Review: Shiver

Title: Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #1)
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Challenge: YA Series Challenge
Pages: 392

My Rating:

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. -summary from goodreads.com

I actually finished reading this book a while back, but hadn't had time to write down my thoughts. In this lovely story, we follow Grace and Sam. As a child, Grace was attacked by wolves. She was seven years old at the time and dragged from her tire swing. She some how survived due to one wolf fending off the others. Ever since that incident, she has been wolf obsessed. She’s always on the lookout for her wolf; the one that saved her life.

It turns out that Grace’s wolf is actually a werewolf. He changes shape every summer into a normal teenage boy and he is every bit as obsessed by her and she is with him, as a wolf. Although she was bitten, Grace never changed, not when it got cold or when she got older. And when she finally meets Sam, her wolf in person form, she realizes that she’s always been in love with him.

What I loved about Shiver was the romance, the vivid detail of each scene (I loved the candy store scene) and the dialogue is so musical and romantic. I got sucked right into how much Sam and Grace feel about each other. At times, it did seem a bit too much “lovey dovey” (if you know what I mean), but most of the time things ran smoothly and enjoyable.

Overall, Shiver is a great novel with a new twist on werewolves. I liked how ordinary it seemed to Grace when she figures out all the wolves are werewolves. She doesn't freak out, she isn't even really surprised. It’s as if she always knew she’d end up with her wolf. Gosh, this story is great. If you haven’t read it, give it a try- you won’t regret it!