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A review by eyvor_reads
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I have tried to read this author, and this book in particular, for a long time. I discovered something; The more you read her, and the more you really give her the opportunity to reach you with her writing, the more you are going to like it. At least I did. I struggled a lot in the beginning, but as I pushed forward I really started to connect with the characters. Funny enough, Grace is my least favorite character. That is not to say I hate her, because I don't. One thing I love about YA fiction is when the characters indeed act like young adults, and Grace is just a kid dealing with trauma and discovering herself. However, I just know that If I read this as a kid myself, I would have hated her, so I'm glad this book did not work out for me ten years ago. That's exactly why I loved the dynamic she had with her friends at the beginning. For me it showed how rocky a friendship can get when three very different people in a group start having conflicts derived from the fact they are growing in different directions. It is only natural that they have different ways of seeing things, different levels of self awareness. Both Olivia and Grace where a little in the wrong, and I loved that because teenagers have absolutely nothing figured out, they just think they do, and I love to see that portrayed in YA. Grace is not the type of character I generally like, but I feel she grew. She became self aware at the end; sometimes she is very selfish. I don't necessarily blame her, but I loved she acknowledged that. I want her to stand up to her parents, I want her to work on her obsessive tendencies, to be happy and grow.
That brings me to Sam. I fucking loved Sam, poor guy honestly. The only thing I have against him is the way he would suddenly sing, or start writing songs in his head when he narrated. At least some of them were kinda beautiful, but still... It was just a little cringy sometimes. He made me cry with his "Summer girl" song when he sang it to the mom tho, hated the song, but the meaning was simply a lot for me. If I was there instead of Grace's mom, I would have melted if someone had wrote that to my girl. I simply love him. and I only want him to be happy and warm forever, justice for my boy.
One thing I want to address before talking about the romance in the story is the bestiality allegations I have seen in some reviews π. It is true that most of those reviews are from over ten years ago. However, I hate to be this person but; Actually π€ you people should investigate a little before throwing such strong words to the air, or not, and simply risk looking like a clown ten years later for trying to look intelectual in the momentπ. How is a wolf and a girl obsessively watching each other for six years bestiality I will never understand, But okay, sure π.
Moving on π, concerning the romance, I had my reservations. Truth is, that for some time I had absolutely no idea why Grace and Sam liked each other. Nonetheless, As I advanced I noticed that Sam's feelings for Grace seemed less and less shallow, and that in my opinion Grace's felt simply not genuine. Then the author hit me reminding me that Grace struggles a lot with showing her emotions, that even Grace herself never really realized she was not vocal about how much she loves Sam. As a Words of Affirmation girly, is no wonder why I thought she was just obsessed with him. But truly her feelings always showed through her actions. Even when she was doing, in my opinion, selfish things, it was because she wanted to be with him, to not lose him, and he always wanted the same. Those two were always in the same page, doing anything to drawn the little time they had together until the inevitable. So I paused and was like, damn, okay M.S. One important thing to consider is that once they were "together" the plot concentrated in the wolves and not precisely in giving us only slice of life scenes of how their feelings for each other grew, and for that I can't really be mad because oh boy, the wolves. At this point I really did not care as much about the romance to be honest, It was near the end when all the build up I felt was just okay became great in my eyes. The angst in this story is simply so fucking good. So heartbreaking, and is not because you want Sam and Grace to be together desperately. You just want Sam to catch a break. You feel Grace because truly, she can't do anything to help him, and they just want to be together. So good, so tragic.
That brings me to the wolves. The wolves. Oh my god. I'm a werewolf girly, that's why I'm here. The whole by winter one way, by summer another, resonated with me. The fact Sam absolutely hated winter and what came with it was absolutely heartbreaking. Beck's and his backstory was so painful, and the way things ended was simply too much. The way he and grace clung to each other and could not catch a break, the way almost all the scenes we got after they got together had to do with them solving or dealing with some kind of problem, the fact the cold was a constant threat at the back of their minds even when nothing was happening. It was a lot. I just felt so much pain for them and specially for him through the story... So I just kept and kept going, and I was not disappointed at the end. I really really empathized with everyone, even tho I thought I was not particularly liking the story, It was a surprise even for me that overall the more I read, the more I loved it.
My thoughts about Jack; what a fucking waste of space. Honestly. I felt sorry for him at some points tho. Isabel was great, love her to pieces. I'm very sorry for all she went through, and her "friendship" with Grace is one of my favourite dynamics in fiction; we like each other, but at this point how could we simply acknowledge that? stubborn ladies π. I really wish them to be closer in the rest of the saga. I feel they have great bestie potential.
On other interesting topics, This book gave me serious Twilight whiplash, not for the content really, but the atmosphere of the book felt very similar. I almost read this book with the Hoa hoa weather song because of it, and I might or might not finally try and finish that saga after a long time because of the nostalgia this book made me feel. I was like, Nostalgia? I have not read this before π, But the Hoa hoa forks vibes were so strong that I really felt like reading more paranormal with blue filter and freezing weather from now on.
I prefer this take on werewolves to any other I have read before, I love it is not simply shifting voluntarily. It is a problem, is violent. The separation between the person and the wolf, the fact that at some point they lose everything they were forever, and they won't even know. The way to some of them, is freeing, and to some of them that very same phenomenon is the biggest cage. I am very excited for Linger.
That brings me to Sam. I fucking loved Sam, poor guy honestly. The only thing I have against him is the way he would suddenly sing, or start writing songs in his head when he narrated. At least some of them were kinda beautiful, but still... It was just a little cringy sometimes. He made me cry with his "Summer girl" song when he sang it to the mom tho, hated the song, but the meaning was simply a lot for me. If I was there instead of Grace's mom, I would have melted if someone had wrote that to my girl. I simply love him. and I only want him to be happy and warm forever, justice for my boy.
One thing I want to address before talking about the romance in the story is the bestiality allegations I have seen in some reviews π. It is true that most of those reviews are from over ten years ago. However, I hate to be this person but; Actually π€ you people should investigate a little before throwing such strong words to the air, or not, and simply risk looking like a clown ten years later for trying to look intelectual in the momentπ. How is a wolf and a girl obsessively watching each other for six years bestiality I will never understand, But okay, sure π.
Moving on π, concerning the romance, I had my reservations. Truth is, that for some time I had absolutely no idea why Grace and Sam liked each other. Nonetheless, As I advanced I noticed that Sam's feelings for Grace seemed less and less shallow, and that in my opinion Grace's felt simply not genuine. Then the author hit me reminding me that Grace struggles a lot with showing her emotions, that even Grace herself never really realized she was not vocal about how much she loves Sam. As a Words of Affirmation girly, is no wonder why I thought she was just obsessed with him. But truly her feelings always showed through her actions. Even when she was doing, in my opinion, selfish things, it was because she wanted to be with him, to not lose him, and he always wanted the same. Those two were always in the same page, doing anything to drawn the little time they had together until the inevitable. So I paused and was like, damn, okay M.S. One important thing to consider is that once they were "together" the plot concentrated in the wolves and not precisely in giving us only slice of life scenes of how their feelings for each other grew, and for that I can't really be mad because oh boy, the wolves. At this point I really did not care as much about the romance to be honest, It was near the end when all the build up I felt was just okay became great in my eyes. The angst in this story is simply so fucking good. So heartbreaking, and is not because you want Sam and Grace to be together desperately. You just want Sam to catch a break. You feel Grace because truly, she can't do anything to help him, and they just want to be together. So good, so tragic.
That brings me to the wolves. The wolves. Oh my god. I'm a werewolf girly, that's why I'm here. The whole by winter one way, by summer another, resonated with me. The fact Sam absolutely hated winter and what came with it was absolutely heartbreaking. Beck's and his backstory was so painful, and the way things ended was simply too much. The way he and grace clung to each other and could not catch a break, the way almost all the scenes we got after they got together had to do with them solving or dealing with some kind of problem, the fact the cold was a constant threat at the back of their minds even when nothing was happening. It was a lot. I just felt so much pain for them and specially for him through the story... So I just kept and kept going, and I was not disappointed at the end. I really really empathized with everyone, even tho I thought I was not particularly liking the story, It was a surprise even for me that overall the more I read, the more I loved it.
My thoughts about Jack; what a fucking waste of space. Honestly. I felt sorry for him at some points tho. Isabel was great, love her to pieces. I'm very sorry for all she went through, and her "friendship" with Grace is one of my favourite dynamics in fiction; we like each other, but at this point how could we simply acknowledge that? stubborn ladies π. I really wish them to be closer in the rest of the saga. I feel they have great bestie potential.
On other interesting topics, This book gave me serious Twilight whiplash, not for the content really, but the atmosphere of the book felt very similar. I almost read this book with the Hoa hoa weather song because of it, and I might or might not finally try and finish that saga after a long time because of the nostalgia this book made me feel. I was like, Nostalgia? I have not read this before π, But the Hoa hoa forks vibes were so strong that I really felt like reading more paranormal with blue filter and freezing weather from now on.
I prefer this take on werewolves to any other I have read before, I love it is not simply shifting voluntarily. It is a problem, is violent. The separation between the person and the wolf, the fact that at some point they lose everything they were forever, and they won't even know. The way to some of them, is freeing, and to some of them that very same phenomenon is the biggest cage. I am very excited for Linger.