SHIVER

Maggie Stiefvater

MSRP $17.99, 400 Pages.

Published by Scholastic Press/Scholastic.

Love among the lupine.

Customer Reviews

Beautiful!

Rating

Grace is a seventeen year old girl fascinated with the wolves residing in the forest behind her house. When she was younger, she was brutally attacked by said wolves, only to be saved by one particular golden eyed pack member. This wolf has been her obsession for the past six years.

Lucky her when, after a "brutal murder", this golden-eyed creature shows up on her doorstep. As a human. With a gunshot wound to the neck.

After rushing Sam to the hospital, only to discover his super human healing abilities, the duo are plagued by one particular problem: the closer it gets to winter, the more susceptible Sam is to the change back to wolf. Will they figure out a way to save the young boy before it's too late?


Any book that can get me invested enough that angst-y scenes make me cry or almost cry has claimed a special place in my heart. Shiver is a new addition to this select list. It is so beautifully written that I'm actually sad that I finished it today, even though I was dying to see what would happen with Sam and Grace.

My favorite character is Isabel. She seemed like some prissy little snob, but once she was integrated into the group, she was hilarious. I had to slap a hand over my mouth quite a few times today in order to keep my squeals of laughter quiet because of some of the things she said.

Grace and Sam compliment each other perfectly. Grace is confident and sexy, while Sam's the little insecure emo kid. His flip flopping between being shy/insecure and wanting to kiss Grace senseless got me frustrated at one point, only because it felt like they were so far in their relationship already for him to act like that with her.

Very entertaining and creative story

Rating

Bought this book because of the connection to the Twilight/werewolf genre and was pleasantly surprised by an entertaining read. Although there were parts that were a bit stilted and slow, the latter part of the book was an exciting and quick read with a great twist ending. I would definitely recommend this to the 12+ set. It's not like so many other teen books --- there's no foul language and a very sweet love story. It definitely makes me want to read more from this writer.

Enjoyable, if somewhat annoying YA

Rating

I wasn't expecting to enjoy reading Shiver as much as a I did. This novel is as much atmospheric as anything; Stiefvater creates the cold, winter landscape beautifully and I loved the sparse prose. There has been a lot of controversy around this book, though I'm not sure why. I'm sure those who love Twilight, will love Shiver. Maybe they'll even appreciate the more skilled writing and beautiful language, which is why I bought this book for my sister for Christmas. The biggest complaints seem to be Grace's lack of independence and a couple mentions of Grace's parents. It is really convenient that Grace's parents are never around, but at least Stiefvater attempts to weave this into the story with Grace's frustration with her parents absence. After reading the complaints about Grace, I was very prepared to feel the same way, but I was surprised. I thought Grace was very independent, not perfect, but sometimes I want to read a novel about an all-consuming passionate love. Okay? All in all, I thought Shiver was decent, if not perfect. The plot could have used some cleaning up, the conflict was kind of boring to me. But I know my sister (14) will love it, so that's all that really matters.

Great Concept ... Executed Poorly

Rating

(The below has some spoilers in it)
This a book about a girl named Grace who was bitten by a wolf, but unlike others who have been bitten she never changed into a wolf. AND about a young man named Sam who was also bitten but has spent his life changing b/t wolf and human form. No one knows why she never changed, but Sam who met Grace 6 year prior when she was bitten, has watched an loved Grace from a distance in his wolf form. The town starts worrying about the wolves when a young man named Jack is "killed" by a wolf. The town decides that it is time to kill the wolves. In his attempts to survive Sam is shot ... shortly after Grace finds him on her back porch in his human form. She takes him to the hospital and that is when their romance really starts. For rest of the book they try to enjoy their time together, loving each other. They also attempt to find Jack ... who apparently has been receiving help from one of Grace's friends Olivia, though Grace does not learn of this until after Jack bites Olivia. Soon, with the help of Jake's sister Isabel and Beck (Sam's guardian when he is human) Grace tries to help Jake and Sam burn the wolf "bug" out of them. Olivia decides that she would rather be a wolf than take the risks that are associated with the "experiment" to keep her human. Sam wants to try and does ... in the end Jake dies, Olivia becomes a happy wolf and Sam becomes Human. The Book is like an Oreo ... the first and last 20-30 pages are the best part of the entire book !!

Personal Opinion about the Book:
The book begins in a catchy way that gets you interested in learning more about each character. But in the following 300+ pages your balloon of excitement is deflated! The writing is lack luster ... not original and barely able to hold a readers attention. Grace is obsessed about the wolves and it makes no sense ... until much later. There is sexual tension b/t the characters but they spend too much time think about it "I want to kiss her" or "I should kiss him" or I wished we kissed". After a while you just wished they thought about it less and just kissed! The supposed death of Jake, the bad boy of the H.S., is a great opening of a villain that is slow to develop and eventually does not develop. In the first 200 pages Sam gushes about his mentor Beck and you get this image of a great person ... until you meet him and within a few pages you are disgusted and let down by his character. The book has few exciting moments. Few details. Few moments of enjoyment. You don't learn about how Sam got changed until late, and the lateness of many ideas is a continuing problem in the book.
The only part of the book that I enjoyed was the end and the last 20+ pages.

WARNING: if you pick up this book (unless you're like me and feel obligated to complete it) you will put it down and allow spider webs to form after the first 50 pages ... or sooner.
I give this book a 2/5 stars because it has TOO many flaws and disappointments. It is not interesting (at all). Now that I've completed it I have no desire to read any more novels by Maggie Stiegvater. When LINGER, the sequel to SHIVER is released, I will save my money, time and emotions and just wait for the Internet summary of it to learn what happens to Sam and Grace.

Richly Descriptive! It'll Suck You Right In!

Rating

I'm a fan of vampire stories and other books relating to the occult, but this is the first book I've ever read about werewolves. After this book, I must say that I've been converted. Werewolves are definitely sexier than vampires. The author does SUCH a good job of describing the animal magnetism thing. In fact, all of the author's descriptions in the narration were superb. I really felt like I was there - feel the cold, smell the scents, and touch the textures. It was very richly described. The only problem I had really was that the heroine was overly stoic - it was her main personality trait, and it was taken to the extent at one point toward the end that I no longer found her believable as a human being. I mean, kind of stoic is fine - I myself am a stoic person - but I just felt it was overdone to the point that she was too robot-like.

Overall, I loved this book and I can't wait to for the next one! Mind you, it's not a very deep or serious read, but it was very enjoyable. (In fact, it was a comfort read while I was sick. It was just the right speed). I'm recommending it to all my friends.

SPOILER WARNING! I'd just like to add one small warning for concerned parents: there is a single act of underage sex in this book (nothing descriptive and protection is used) so if that overly concerns you, then I wouldn't recommend this book.