Book Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Shivertells the interconnected story of Grace, a girl with an obsession for wolves, and Sam, a yellow-eyed boy who shows up on her doorstep one night looking remarkably like her yellow-eyed wolf. As winter approaches, Sam struggles to stay human in order to remain with Grace. Their time together is scarce, but they must make the most of it, as the wolves' existence and Grace's life are both in danger.

Things I Liked:
The werewolf mythology (I'm assuming that's not really a spoiler) is fabulous - I love the details Stiefvater has woven into their existence and the rules they must obey. The characters, especially Sam and Grace, are very real. Their interactions, the love story in essence, was very well done. Even the minor characters came to life. All of this is probably due to Stiefvater's beautiful writing. It was just gorgeous. I had to throw in two quotes I loved:

"Behind the counter, I slouched on my stool in the sun and sucked in the summer as if I could hold every drop of it inside me. As the hours crept by, the afternoon sunlight bleached all the books on the shelves to pale, gilded versions of themselves and warmed the paper and ink inside the covers so that the smell of unread words hung in the air." p.8

"Her face was turned toward the trees, but I was invisible, intangible, nothing but eyes in the woods. The intermittent breeze carried her scent to me again and again, singing in another language of memories from another form." p.387

Things I Didn't Like:
The story itself was a little slow. Not a lot happened in the early part of the book. I was personally annoyed by Grace's parents and their issues. It seemed also like some of the emotional things Grace and Sam experienced were not discussed. They kinda skipped over what I thought would have been normal reactions.

Read-alikes:
I hate to say it, but it is rather like Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Also reminded me of Need by Carrie Jones

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: !@
scattered throughout

mrg-factor: X
implied, not described

v-factor: ->->
wolves are involved (they fight)

Overall rating: ****

Do you have a favorite werewolf depiction or mythology?

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