Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, #1) in Pick-a-Shelf

Sep 25, 2015 Nancy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, ya, paranormal, still-owned

Meh. I was so disappointed with this book. So far I have loved every Maggie Stiefvater book I have read but this one really didn't grab me. Of course, it was written well, but the character of Grace simply felt wooden to me. Unlike all of her other heroines, at no time did I particularly warm to Grace or relate to her. I did like the angle whereby werewolves changed in accordance with the change of weather, but unlike many of the author's other books, this book just stretched my credulity. In pa ...more

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Jul 31, 2011 Sabrina rated it really liked it

When I picked this book, I was a little worried, given the glut of vampire and werewolf books that have hit the market since Twilight that I would be stuck with an uninspired book. However, I was actually pleasantly surprised by the fresh take on the human shapeshifting to wolf myth.

Shiver is the story of Grace and Sam. Grace is attacked by wolves when she is 11 years old; she survives the attack, but instead of developing a fear of these creatures, Grace develops an obsession for them, and she When I picked this book, I was a little worried, given the glut of vampire and werewolf books that have hit the market since Twilight that I would be stuck with an uninspired book. However, I was actually pleasantly surprised by the fresh take on the human shapeshifting to wolf myth.

Shiver is the story of Grace and Sam. Grace is attacked by wolves when she is 11 years old; she survives the attack, but instead of developing a fear of these creatures, Grace develops an obsession for them, and she watches them. Specifically, she watches her wolf, a yellow-eyed wolf that watches her back. Six years after the attack, Grace discovers that the yellow-eyed wolf, her wolf, is 18 year-old Sam, who morphs into a wolf when the weather turns cold. As the temperatures turn colder throughout the fall and winter creeps in, Sam and Grace spend their time trying to keep Sam in human form for as long as possible so that they can be together.

What I liked most about the book was the relatively strong writing throughout as well as the pacing of the novel, except toward the very end when it felt extremely rushed and left too many unanswered questions. I thought that the temperature inducing shift from human to wolf was a unique twist for this particular meme, and the switch in narration Grace's perspective to Sam's perspective added some real depth to the story. I also enjoyed the development of Grace and Sam's characters; I liked that Grace was a relatively strong female character (and not a clingy Bella Swan), but I especially liked the character development of Sam's "human" self through his creation of song lyrics and his reading of various poetry interspersed within the text.

In addition to Sam and Grace's characters, I found myself drawn to Beck, Sam's protector and guardian. I think that the overall story picked up and moved beyond the typical star-crossed love story of girl and werewolf with the details about Beck, his past, and his motivations. I would have actually liked to have seen a bit more of Beck and his story throughout the novel as a whole.

I disliked that the parents were so completely oblivious to what was happening around them, even if Grace's mother was supposed to be the flighty artistic type and her father the driven businessman. I just wasn't buying that parents--not just Grace's but some of the other kid's parents--were so completely clueless throughout the entire course of the novel. While I think that the writing was relatively strong throughout, I felt that the overall plot was too rushed at the end, leaving too many questions of who, what, when, and how at the end with regards to not only Sam but some of the other wolves.

Despite these drawbacks, however, I think the next installment in the series, Linger will be well worth the read. ...more

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Sep 03, 2011 Sunflower rated it it was ok

Shelves: e-books, fiction-read-2011

If you are looking for good writing, a plot, and decent characterisation, move on. If you have the flu, have to spend a day or so on the couch with very few brain cells functioning, pick this book up, it'll be ideal, and that's exactly what I did. Yet another story about a teenage girl who falls in love with a supernatural being (in this case a werewolf),and who obsesses about him- even long before she ever sees him in human form. Said teenage girl also comes from a strange family; her mother an ...more

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Oct 19, 2010 Tien rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult, usa

Grace was attacked by wolves just over 6 years ago however instead of living in fear of them, which would have been understandable noting her harrowing experience, she loves them and defends them from others who think they are just violent animals. There is however one special wolf for her.

One day, the wolves attacked and killed a student from Grace's school. Mercy Falls was in uproar and went out to kill some wolves. Grace's effort to stop them did not bear fruit but when she went home, she fou ...more

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May 18, 2014 Rebekah rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: genre-romance, genre-fantasy, genre-young-adult, genre-young-adult-teen, genre-fantasy-paranormal, genre-fantasy-urban-fantasy, genre-fantasy-supernatural, genre-romance-paranormal-romance, genre-shapeshifters-werewolves, setting-us-minnesota

Fun little paranormal romance YA. Quick & enjoyable read. A lot better than Twilight.

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Feb 12, 2010 Ashley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: paranormal-themed, series, ya

I really enjoyed this book. I think too many YA authors don't actually write well, or feel they need to "dumb" down their writing for YA. Maggie Stiefvater writes beautifully, there are passages so descriptive they are like poetry. She also had a very interesting take on Werewolves, and I applaud her for adding something fresh and interesting to the genre. The book ended on a cliff-hanger of sorts and I can't wait for the next book in the series due out in July.
MUST-READ!! ...more

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Jan 01, 2014 Sherri rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: audio

When I dislike an audiobook, I have to wonder if I don't like it because of the book itself or if the audio version turned me off somehow. In this case, I really enjoyed the readers. I didn't actually hate the book, but it got on my nerves. Every time it should have made me care, it didn't. Grace's relationship with her parents really rubbed me the wrong way. Was its use merely to allow Grace and Sam to have unlimited access to each other? It felt out of place among the hardcore touchy-feely stu ...more

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