Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
reviewed by Saluki
Summary: For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling 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, Sam must fight to stay human—or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.
Shiver is the first book in the Wolves of Mercy Falls series. Sam and Grace are two teenagers leading very different lives. Sam is a werewolf, human during the summer and wolf during the winter. Grace is a high school student with very absent parents. He and Grace met when she was only a girl when she was attacked by a pack of wolves, but have shared a fascination for one another ever since. When another student in Grace’s school is attacked by a wolf, the story is set in motion. They meet for the first time as boy and girl, recognizing one another immediately. Sam fears that when he becomes a wolf this winter, he will never change back, and he and Grace struggle to stay together as the months grow colder.
Besides a very unique and engaging plot, I think my favorite part about this book are the main characters, Sam and Grace . In many YA books, I might like the characters, but don’t really relate to them because they are written larger than life. Maggie Stiefvater writes teenagers that I can relate to. Sam and Grace aren’t perfect, but they aren’t over the top rebellious either.
Grace is more well-rounded than many of the girls who populate YA paranormal romance novels. She’s neither too perfect nor too wild, and she doesn’t drop her whole life for love when she meets Sam. She’s just a regular girl caught in an unimaginable situation.
Sam is a sweet, creative, caring, broken 18 year old. After enduring unspeakable trauma at the hands of his parents, Sam is adopted by Beck, the de facto leader of the wolves. Beck is a loving parental figure, but Sam knows that he won’t be around forever. After a certain number of years, wolves stop shifting after the winter frost turns to spring. Armed with this knowledge, he wars with himself about his feelings for Grace. His despair at the thought of leaving her is palpable. You can feel his heart breaking as he realizes this could be his last summer as a human.
Their love story is beautiful. Although they are attracted to each other immediately, they still go through the awkward “getting to know you” stages of a relationship. She has to introduce Sam to her parents, and Sam seeks acceptance from his pack. What I really love about watching their relationship unfold is that the author has a grasp of showing and not telling: glances, touches, dialogue, and thoughts all create a completely believable love story between a girl and a werewolf. I guarantee you will be fighting for Sam and Grace from the very start. Like Edward and Bella, they are a couple destined to be together despite the odds.
At some points, the plot seems slow and there are times when shifting back and forth between Grace and Sam’s POV can be frustrating, but overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is a really unique take on shape shifting, and the author does a great job of fleshing out the dynamics of the pack and the strain of shifting between human and wolf each year. There are many questions left unanswered, such as why the shifting eventually stops, and why the cold triggers it in the first place. I’m hoping we get answers to these questions in the next book in the series, Linger. I’m reading it now, so stay tuned for my review.
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