Initial Thoughts about Shiver

[Angie, YA lovin mod!!]

Now that you have started reading what do you think so far? No Spoilers.

[Stacy]

The cover artwork is beautiful. I'm only 20 pages in and I'm already worried about why the narrator likes the werewolf who bit him. It has hooked me pretty quickly!

[Anna]

I liked how each chapter references a different temperature to indicate the story moving forward in time.

[Miss Bookiverse]

I already listened to the audiobook about a month ago and loved it. I got into it very quickly and it was hard to put down/turn off.

I did like the temperature idea but unfortunately temperature is expressed in Celcius in my country, so I couldn't really take anything from the Fahrenheit information.

[Angie, YA lovin mod!!]

I am picking up my copy today! So excited!

[Jennifer]

I completely agree about the temperature. I thought it was such a great idea that she did that. How did we feel about the chapters being narrated by Sam or Grace? I know at times when I was reading, I didn't read the chapter title well enough and started reading then realized I was so confused because I thought it was Grace that was narrating, and it really was Sam.

[Miss Bookiverse]

I didn't have the problem you're mentioning, Jennifer, because I listened to the audio version that was narrated by 2 different people ;) But if I had read it in book-form I guess I would've skipped the names from time to time as well.

[Jen]

I read Shiver last month & I thought it was beautifully written. I love books that are narrated by more than one character. & I really liked how the temperature was shown at the beginning of each chapter... It gave you an indication of what might happen.

[Nia]

I'm totally in love with how this book looks. The black/white/red-cover ist so beautiful. And I really love that the theme of the cover is also to be found on the inside of the book. The publisher did really a great job with the design of this book.

I agree that the temperature at the beginning of each chapter ist a nice idea.

I've read the first 60 pages today. I don't know what to think of the story itself, yet. But I love the atmosphere. This book is just perfect for fall (and winter).

[Tatiana]

I am 50 pages into and it feels a lot Twilight-like. And I agree, the atmosphere of coldness is done very well.

[Miss Bookiverse]

Haha, I think this book can be summed up as "Twilight for Team Jacob (aka the werewolf fans) with much better/stronger characters"

[Tatiana]

I am now about half way through and have a question: if werewolves turn when it gets cold, why don't they all move down South?

[Miss Bookiverse]

@Tatiana: This question will be answered in the book later.

[[deleted user]]

"Haha, I think this book can be summed up as "Twilight for Team Jacob..."....

Spooky....I couldn't agree with you more! I too thought the romance in Shiver was better and kept imagining "Jacob" from the Twilight movie as Sam.

[Angie, YA lovin mod!!]

I am #2 on the list at the library so I am patiently waiting for it to come in!

[Miss Bookiverse]

Hey Brenda,
I think Sam is a much better Jacob ;) Never really understood what Bella found in him (love-wise), would've been much more understandable if Jacob had been more like Sam ..haha, Sam seems to be quite the werewolf name, eh? ;)

[Brigid ✩]

I thought it was a really sweet story. Sometimes I was a little like ... could they get mad at each other once? So yeah, it seemed a little too perfect at times. But I loved the characters and the writing style. Oh, and the cover was really cool.

And is it just my imagination, or is it written in navy blue?? While I was reading it I kept staring at the print and wondering if I was just going crazy. lol :D

[Angie, YA lovin mod!!]

Jennifer wrote: "I completely agree about the temperature. I thought it was such a great idea that she did that. How did we feel about the chapters being narrated by Sam or Grace? I know at times when I was read..."

Interesting fact is that the author originally had dates as the names of chapters and then later changed it to temperatures.

She said :Initially, I had a date at the beginning of each chapter, but it was sort of imprecise. After all, an October day in northern Minnesota is wildly different than an October day in Florida. And an October afternoon is drastically different from an October night. I was going back and forth with early readers at that point and one of them, Cyn Balog (author of FAIRY TALE) recommended that I emphasize the temperature aspect of the novel for added suspense. She meant the temperature of the characters themselves, the way their skin felt, but I thought -- aHA! And the temperature at the heading of each chapter was born."

[Angie, YA lovin mod!!]

Nia wrote: "I'm totally in love with how this book looks. The black/white/red-cover ist so beautiful. And I really love that the theme of the cover is also to be found on the inside of the book. The publisher ..."

I love all the covers for this book that I have seen so far: US:

[Angie, YA lovin mod!!]

UK

[Angie, YA lovin mod!!]

Italian:

[Miss Bookiverse]

Oh thanks for posting those! The blue colour of the US cover really describes the atmosphere the book gave me but I think I personally prefer the UK one. I hadn't even seen the Italian one, it's gorgeous, great idea with the scratches.

[Angie, YA lovin mod!!]

I too love the Italian cover! Romantic yet spooky!

[Brigid ✩]

Ooh the Italian one is really cool!

[Heather]

So, initial impressions (I'm 114 pages in).

Pro:
I liked the cover and the font.

I like Sam, I think he has an interesting voice, and he is pretty well developed thus far

The description is good, I feel cold when its cold, and warm when it is warm. I have good visuals of the characters and setting, etc.

Con:

Am I really not supposed to think that Grace is a major weirdo for being obsessed with a wolf for 6 years, especially after having been malled by a pack when she was 11, cause I think Grace is a major, yet boring weirdo.

Grace is void of personality, aside from her weirdness, and extremely childish for a 17 year old, as are her friends, until she meets human Sam and then suddenly she is a confident, saucey minx. I don't think so.

The description can be utterly ridiculous at times. Who's kitchen smells like easy survival? And can words smell? I could agree that words can sing, shout, cut, sting, but smell, um no.

The lurve story between these two is boring, and so is the story. I want Sam to be human cause Sam wants to be human, but I don't really care about these characters yet.

And is it really a good message to send that men/boys who truly love you wont jump at the chance to be "with" you? I'm sorry, any guy, especially a guy crazy about his girl, would jump at that chance, and I think it is a bad idea to make Sam reject her, and it is an even worse idea to have Grace throwing herself at him. It's just not realistic human behavior, and during these scenes, these two characters are both human.

[Heather]

I do have a question, since when did animal biologists (blanking on the official name, zoologists maybe) say that wolves communicate via a mental/psychic connection in which they show each other pictures?

As far as I know, wolves communicate via body language and howling and the only person to claim that wolves have that other kind of connection is Stephanie Meyer, creator of Twilight. I have no problem with an author of fantasy creating their own lore, but I don't like it when they use other author's invented lore.

[Angie, YA lovin mod!!]

Maggie, what kind of research did you do for the novel?

[Angie, YA lovin mod!!]

Just started!

[Lia RaeAnn]

I love the cover, and the descriptive writing. I like how Maggie goes back and fourth between Sam and Gracie, so you know what they are thinking.

[Angie, YA lovin mod!!]

I just noticed last night the wolf on the cover of the American edition. So nearly hidden!

[Angie, YA lovin mod!!]

♥ Brigid ♥ wrote: "I thought it was a really sweet story. Sometimes I was a little like ... could they get mad at each other once? So yeah, it seemed a little too perfect at times. But I loved the characters and the ..."

The writing is in navy blue! I love it!

Maggie, did you get to chose to have it printed in that color?