Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: Shiver

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Rating: 1/2

Who Should Read It? This is great YA with just the right amount of paranormal. I would recommend it to anyone who regularly enjoys YA reads. In its own way, it will appeal to both the adult end of the YA spectrum and the much younger end of the spectrum.

What I Have to Say:
This book starts off like poetry, like breathing. Each page is a lyrical inhale, a lyrical exhale. Nothing has to happen - all that matters is Grace and Same, a girl and her world.

This is one of the most beautiful love stories I have ever read, and yet, to call it romantic would be an understatement. Every word, every phrase, every paragraph was written with such love and care that to call it romantic would cheapen its beauty, its impact. It's just love, pure and simple, and yet somehow also oh so complicated.

Grace and Same are one of the most intense and believable couples I have ever read. How they fell for each other, their immediate attraction, seems so real and makes so much sense to me. And their interactions with each other reinforce their intrinsic attraction over and over again. They are so different and yet so alike; they complement each other perfectly. They made me laugh, they almost made me cry, and they regularly made me hold my breath in anticipation, full of hope and desire that things would work out for them.

They are both incredibly well-developed characters with incredibly well-developed, beautiful stories. The secondary characters are also full of life and history, and I felt almost as connected to them as I did to Sam and Grace. Isabel with her straightforward spunk, never whom you expect her to be; Trevor, so full of anger and yet also so full of hope; Rachel, with the bit of livelihood and humour she brings to an otherwise heart-wrenching story. Through Stiefvater's poetic cadence, they all became so alive, so important.

This book ends the same way it begin - like poetry, like breathing. Your heart will be breaking while at the same time bursting with hope. And maybe even joy. I think at heart Maggie Stiefvater is really a poet. And it's hard not to get caught up in the beauty and tragedy of this book.

Summary (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.

Cover Story: I think this cover is beautiful, just like the book. The subtlety greatly appeals to me - the wolf hiding in the background, so you almost don't notice him, captures the feel of this book perfectly.