Shiver (Wolves of Mercy Falls, #1) - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: YA Fantasy/Paranormal
# of pages: 392 pages
Publisher: Scholastic
Recommended for: HS & beyond!
Shiver @ Parental Book Reviews
My Thoughts
Okay, so have you ever felt you're the only one who hasn't read something yet? Well, that was Shiver and me.
I loved (ABSOLUTELY LOVED) the writing style. A lot of people have commented on Maggie's lyrical writing style, and that is definitely a great word to use! I can’t even describe how beautifully crafted Shiver was. I do, however, think that Grace and Sam’s voices/perspectives could have contrasted more – they sounded a little too…I don’t know, similar. But maybe I’ve just never met a guy who is as Sam-like in real life…YET. For those who have read this book, do you agree? What did you think of Sam?
I liked Grace as a character. She’s described as stoic, but actually, I thought she did show quite a bit of emotional depth. For a girl in love, Grace is rather practical, she doesn’t let her love cloud her judgment (for the most part) and I found that very refreshing. To be sure, I didn’t always agree with her choices, but it wasn’t that big of a deal because I always knew why she made certain decisions. Personally, I like the stoic, rational, self-sacrificing characters (easier to relate to for me), and so I found Grace very enjoyable and fun to read. Everybody has different tastes, though.
And now…Sam. Sam, Sam! I loved Sam. When it comes to boys/love interests in YA fiction, it seems that there are two predominant types: the sweetie-pie, almost-too-good-to-be-true boys, and the “bad boys.” Here’s another personal preference: I like good boys over bad boys. I guess I’m just so sick of bad boys that I’m now over on the other end of the spectrum. I liked him and thought he was a great character. Yes, some of his comments were eyebrow-raising (I've never heard a guy comment about how many calories are in candy, for example, or comment that a certain coat makes him look 'like a blimp'), but I didn’t care. I found them funny, but cute-sort of funny. So to conclude a really long, rambling point: I liked Sam just fine, thought he was a great character, and I liked the way Maggie chose to portray him. Thanks Maggie for helping control the bad-boy population (*this is Amelia reminding you to help control the bad boy population. Have your bad boy spayed or neutered*)
The supporting characters were very well fleshed out, and the plot kept rolling along at a nice pace. The foreboding and anxious tone reminded me of a growing thunderstorm, and most of my Shiver time took place during weekend storms. Excellent weather conditions for a book like this! Well, cold weather would have been best, but storms and rain was a good consolation. Maggie is one of those authors who pays such attention to detail and gives so much consideration to the overall tone of the story; it made Shiver seem so polished and well crafted. And indeed it is!
There was one part in particular (and I bet most of you can guess which part it was) that just made me sob. I mean like really, really sob. I’m kind of a “detached” reader, so for me to get this emotionally involved in what was going on was very out of the ordinary. Shiver was so poignant, so emotional, and so beautiful. Just...WOW!
I loved this book! Definitely recommended! Yeah, there’s one part (and really only one part) that I wish hadn’t been included, and those who know me can probably guess what it is. It was handled well though, and I wouldn’t have any problem giving my 14year old cousin this book.
From now on, I'm going to do my 'Content Radar' a little different. The awesome Andye @ Reading Teen has allowed me to link her reviews to this site, so I'll be doing that for now on. Check out Reading Teen's review for Shiver HERE.
Final Grade
Shiver is definitely one of my new favorites! If you haven't already, please check it out!
Genre: YA Fantasy/Paranormal
# of pages: 392 pages
Publisher: Scholastic
Recommended for: HS & beyond!
Shiver @ Parental Book Reviews
My Thoughts Okay, so have you ever felt you're the only one who hasn't read something yet? Well, that was Shiver and me.
I loved (ABSOLUTELY LOVED) the writing style. A lot of people have commented on Maggie's lyrical writing style, and that is definitely a great word to use! I can’t even describe how beautifully crafted Shiver was. I do, however, think that Grace and Sam’s voices/perspectives could have contrasted more – they sounded a little too…I don’t know, similar. But maybe I’ve just never met a guy who is as Sam-like in real life…YET. For those who have read this book, do you agree? What did you think of Sam?
I liked Grace as a character. She’s described as stoic, but actually, I thought she did show quite a bit of emotional depth. For a girl in love, Grace is rather practical, she doesn’t let her love cloud her judgment (for the most part) and I found that very refreshing. To be sure, I didn’t always agree with her choices, but it wasn’t that big of a deal because I always knew why she made certain decisions. Personally, I like the stoic, rational, self-sacrificing characters (easier to relate to for me), and so I found Grace very enjoyable and fun to read. Everybody has different tastes, though.
And now…Sam. Sam, Sam! I loved Sam. When it comes to boys/love interests in YA fiction, it seems that there are two predominant types: the sweetie-pie, almost-too-good-to-be-true boys, and the “bad boys.” Here’s another personal preference: I like good boys over bad boys. I guess I’m just so sick of bad boys that I’m now over on the other end of the spectrum. I liked him and thought he was a great character. Yes, some of his comments were eyebrow-raising (I've never heard a guy comment about how many calories are in candy, for example, or comment that a certain coat makes him look 'like a blimp'), but I didn’t care. I found them funny, but cute-sort of funny. So to conclude a really long, rambling point: I liked Sam just fine, thought he was a great character, and I liked the way Maggie chose to portray him. Thanks Maggie for helping control the bad-boy population (*this is Amelia reminding you to help control the bad boy population. Have your bad boy spayed or neutered*)
The supporting characters were very well fleshed out, and the plot kept rolling along at a nice pace. The foreboding and anxious tone reminded me of a growing thunderstorm, and most of my Shiver time took place during weekend storms. Excellent weather conditions for a book like this! Well, cold weather would have been best, but storms and rain was a good consolation. Maggie is one of those authors who pays such attention to detail and gives so much consideration to the overall tone of the story; it made Shiver seem so polished and well crafted. And indeed it is!
There was one part in particular (and I bet most of you can guess which part it was) that just made me sob. I mean like really, really sob. I’m kind of a “detached” reader, so for me to get this emotionally involved in what was going on was very out of the ordinary. Shiver was so poignant, so emotional, and so beautiful. Just...WOW!
I loved this book! Definitely recommended! Yeah, there’s one part (and really only one part) that I wish hadn’t been included, and those who know me can probably guess what it is. It was handled well though, and I wouldn’t have any problem giving my 14year old cousin this book.
From now on, I'm going to do my 'Content Radar' a little different. The awesome Andye @ Reading Teen has allowed me to link her reviews to this site, so I'll be doing that for now on. Check out Reading Teen's review for Shiver HERE.
Final Grade
Shiver is definitely one of my new favorites! If you haven't already, please check it out!
6 shout-outs!:
I really enjoyed Shiver as well! Maggie is an awesome author. I'd recommend checking out Lament as well, if you haven't read it yet. And probably Ballad too, though I can't tell you what I thought of that one, because I haven't gotten around to reading it yet! :)
I agree that this is so beautifully written; I am so in love with Stiefvater's writing.
Sam and Grace's voices were very much alike; I also would have appreciated a bit more contrast.
I love her writing style too. I really better read this soon :)
fantastic review hun i don't think i gave this book as much of a chance as i should have im going to re read it! keep up the great work! *hugs*
You pretty much summed up how I felt about this book when I read it. Maggie's writing style grabbed me right away, and I loved the relationship between Grace and Sam (although you're right, their voices were similar). Great review!
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