Shiver - Maggie Stiefvater (Review)

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater 
Series: The Wolves of Mercy Falls #1
Genres: Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy
Publication date: August 1st 2009
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Format: audiobook; 10 hours and 43 minutes
How I got it: My public library
Buy it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
My rating: 3/5 

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without.

Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human… until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human—or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever. 

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My thoughts:

This is my first Maggie Stiefvater book and will not be my last.

This book follows Grace who was attacked by wolves in her backyard at a young age.  Grace was saved by one wolf that she took a liking to and was always looking out for named Sam.  Grace is constantly watching the wolves by herself and hoping to see Sam.

Grace was obsessed with the wolves in an unhealthy way.  She was beginning to lose friends over the wolf obsession.   My main reason I enjoyed reading about Grace was she was so passionate about the wolf thing that in the end it worked for me.  Grace took her time to learn as much as she could about the wolves by studying them and wanting to learn more about Sam.   Grace does grow as a character when she is needed to find a solution to the wolf situation in her town.

Sam is a lot more complicated of a main character.  He is a wolf to begin the book and we get to learn a lot about how he transforms to a wolf and what goes on with the wolves.   I enjoyed getting to learn about Sam and his life throughout the book.  I felt more connected to Sam and could feel his struggles in his chapters because he didn’t think he had a lot of choices left.   I also felt more emotions coming from Sam versus Grace during the book so it felt more real to me.  

The story is told from both POV of Sam and Grace.  I loved that we got to see what each of them were thinking during the book and it helped keep me attention while listening to the audio switching back and forth.   I loved that we got to see the story unfold from both of their eyes.

I did like the romance that Maggie created between Grace and Sam is cute.  It came on quickly in the book, but in the same time they were both studying each other from a distance for a long time so it worked. 

This book has a lot of buildup and backstory thrown into it so the pacing is a little slower.  I enjoyed learning about the wolves and how they were surviving in the area.  Maggie does an excellent job crafting the story.

I can’t wait to listen or read the next book in the series.  I want to see what is going to happen with the wolves since there is so much we learned in the first book and a lot of potential to move forward.  Although the first book was nicely ended I do look forward to another Grace and Sam story.

I would suggest this as a night listen or read.  I found natural stopping points so I could take breaks from listening to the book, but still being able to maintain the story.  Also, I felt there were parts of the story that took a little bit of time to digest exactly what happened. 

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About the Author

New York Times bestselling author of The Shiver Trilogy, The Raven Cycle, and The Scorpio Races. Artist. Driver of things with wheels. Avid reader.

All of Maggie Stiefvater's life decisions have been based around her inability to be gainfully employed. Talking to yourself, staring into space, and coming to work in your pajamas are frowned upon when you're a waitress, calligraphy instructor, or technical editor (all of which she's tried), but are highly prized traits in novelists and artists. She's made her living as one or the other since she was 22. She now lives an eccentric life in the middle of nowhere, Virginia with her charmingly straight-laced husband, two kids, two neurotic dogs, and a 1973 Camaro named Loki.

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