Shiver By Maggie Stiefvater Review #43

Author:Maggie Stiefvater
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Pages: 400
Rating:
For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf - her wolf - is a haunting 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 and the temperature drops, Sam must fight to stay human or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

I'm stumped!! And utterly baffled. I seriously do not know how to review this one. It's probably the hardest review I have written. When I was reading it I was uncertain what to rate it as. I really wanted to, give it 5 stars for it is a piece of art. A classic literature to me. The writing is beautiful, and the dialogue is the most realistic thing I have ever seen. I can imagine myself saying some of the things that were said. The emotion was dead on, and it was a beautiful story. If I were a director, I would certainly want to direct this movie. I can imagine it how it could be visually done. The characters were nicely put, and I could actually picture Olivia or Rachel as my best friend. I don't usually like two different POV's, in a story between the male and female lead, but it worked for Shiver. Even if there was no Grace or Sam (indicating point of view) on top of each new chapter, I could easily tell who was narrating. It worked beautifully! Maggie Stiefvater takes a realistic romance between two people and turns it into a believable supernatural tale. But I felt that if I gave it 5 stars, I would be lying to you. It is a piece of art, but it isn't my thing. Or I thought so, for 300 pages. Then by the ending, I started liking it. And I enjoyed it, and was eager to read Linger. Then the last page came, and it was ok. Could of been better, was a bit of downer after reading Finnikin of the Rock's ending. In the end, I decided to rate it 3 stars. I thought that was balanced. I originally was not going to rate it at all, then I was going to rate it 5 stars and now it 3. I think why I didn't like Shiver was it was too slow, had little action and too much romance. Usually when I read Paranormal/supernatural romance, it's balance. A little bit of the (insert creature your in love with) and a little bit of romance. 50/50 you would say. But this book was unbalance, and mainly romance. Too much of it for my taste. I mean it was pretty in terms of imagery, but just not me. Also it felt weird for a book to admit so quickly to what the supernatural thing was and having the female protagonist believe it so fast, and that unsettling on my tongue. But the love between Sam & Grace was real, how they acted and cared for each was truthfully. I thought it was a bit to fast at first, and a bit unbelievable that Grace's parents were that disconnected from her. I mean how do you not notice a boy sleeping in your teenager's room after a long period of time.
Sometimes I though Grace resembled Bella (Twilight) in some ways. Both were to clingy to there boyfriends, and both didn't really have lives after they left.
So in the end, Shiver was an amazing book that is fascinating in so many ways, but it was not my cup of tea. It took me through a roller coaster though. And if your wondering if I'll be reading Linger, well the answer to that is yes. I'm a sucker for series, and feel left out if I don't read all of them. Even if I didn't like there predecessor.
Yours Truly,