Book Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Title:  Shiver

Author:  Maggie Stiefvater

Published :  August 1st, 2009

Genre :  Paranormal, Werewolves

Pages :  392 pages

Rating: 4 out of 5

Grace and Sam share a kinship so close they could be lovers or siblings. But they also share a problem. When the temperature slips towards freezing, Sam reverts to his wolf identity and must retreat into the woods to protect his pack. He worries that eventually his human side will fade away and he will be left howling alone at the lonely moon. A stirring supernatural teen romance.

My review:  

Sometimes I can be the biggest idiot on the planet. You see I had this book for a year and a half but I waited until all 3 were translated to Croatian. I didn’t want to read the first two and then have to wait a lot for the last part.

Maggie sure knows the world of Mercy Falls. The descriptions of nature were amazing. You get the feeling it’s cold and the stillness of forest captures your attention. Melancholic and really magical if you ask me. If I could associate this trilogy to an artist it wold be Lana Del Rey. Her songs encourage you to feel not just listen.

Grace is girl who lives with her parents but they aren’t usually around so she is very independent and knows how to take care of herself. There was this thing I didn’t like about the book and that was the fact she could sneak Sam in her room without her parents checking up on her. I get it, they aren’t around but I find it hard to believe they don’t enter her room at least one a day.

Sam is a werewolf who falls in love with Grace and he is desperately trying to stay human even though the cold is making him change into wolf. He reads a lot, plays the guitar and writes poetry. Basically he is an old soul. He reminds me a little of Jem from The Infernal Devices.

Even though this book is obviously beautiful I didn’t fall in love with it. The main reason for this is the relationship between Sam and Grace. They get together too quickly. I like a good chase before characters settle down and start to date. I usually complain how there isn’t enough romance in paranormal books but this one had plenty, I just didn’t connect with it.

Also I wanted to quit several times because I felt nothing was happening. But I am glad I stick to it and I liked it very much in the end. The last few lines made the book so much better. 

4 stars