Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

the cold.
Grace has spent years watching the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—watches back. He feels deeply familiar to her, but she doesn't know why.

the heat.
Sam has lived two lives. As a wolf, he keeps the silent company of the girl he loves. And then, for a short time each year, he is human, never daring to talk to Grace...until now.

the shiver.
For Grace and Sam, love has always been kept at a distance. But once it's spoken, it cannot be denied. Sam must fight to stay human—and Grace must fight to keep him—even if it means taking on the scars of the past, the fragility of the present, and the impossibility of the future. ~from Goodreads



The story is told in alternating points of view by Grace and Sam. Grace spent years seeing Sam in the distance, him watching her as a wolf. She felt safe with him there. The intimacy shared between the two that happens through those years is put into a new perspective when he becomes human. But of course, time is running out for them, he can only stay human for so long. And there are other wolves who aren’t too happy about what is going on in the area. What will they do? Can they keep him human?

My favorite part (and in case you haven’t read the book yet, stop reading this paragraph and skip to the next one, not quite a spoiler, but just to be safe…) is when she goes up to him while he’s a wolf, before she sees him human. There was something so touching about it, intense and deeply emotional.

The whole book was well written. You are aware of their feelings, the depth of them, from beginning to end. I can’t wait to read the next book!

5 comments:

  1. I'm glad you liked this one. I unfortunately didn't. I just didn't like their love story for some odd reason. I know I'm in the minority though - a lot of people love this book! Great review.

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  2. Thanks for your comment! There were a couple other wolf-themed books that I read and didn't like myself, even though lots of others liked them. It all depends on the story and the characters to me. ^_^

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  3. I love this series .. The next book is pretty good too !! I can't wait to read Forever !
    Great review !

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  4. I love this one as well. It's one of the books that got me into reading YA again; it was just so beautifully written. As well as Grace and Sam, I also really liked Isabel - you think she's just a bitch at first, but then you find out she has layers.

    Definitely read the next book, Linger. It goes deeper into the wolf mythology as well as having a lot more of the Grace/Sam love story, naturally.

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  5. Yay! Good to know! I can't wait to read it. :)

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Thank you for commenting and happy reading!