Shiver - Maggie Stiefvater

When Grace was a young girl, she was dragged off her tyre swing in her garden by a pack of wolves. As they descended upon her, Grace just lay there, not understanding what was happening. She lay there, not panicking or moving at all, just staring at the wolf with the big yellow eyes, the wolf that saved her.

Now 17, Grace still hasn't forgotten about her yellow eyed wolf. In fact, she even feeds him, sits waiting for him to appear and listens to the howls as she lays in bed. Grace knows that her wolf at least isn't dangerous but the whole town seem to think otherwise. A local school boy, Jack, has been killed by wolves and the whole town is out for revenge. Some of the locals head out to the woods with their guns and Grace knows she has to do something to help save her beloved wolf before it is too late.

Grace tries to stop the hunt but even lying doesn't stop them in time. In her garden, a young, naked boy, bleeding, stumbles through the woods. She immediately knows, as soon as she sees the boys eyes, that he is her wolf and he's bleeding to death. Shoving him into the back seat of her car, Grace drives him to the hospital and refuses to leave until he wakes up. This is where their story truly begins.

My Thoughts

I picked this book only because it was about werewolves. I thought that it would be really interesting to see how different authors wrote about the same mythical creature and how their ideas would differ. The only way that I can really write about this book is by comparing it to Twilight a little because they are the only other books that I have read that are anywhere near similar.

The concept of wolves in Shiver was completely different but just as interesting. These wolves change form when the temperature changes and there is nothing that they can really do to control it. Each chapter informs the reader of the temperature but I only noticed this right near the end of the book. I felt sorry for the majority of the wolves because of the way that they are made and what they must go through.

Sam, of course, was the wolf that I felt the most sorry for because, as the main character, we get to learn more about him. I loved that he was never a bad guy and that he was wonderfully nice throughout. He is the kind of character that you just want to give a big hug to. I cant imagine anyone not liking Sam because of a couple of reasons. He saves Grace at the start of the story and he seems to watch over her while he's a wolf although there wasn't much that he could do about anything. Although it is obvious that he wants what is best for Grace, he cant stay away from her but he knows towards the end, he knows exactly what he has to do, regardless of how he feels.

I wasn't too sure about Grace to begin with and I didn't fall in love with her straight away. Once the introduction was over, I really began to like her a lot after she saved Sam. She seems quite tough to begin with, knowing exactly what she wants but the cracks start to show once she realises her time with Sam might not last forever and she talks about her relationship with her parents. The only thing that I didn't really like about her was the fact that no matter how long she had waited for Sam, not even knowing if this time would ever come, she ditched her friends straight away. I understand that the book is supposed to be about love etc but the girl doesn't do this in a lot of other books. I kind of thought that this made Grace really weak and although she doesn't, only care about herself.

The secondary characters were also very interesting, especially the pack. I enjoyed learning about some of their pasts and knowing how they became wolves and part of the pack. The sequel will be out in 2010 and I'm hoping that we get to learn more about the wolves but a few more than others.

Shiver is actually written in quite a strange way. It is written in a similar way to Breaking Dawn but the change of character happens quite a lot. Sometimes every other chapter changes from Grace to Sam but then Grace gets 4 chapters to herself. I used to find it really difficult to read anything written in first person but this one was really easy to read and it isn't any where as confusing as it sounds. Instead of each character telling the same part of the story in their own way, it carries on from each of their point of views. I really liked this because Grace was at school a lot and reading about her being in lessons all of the time would have been really boring and long.

Shiver is a really interesting read and shines a whole different light on werewolves that isn't all happy and nice. There are good guys and bad guys with the wolves which was something that we didn't see in Twilight. I wasn't too sure about this book to begin with but I ended up really liking it and I have already read it twice in a really short time. Highly recommended.