Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
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 first thing I have to say about this book is that the writing is incredibly captivating. I decided to start reading as I was going to bed a couple nights ago. I was only going to read for 15 minutes or so, but I found that I couldn’t put the book down and ended up finishing 80 pages and staying up later than I had planned.
In the beginning, the chapters are short and alternate between Grace’s POV and Sam’s POV. Later, the chapters get longer and several chapters will stay with one character for a while. I really liked getting both characters’ perspective and thoughts. It made both characters (and the book) seem more well rounded. A few parts in the middle were a little slow, but overall I liked the book.
I have seen this book compared to New Moon by Stephenie Meyer and I really disagree with the association. Yes, it’s about a girl and a werewolf, but Grace is much more likable than Bella. The drama that Grace and Sam faced was much more interesting in my mind than what Bella and Jacob dealt with.
One last thing – it was really weird reading about (and worrying about) the cold while enduring August in Georgia.
Maggie Stiefvater is one of the authors I should get to meet at the Decatur Book Festival.