My Thoughts: Shiver by Maggie Steifvater

the cold.
Grace has spent years watching the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—watches back. He feels deeply familiar to her, but she doesn't know why.

the heat.
Sam has lived two lives. As a wolf, he keeps the silent company of the girl he loves. And then, for a short time each year, he is human, never daring to talk to Grace...until now.

the shiver.
For Grace and Sam, love has always been kept at a distance. But once it's spoken, it cannot be denied. Sam must fight to stay human—and Grace must fight to keep him—even if it means taking on the scars of the past, the fragility of the present, and the impossibility of the future




I recently read this book for a guest post that I was doing for Rural Fantasy Week hosted by Ruby at Ruby's Reads. It had been sitting on my shelf for ages and I had picked it up to read a couple weeks ago, but put it down before I even read the first page.  But finally I got to it. I really enjoyed this novel however I don't think I found it as amazing as everyone else did. Reason being; I don't think I like werewolves as much as some do. I don't know. To me they aren't as exciting as vampires or fallen angels (I DO NOT agree that vampires are a thing of the past). Anywho, aside from the wolf thing. This book was quiet good.

I've mentioned it a few times in various places that I loved Grace. Maggie did an amazing job constructing a wonderfully complex protagonist. I thought she was an amazing character. She was everything that I was in high shool, but better. She was fierce, and loyal, she was independent and generous. She had spunk, but she wasn't cold and emotionless. She felt things. She felt the neglect of her parents, she felt love for Sam before she even knew him as Sam. She was incredibly protective of the wolves. She was great. Sam on the other hand did nothing for me as the male protagonist, but in the same breath I will say, he was PERFECT for Grace. I loved how he falls into the "indy guy" category. The guy who works in a book store, who plays the guitars and writes poetry/songs, all of that was swoon worthy. I did sometimes feel that Sam was to quick to give up (maybe I'm wrong). He loved Grace and it broke his heart that he knew he was going to leave her, but he just accepted it. He didn't fight. I think because he was a wolf I was expecting him to be a little more alpha like. For me, he was an ok character.  I liked Isabelle, I think she was one of my favourite characters.  I go into more detail why she's my favourite here. So go see. 

Something that I also loved about this book was the dynamics of all the different relationships. They were complicated and messy but they worked. When I say complicated and messy, I specifically mean Beck and Sam. Beck was the paternal role model that Sam didn't have, but as the book moves along, certain things are revealed, which do and don't change their relationship. I loved that. The same thing happened between Grace and Olivia, an event happened that changed how their friendship would work, but they did not over complicate it. Steifvater did a really great job in making you a part of the characters. I really appreciated that.

I talk a lot about the characters because I felt like they made this story. The characters in this book were so amazing, and they felt so much, that for me, it was funny to think that they were fictional people. I think this is a true testimony to how brilliant of a writer Maggie Steifvater is. Shiver was a good book, with an interesting plot, but I think the true selling feature of this book was the characters.  They were truly amazing. 

Happy Reading Everyone!