Shiver

by Maggie Stiefvater

Dedication: "For Kate, because she cried"

First paragraph: "I remember lying in the snow, a small red spot of warm going cold, surrounded by wolves. They were licking me, biting me, worrying at my body, pressing in. Their huddled bodies blocked what little heat the sun offered. Ice glistened on their ruffs and their breath made opaque shapes that hung in the air around us. The musky smell of their coats made me think of wet dog and burning leaves, pleasant and terrifying. Their tongues melted my skin; their careless teeth ripped at my sleeves and snagged through my hair, pushed against my collarbone, the pulse at my neck."

Review: Grace has been obsessed with the wolves in the woods outside her house since she was attacked nearly six years ago. More specifically she is obsessed with "her wolf" - a wolf with beautiful eyes. The wolf that saved her life.

There is something more to these wolves than meets the eye. They aren't always wolves. During the warmer months of the year the wolves get to be human, live their human lives. They become wolves with the onset of winter and the freezing temperatures. Grace's wolf, Sam, has longed to talk to her for years but only just gotten the chance and now he may be ripped from Grace's grasps forever.

So this book was interesting. I thought it was well written but it had a lot more romance than it did plot. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it - I most definitely did. I'm just saying that it might not end up on everyone's favorite book list.

The story does a great job at linking Grace and Sam - at telling both their stories. You really connect with both characters equally and long for their happiness. I think I especially enjoyed the fact that it was about teenagers without all the foul language and sex obsession as other books involving teenage love. It was sweet, precious and passionate without being crude.

The words are really well put together. It pulls at your emotions. Every single one of them. Joy, Sadness, hope, fear. It pulled at them so much so that my emotions were all conflicted and I had to shed a few tears for the ending while I was laughing to try to keep from crying more - My husband may have been contemplating my sanity for a moment there.

Click here for Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver website.