Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #1) by Maggie Stiefvater
Release Date: August 1, 2009
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Source: Library
Rating: 
Buy It: Amazon | IndieBound
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. – Goodreads
Review:
After having a tough time with Stiefvater’s writing, I have decided to give her a shot again. I read Shiver when I was in undergrad, so that would be a solid five years ago. And while I’m the only person in the world to have problems with The Raven Boys series, I’ve decided to give The Wolves of Mercy Falls a shot again. This time on audiobook, because maybe the audio will help me. That is always a hope when I dislike a book in print to be honest, maybe the audio will help. Same goes if audio doesn’t work, maybe print will.
Shiver is the story of Grace, who has always been obsessed with her wolf, the wolf she can’t live without. Her friends are annoyed by her fascination with the wolf (or wolves) and the town is over it, because they don’t want the wolves to over run the town and the people. Grace though has a special bond with one of the wolves and worries about him. All the time. This comes to effect her early in the novel, when her town starts to hunt the wolves and Grace is worried about Sam.
Thankfully, Grace is able to save Sam, not when he’s a wolf. But when he’s a human boy. Thankfully her parents are very absent. While they are there, they don’t pay attention and this allows Grace to bring Sam into her house to keep him warm…human. What I give credit to was Stiefvater is the fact that background information never felt like an info dump. Because of the fact Sam and Grace never really talked, he is able to give background information without making it feel like HERE IS INFORMATION. PLEASE ACCEPT IT. Which is always much appreciated.
The problem with Shiver for me is I never really connected with it. I never really connect with Stiefvater’s writing the same way my friends do. Almost everyone I know loves her, but I have trouble connecting with her characters, and Shiver reminded me of that problem. While I appreciate the story, I was rarely involved or cared enough to want to continue. I never knew if I wanted to shake Sam and Grace, or if I wanted to push my way into their story and be more involved. The action was solid, the pacing was decent, but nothing about this book really had me hanging on for more.
yAdult Review 