Book Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Saturday July 25, 2009

Shiver
by Maggie Stiefvater
Release date: August 1, 2009
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.

After reading Maggie's first book Lament, I was so enchanted by her writing that I have been not-so-patiently waiting for her next book. Thankfully I was not disappointed! Shiver is a wonderful story with the author's same magical writing style.

In line with the classic tragic love story, Grace and Sam seemed doomed to be separated forever when the winter cold will force him to change back into the wolf that roams the woods behind Grace's house during the winter. Adding insult to injury, the local townspeople have formed a blood-thirsty posse bent on killing the wolves after a boy was killed in the forest.

While desperately trying to put off Sam's transformation, he and Grace try to figure out who is responsible for the attack on the boy in the forest. Was it just random or are other people in danger too? Solving this mystery could lead them to all the answers they need to stay together.

Having the chapters alternately narrated by Sam and Grace gives the reader a clear understanding of the feelings they have for each other and the situation that they are in. This book will be a hot ticket among the paranormal romance crowd...star crossed lovers who fight the odds to stay together.

Appropriate for middle school and up.

4 points