From Goodreads:
For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf – her wolf – is a chilling presence that 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.
‘Shiver’ felt a little long for me – only because it was hard to get into; the pace was slow and not a lot happened. I did enjoy the relationship element between Grace and Sam, even if it was a little stalker-esque. I’d hoped for a darker tone with the werewolf treatment for this novel, but it focused more on the pack mentality and ‘canine’ forms rather than something monstrous and half-human-half-wolf, fighting against an inner evil vying for control over the physical body. It was very light and fluffy and failed to hook me in.
Maggie Stiefvater does have a beautiful way of writing though, she has a lyrical turn of phrase which helps paint beautiful scenes in the imagination. She also has a great knack for world building and underlying mythology in her novels, and where ‘Shiver’ failed to captivate me, it was still an interesting concept.
As far as story goes, I found it ultimately very predictable and unoriginal. It followed a formula rife in YA paranormal romances; which I could have overlooked if there was something that hooked me, but unfortunately ‘Shiver’ fell short.
Grace was a strong character, which is the most redeeming quality of this book. She is intelligent and observant, juxtaposing Sam’s alternate point of view (which I had a little trouble relating to). As the narration alternated between Grace and Sam, I kept getting pulled out of the novel, distracted by trying to find a connection and get my bearings. I felt if the novel had remained with a single character and was only half its length, it would have been a far superior story.
There have been a lot of parallels drawn between this book and ‘Twilight’ by Stephenie Meyer – and even the sparkly vampires were more menacing than the wolves of Mercy Falls. I wouldn’t particularly recommend this book; maybe to a younger audience – early teens – but I’m uncertain if many would have the attention span to complete the novel.
© Casey Carlisle 2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Casey Carlisle with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Casey Carlisle 