Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

 shiver

Shiver

By Maggie Stiefvater

Published by Scholastic Press

ISBN: 0545123267   ISBN13: 9780545123266

392 Pages

Genre: YA Fiction/Paranormal Romance

 

Book Description (from the publisher): 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.

The General Review: Shiver is a haunting and lovely paranormal romance between Sam, a shape shifting wolf and Grace, the human he loves. Up against personal tragedy and supernatural circumstances, the two protagonists tell their story in a poetic beauty that is enchanting.

Likes: I liked the alternating perspectives for each chapter. I think by reciprocating the viewpoint, the reader discovers more the the characters personalities. Also, the transition between the two perspectives are seamless.

Dislikes: There were a few shape shifting facts that were a little unbelievable or weren’t explained in detail. I don’t want to give examples because I don’t want to blow it for those of you that haven’t read the book yet.

Judging a Book by its Cover: I like the simplicity of this cover. Excellent design.

Closing Comments: This one of the better YA novels I’ve read in a while (besides Catching Fire by Susanne Collins, which is in its own category of awesomeness). I did expect the story to be more suspenseful, but I was not disappointed. I recommend Shiver to anyone who enjoys paranormal romance and shape shifting.

Blog Discussion: If you could shape shift into any animal, what would it be and why?

7 comments:

  1. Great review! I have this one sitting on my bookshelf - I can't wait to get to it. :)

    Um, if I could shapeshift into any animal... it would have to be an eagle because I would love to have the ability to fly and still have the ability to walk on land and appear human, ;)
    Plus, I'm a bit of a klutz, so perhaps it'll make me more graceful?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hmmm... I'll probably pass on this one, solid review notwithstanding...

    I don't know that I'd shapeshift into any animal, actually... I'd have to give it some thought. If I could choose, I'd shift into a version of myself that was in better shape, lol... gimme some muscles, better posture, a smaller nose... hey, if I could shift some under-the-hood stuff, now that would be interesting... think of the changes I could make then!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love Shapeshifters! I have seen Shiver around lately and really thought about picking it up but I just haven't YET.

    If I could Shapeshift into anything...hummm.. I don't think I could chose one thing, because I'd like to be all kinds of people and animals... :)

    Oh, and I agree there is nothing out right now that could top Catching Fire's awesomeness!

    ReplyDelete
  4. @Jessica- I think shapeshifting into an eagle would be awesome!

    @Dave- Not into YA Paranormal Romance, eh?

    @Krista- I would want to shift into any animal I want, too. I'm not sure if I would want to shift into people, though.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I liked Shiver too. I had a few problems with it as well, thought it slowed a little in parts, but overall a good read.

    I don't know what to shape shift to. The eagle sounds cool but I'd miss having hands.

    Speaking of Catching Fire, we just added it to the bunch of books in our multi-book giveaway. It was a mega popular choice as an addition so we had to throw it in!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm sill on the hold list for this one - I can't WAIT to read it!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great job! and I completely agree with everything! lol

    I would shape shift into a cat so I can talk to Wicked! :)

    ReplyDelete