amazing | Book Geek Review

Title: Shiver

Publisher: Scholastic

Publication Date: August 2009

Pages: 392

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Book Summary (from back cover)

Grace has spent years watching the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf – her wolf – watches back. He feels deeply familiar to her, but she doesn’t know why.

Sam has lived two lives. as a wold, he keeps the silent company of the girl he loves. And then, for a short time each year, he is human, never daring to talk to Grace…until now.

For Grace and Same, love has always been kept at a distance. But once it’s spoken, it cannot be denied. Sam must fight to stay human – and Grace must fight to keep him – even if it means taking on the scars of the past, the fragility of the present, and the impossibility of the future.

Review

Every so often, a book surprises you, and at the same time makes the author in me want to curl up and die because I will never, NEVER, be able to write prose like this. SHIVER was one such book. I can count on one hand the number of books that have made me cry.

I love Grace and Sam and their story. I love the way Maggie Stiefvater uses words to draw you in. She sprinkles poetry throughout the book, but her prose sparkles just as much as the poetry. It sparkles, and describes, and make you see the characters inside and out. They grow, and change, and their interactions and connection are believable and connect with you.

I know most of the world has probably already read this. I’m so, so sorry I missed out on it when it first started, but I can promise I will read all her books soon. I hadn’t read this sooner because all I heard was werewolf, and had read several werewolf stories that just didn’t do it for me. So I passed. But this is a whole other category. Her take on the wolves and why they change and how is fresh and unique and heartbreaking. Sam is a tragic character, and yet you never pity him, because he never pities himself. Grace is also a broken character, in a different way, and yet together they make a whole picture.

The characters in the novel are all separate, distinct people who have their own growth patterns. I enjoyed that while Isabel is still the snotty rich kid, you see that there’s probably a reason, and that she has hidden depths as well. Grace is not perfect. She’s too ananlytical sometimes, but she knows it, and she doesn’t try to change it. The characters are self-aware because they’ve had to be, and they don’t change themselves for the sake of romance or what they think they want. The change and grow with their circumstances, but still stay true to who they are.

There are some twists, but they help to make the whole picture better, and give it even more depth than before.

And did I mention that the prose is amazing. Her descriptions are perfect, and I just want to highlight the whole book over and over while lamenting that my writing will never be up to par.

I love these books. I don’t care if you hate paranormal and magic and fantasy. Go read them. The characters will curl in your chest and then make you cry. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series. I got this one from the library. I’ll be ordering the whole set tonight on Amazon.

An amazing book, which (if you can’t tell) I loved.

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