Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

"the cold.
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.

the heat.
Sam has lived two lives. As a wolf, 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.
the shiver.
For Grace and Sam, 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:

When I read Shiver one or two years ago, I remember that I ADORED it. A lot. Second time through, I feel like I didn’t love it as much, but still loved it just the same. The ending of the book really hit it home for me. Heartbreaking, lip-trembling, and heartwarming all at the same time.

It starts out as Grace watches a yellow-eyed wolf from a distance, and that wolf stares back out at her. This continues for 6 long years, until one day, Grace finds the wolf in human form. The only way she knew that the wolf is human is because of the unforgettable and distinct yellow eyes. The wolves in these books are different: they shift according to the temperature—if it’s cold, they shift into wolf form. So they are only human in the spring-summer months.

From there on out, Grace and Same are in love and forbidden at the same time. Sam knows this is his last year before he changes into a wolf permanently. We are introduced to Jack, a student that goes to the same school as Grace. Jack gets bitten, and turns into a werewolf. Rachel and Olivia are Grace’s bestfriends. Isabel, Jack’s sister, is a nosy, snobby girl.

Later, Jack bites Olivia, turning her into a werewolf. Jack believes there is a cure, since Grace was bitten when she was young, but has never turned into a wolf. Isabel extracts 3 vials of an infected patient, to give Jack, Olivia, and Sam meningitis, so they are heated from the inside. Jack takes the vial and dies. Olivia doesn’t take it and decides to live her life as a wolf. Sam only had time to take half of the vial before turning into a wolf again, and he turns into a human.

Maggie Stiefvater’s writing is so incredibly musical and beautiful, it hurts. Shiver is the PERFECT book to read on a wintery day. So many parts of the story, especially towards the end, was definitely very emotional and intense. My eyes were definitely flying through each word, craving to know what will happen in the end.

Also the creativity. I thank Maggie so much for not writing a wolf-changing-by-the-moon story. I LOVE HER IDEA SO MUCH MORE. My description of how talented Maggie Stiefvater is won’t do her justice. It’s one of the books you have to read yourself to understand. And even if the storyline isn’t the best for someone else, the writing style definitely makes up for it. It is just. So. Brilliant.

Maggie Stiefvater is one of the only authors that has made me cry in a book. That’s saying something. Shiver is surely a must-read, and I am so incredibly glad that I chose to read it a second time.

Source: Library

Shiver is now out!