Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Publisher: Scholastic Press, August 1, 2009
Pages: Hardcover, 392
Series: #1, The Wolves of Mercy Falls
Book Synopsis (from Goodreads): 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.
Book Review
From the first few pages of this book, I knew I loved it. I’ve kept away from it for so long because it was about wolves, which I associated with Twilight and those wolves really turned me off. So, imagine my surprise when I finally picked up Shiver and found it was nothing like Twilight!
This is such a beautiful story and what I liked most about it was Grace. I found her to be truly authentic and while she describes herself to be somewhat plain, from Sam’s view we find out she’s anything but. Switching between both Grace and Sam’s perspectives gave me a better view of the big picture and I felt like this gave more detail to a mostly straightforward story.
Maggie Stiefvater really nailed it when she created Sam and his pack. Unlike other shifter stories I can think of, Maggie perfectly transferred Sam’s presence as a wolf into his human character and I loved him in both roles. Some of the moments between Grace and Sam as a wolf were some of the loveliest and saddest of the entire novel and by the end, I was desperately trying to find a way for Sam to be both!
I’m looking forward to Linger, the next in the series. I hope it’s as good as this one!