Review Detail

Shiver has gotten a lot of praise
since its release and I can understand why, in some respects at least.
Stiefvater introduces us to Grace, the everyday, average shy girl with
a strange obsession with wolves and Sam, one of the wolves in question.
Grace has had this obsession and need for the wolves in her life since
she was a little girl. Sam, the yellow-eyed wolf/man has been watching
Grace for as long as she can remember. When their worlds collide, a
romance spirals out from it and many difficulties follow.

The werewolf mythology that Stiefvater
develops is interesting, but the story is more about the romance and
Im not a huge romance person. The wolf story had me hooked from the
beginning though and I would have loved to know more about that aspect
of it. Graces and Sams alternating POVs is refreshing and I found
myself reading more to get to know them better. I do have to say that
there were more than a few parts that I didnt enjoy though.

Graces obsession with the wolves is
integral to the story, but her apparent love for the wolves, not Sam
the person, but being in love with a wolf prior to knowing it/he was a
person, is just weird to me. It made me view Grace in a skewed way. I
can understand her obsession, but her being in love just didnt make
sense to me. There was also some language that I absolutely could not
stand. Grace is 17 and Sam is 18 and I dont need them to be dropping
f-bombs left and right, but saying poopy!? No. Realistically, a 17 or
18 year old would not say poopy and it just made me laugh. Sams
constant lyrical, poetic breakthroughs were annoying and some scenes
were way too sappy for my liking.

The overall story and the rest of the
writing allowed me to get past these most of these issues and still
enjoy the book to a degree. Steifvater certainly can write well and put
you into that Minnesota atmosphere. The entire time I was reading it I
felt cold. The book is cold, but in such a good way. I do wish that the
minor characters had a somewhat larger role because I was completely
drawn to Isabel, but I did enjoy what little of them we get to see.
Unfortunately, I rarely felt completely engrossed and devoted to the
love story aspect, but the wolves kept me reading. Grace and Sam were
well-developed and even though the ending felt rushed, I still
recommend reading the book. Im sure many people will be unable to put
the book down, even though I dont feel quite the same way.