once disliked her. She was strong, yet not in the overpowering way. She still was vulnerable at times, but she was brave. She was also smart and witty and an overall wonderful heroine. I enjoyed reading her character and it was one of the things that made me keep reading this book.

I went back and forth from hating Sam, to not minding him. I never loved his character throughout reading, but came to the conclusion of just liking him. In the beginning of the book, he seemed incredibly juvenile and immature. He was not the strong male character I was hoping for. He was far too sensitive at times for my taste. This got much better as the story went on and he really evolved throughout the novel, becoming more strong and mature. If this was a novel solely about Sam, I would have never finished it.

The plot was quite intriguing with the way Maggie Stiefvater created her own unique twist on wolves, what with coldness changing them. I loved when authors take a worn idea and make it their own, twisting in their own unique ideas and creativity, rather than having a clichéd novel.

There were many twists and many I didn't see coming. I was almost about to stop reading, but I got to the middle and things really started taking off more, with less mushy I-finally-have-you romance, and more I-need-to-keep-you-now-that-I-have-you action. To me, there was hardly a plot up until the middle, so I'm very glad I kept trekking.

Overall, I am definitely glad that I kept reading, as I enjoyed the last half of the book far more than the first. Maggie Stiefvater created a wonderfully unique world of wolves and romance and I would recommend this to anybody that loves wolves or just general paranormal romance. I will be reading Linger the next chance I get.

I give Shiver a 3 out of 5.