Shiver

SHIVER

By:  Maggie Stiefvater

FIRST SENTENCE

“I remember lying in the snow, a small bed spot of warm going cold,

surrounded by wolves.”

SUMMARY
from goodreads

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house.  One yellow-eyes-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.

REVIEW

“You have to read Shiver.”  “Shiver is epic good.”  “Why haven’t you read Shiver yet?”  “Shiver is sooooo good.”   These are but a few of the things my bookish friends have said to me this year.  I sure am glad I listened to them.

Shiver completely lived up to all the hype.  The relationship between Grace and Sam seemed pre-destined, like they were always meant to be together.  They were in-tune with each other in every sense.  I have to believe that some of this is a special human and animal connection.  It’s fascinating to think about.

Shiver is set up so that every other chapter is from Grace’s or Sam’s point-of-view.  Perfect!  I loved being able to really FEEL what was going on from each perspective.  Even cooler (err, warmer?) was that each chapter had a temperature.  This fit into the story because Sam changes from wolf to human when he gets too warm.

Ah, the setting.  Mercy Falls.  There’s something to that name.  Mercy = forgiveness, tolerance, tenderness, generosity.  I was awestruck that Stiefvater could capture so much wonder from a winter scene. 

Now it’s my turn to say it.  “You have to read Shiver.”

RATING

5        Plot

5        Characters

5        Attention Grabbing

5        Girlie Meter

5        Ending

25      TOTAL

5        STARS