Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Publisher: Scholastic Inc
Published: 1st August 2009
Series: The Wolves of Mercy Hall #1
Source: Own Copy
Grace and Sam share a kinship so close they could be lovers or siblings. But they also share a problem. When the temperature slips towards freezing, Sam reverts to his wolf identity and must retreat into the woods to protect his pack. He worries that eventually his human side will fade away and he will be left howling alone at the lonely moon. A stirring supernatural teen romance. - From Goodreads
I fell in love with the covers for this series. They are so beautiful that I bought the whole series as actual books (I am so sorry kindle!). I had read a few glowing reviews about these books, I worried that Shiver would not live up to the hype. I should not have spent any time worrying!!
I was sucked right into the story and pulled into the lives of Sam and Grace. When I realised that the story was told from the point of view of two narrators I was put off slightly as I often find that this loses the impact of the story. In this case I found it to be rather helpful. In the first place while Sam is a wolf we are able to experience what he is feeling. At other times we are seeing the story from the point of view from the person we need to understand the motives.
I really enjoyed the story and thought it was charming. The other characters around Sam and Grace were also well written, from Grace's distant parents to the mean girl you love to hate! I have to say that Isobel Culpeper lifted this book for me. I pictured her as the Regina George of the story! I also really liked the character of Beck, Sam's father figure of sorts.
I read this book super fast and never felt there were any dry or slow parts I had to push myself through, but for a paranormal book I thought there was little conflict past the whole human in love with a werewolf who potentially will never shift again. Lots of threads from the story line were left up in the air, which I expected from a trilogy, I just hope it means we will have a bit of action in the next book!! Also I still can't quite get my head around the age thing. Grace was attacked as a child, Sam is one year older than her, he carried her out of the woods after the attack. Does this not mean that he was also a child? Hmmm... I guess it does not really matter!
Looking forward, I can't wait to read the next books in this series and I hope they are just as beautiful!
I love this series and Isobel is my favourite character. I love that she's a bitch, but she's decent underneath. You have to read Linger, as Isobel gets her own PoV chapters and a (hot) love interest. Linger is probably slower than Shiver, though - it's just not an action-packed series; it's a romantic one.
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