Title: Shiver
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 400 pages
Source: Library
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
About the book: 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.
My thoughts:
Isn’t that a great Synopsis? I had wanted to read this book for a long time and I snapped it when I saw it in the library. But I was really disappointed.
Firstly, I was kind of surprised that Grace fell in love with a wolf before even knowing that he could shift back to human. There is of course a reason for that but it was weird that she doesn’t once question her obsession with the wolf. When she finally comes to know that the wolf is a human, Sam, she falls in love with him too and then she doesn’t want him to go back to being a wolf. Kind of makes sense but still a little weird.
Sam turns into a wolf in winters and he afraid that after some time he is going to remain a wolf forever. He has to find a way to stay with Grace forever.
While I liked the concept I didn’t like the execution so much. It was very long winded with the same things repeating over and over again. It was Sam trying not to turn and Grace wondering why she cannot change. The atmosphere the author created in Mercy Falls was great, I could imagine myself being there and starring at the wolf’s roaming through the woods. But other than that there was nothing much. The writing at times felt a little juvenile. So I guess teenagers would really like this book because it also has that pining for first love feeling.
If you love YA, go for it, else skip it.
Book-Shelved 
Too bad that you didn’t like it as much as I did. But it all depends on our reading taste , right ?
Loved reading your honest review.
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Absolutely, that’s why there are so many different books 🙂
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i loved the book i read it last year and couldn’t put it down i even read some of it this year.. you should make more books like this one. you are a very good writer keep it up
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I have this on my tbr pile, I love YA but have read several reviews which weren’t too impressed with it. I’ll get around to it one day
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You’ve been on quite a YA kick, haven’t you? That’s cool. Happy New Year!
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Oh yes, I guess a couple of YA more then I’ll shift to adult books, the best part about YA is that they are quick to read and thats what I need right now
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I’ve been wanting to read this for a while, but I’m glad to read a negative review! I’ve heard it’s one of those books to get from the library and not to buy.
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I cant say for sure because I have read many 5 star reviews of this book.
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I agree about the creepy wolf love but the explanation that she is also part wolf made sense for me. I ended up liking it more than I thought I would in the beginning and actually thought the writing was lovely.
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I thought the writing was good in parts but the constant repetition in the story kind of put me off the book.
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I am sorry this one turned out to be disappointing. It sure sounds good from the description.
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Great review. I liked it more than you did, but I agree it was somewhat juvenile. Are you planning on reading the next book?
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Nah…I don’t think so, I have way too many books to read as it is 🙂
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The thing with her falling in love with a wolf before knowing he was human made me laugh. But then most of the time dogs are better boyfriends than actual guys anyway, so why not wolves, right? (j/k) 😛
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ha…I’m sure many girls would agree with that 🙂
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The thing I loved about Sam in Shiver, is that he’s so much like a real, authentic teenage boy. He has insecurities, fears, and obsessions–a cool obsession with writing music lyrics.
I loved this book so much, that I just did a blog post of my own about it (scheduled it to be posted on Friday, Jan. 29th). Then I checked who else had stuff like mine, and that’s what brought me here.
I’d love it if you’d add your two bits to my blog post, Violet. It’s good to hear both sides of the review factor. I think you can just click on my name and it’ll take you to my blog.
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