Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater Review – A YA Novel Without Sparklie Vamps
13 Dec, 2009 in Young Adult 28 Comments
Genre: Young Adult
Release Date: August 1st 2009 (392 pages)
I think Target is my lucky book charm. For those that know my back story – it was a cold rainy day…sorry tangent. Any-hoo I was broswing the Target bookshelves , I was only supposed to be in the Home Good Section oops, and saw Shiver a Young Adult book about snow and werewolves. Of course I had to buy it!
Ever since I was a little girl I’ve been fascinated with books with winter settings, snow, ice, blizzards, I swear I was born in Alaska in a previous life. Since I grew up in Chicago (Go Bears), I’ve associated snow/winter with my childhood. Shiver takes place in chilling Mercy Falls, Minnesota where wolves rule the woods. Grace has watched the wolves from her house since as long as she can remember. On a cold winter day, Grace(age 6) dragged from her swing by wolves, shredding and ripping her apart. As she lays dying, she catches the gaze of the only yellow-eyed wolf. The wolf regains what little humanity he has left and saves her. She is never the same again. Meanwhile Sam lives two lives: in the summer, only a few months, he is human until the cold makes him shift into a wolf. Grace (age 17) longs to see her yellow-eyed wolf again. When a freak wolf attack kills a local teenage boy, a hunting mob is rounded up to kill the wolves in the woods. Grace is frightened her wolf will be hurt. As she rushes home, she finds a boy naked, on her back porch. It’s her yellow-eyed wolf, bleeding from a gun shot wound. As winter nears and the summers become shorter, Sam must struggle to say human or risk losing his human side and Grace forever. Grace is the only one to survive an attack by wolves and still remain human. Is she the key to the wolves humanity?—> I’ve got goose bumps reading this.
My Thoughts
This is my 3rd YA novel I’ve read this year (Stephanie Meyers broke my YA cherry) and thought Shiver was written beautifully. If you’ve read the Time Traveler’s Wife, Shiver mimics a similar writing style with the hero and heroine points of view. The chapters are labeled by temperature, adding a chilling and suspenseful timeline till Sam changes into a wolf. Most werewolves books these days seem to focus on the moon as the change agent, Stiefvater’s adds a creative spin by using the season and cold for her wolves. Although this book was way more serious than Intertwined by Gena Showatler and lacked sparklie vampires, this is one book that will stay with me even after “The End.”
Rating 4 Smokin’ Smooches
Possibly Related Posts:
- Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins – Spoiler Free I Swears!
- Review Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
- Choose Your Own Destiny Novel – Google Maps Can Suck It
- Intertwined By Gena Showalter (A YA Novel-Don’t Forget Your Hacky Sacks!)
Testing no Captcha, cause K.C. is lazy and doesn’t want to use it anymore.
I’ve seen so many good reviews on Shiver, I can’t wait to read it. I like that it has a different spin on werewolf lore. Nice review!!
I’ve given up on my Target, they NEVER have anything worth buying…that’s why I hang out at Amazon.com and the Book Depository so much. They are wonderbar!
@Donna I view Target like TJ Max don’t go in with expectations just pursue the shelves you’ll usually find something good. This is where I buy all my YA books for some reason
i need to add this one to my list! i love a good YA story!
I really like the premise of wolves in winter and the spin Stiefvater uses. Her last name makes me think she is German, so weird LOL
Got that one on my Xmas wishlist! I so hope I get it! Sounds so good!
Thanks for the revieew!
I seriously love this book!! If you havent read it please do, her writing is stunning
I adored this novel. I did a talk at a high school last week and made a point of saying, “If you liked New Moon, read Shiver. Incredible story and a heroine who doesn’t mope.”
I just finished Lament (evil fae) and I’m looking forward to reading Ballad and Linger soon.
lmfao at the title of this post! I absolutly adored this book, can’t wait for Linger.
And yey evil Captcha gone! I’ll test from my berry in a bit!
I almost bought this one recently but it was priced high..I can’t remember..so I tried to be good that day. Wish I had been naughty and bought it.
I absolutely loved this book and am dying for the next, Linger, out in July 2010. Shiver was beautifully written and I encourage everyone to pick it up, snuggle under a nice warm blanket and enjoy a great story!
This one sounds special. Good to see that you enjoyed it so much! I haven’t read much YA novels so far, but maybe I should try it more often
@Kindle Vixen I loved Shiver, I’m also excited about Firespell coming out in January.
@Leontine I think you’d really like this one
@Susi I can’t wait for you to read it!
@Carla aka LovesSam I really loved Shiver’s style of writing and everything about it.
@Darlene Marshall I believe there will be a second Wolves of Mercy Falls novel coming out in the spring, I can’t wait!
@Natasha (Wicked Lil Pixie) Yes evil captcha is gone!
@Mandi I owe you a book, if you want it lemme know.
@Amy Since it’s getting colder this is the perfect time to read Shiver.
@Janna I think you’d really like YA, if you ever get tired of erotica
you might want to switch up your reading diet with YA!
We’ve had this book on Storycasting.com since October, and one of our prolific ‘casters’ (anniev) has already posted a cast. If you’ve read it, post a cast; if not, you might want to use a posted cast as you read. Works both ways.
Jeff Reid
Storycasting.com
“for the movie in your mind”
Hey now, don’t think I only read erotica just because I blog about nothing else *grin*! LOL.
No seriously, I actually read much more genres than just romance! I also read literary novels and I have read some YA, like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon and The Boy in the Striped Pyjama by Boyle, but they are not romances! Or don’t these count as YA?
Oooo this sounds good K.C.. I really should start reading more YA. Like you, Stephanie Meyers was my first and I’ve since starting collecting Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy YA books. I read everywhere that they’re fantabulous so that series will be next planned YA adventure. Now to find the time…
Thanks for the review & recommendation! However, I must confess that your reviews of smutty novels are still my fave. *wink*
Hugs, VFG
@ErotRomReader (Janna) Oh Hon I didn’t mean to offend you, I was being flirty with you. As an avid reader of anything erotica I like to mix it up with YA to appease my inner id. Although if I went without reading a romance/erotica book for a month I think I would have some serious withdraws maybe O_o. Are you mad at me *pouts*?
@VFG Just for you the next review will be a smutty one. My diet can’t just consist of books that only go to first base, thatss not normal for me LOl.
LOL! Nope, I couldn’t be mad at you sweetie! I know you were being flirty, I just wanted to brag a bit about my literary reading habits *wink* Like you I need it to appease my inner id (nicely said)! But the romance/erotica books I do read purely for my own pleasure and I can’t go without them anymore, unlike the literature I guess… I really need my regular fill of HEA
OGsh I’m an addict!
@Janna I swear I don’t know what would happen if I didn’t get my daily fix of reading about spanking and boys kissing boys *wiggles eyebrows*. “The Times” just doesn’t do it for me I guess.
Exactly! My thoughts!
Shiver was such a lovely book! I loved the beautiful writing and characters. Glad you liked it.
@Ana I couldn’t put it down, I had to read it in one night!
I adored this book, it was well written and i didnt become bored once like i have with some YA books. Cant wait for Linger!
Lovely review hunny! =)
Oh wow, this books does sound very intriguing. Thank for the great review hon! Very well done to suck me into the addiction just a little farther… hee hee!!!
Great job! Hope you are having a great day!
@Sparklybearsy I hear good things about Firespell coming out in January, Mandi is going to be reviewing it so I will hold off till I get the nod from her
@Cecile Have a great day hon
Target is dangerous!! I always have to walk down the book aisles, especially to see the YA books. I’m lucky if I get out of there alive! I’m glad you enjoyed Shiver. It was beautfully written and I can’t wait to read more of Maggie’s books. And I definitely cannot wait til Linger comes out!!
I LOVED this book! I can hardly wait for Linger to come out and it’s definately an added bonus that there are no sparkley vampires in it!
I definitely enjoyed this book. I’m glad you did too! And props to you for trying some new books!