Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

I'm back, babies! My upper respiratory infection is almost completely gone now, except for the cough and stuffy nose, but I'm feeling A LOT better. Phew. I've also been pondering participating in IMM for awhile now. I'm not big into memes, but I love IMM and I always look at everyone else's, so I think I'm going to start up with that next week. I'm excited. Anyways, onto the review. :) I know, I'm a little late to the party, as far as Shiver's concerned, but better late than never!

Title: Shiver
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Published: 2009
Genre: Young adult, fantasy, paranormal romance
Source: library

Summary: 17 year old Grace is obsessed with the wolves in her backyard, especially one in particular, with striking yellow eyes. As a child, she was attacked by the wolves, and saved by the yellow-eyed wolf... "her" wolf. The wolves have a secret though... they're werewolves, and when it gets warm enough, they shift into their human forms. Grace's wolf is Sam, and when she discovers him in his human form, they become deeply in love. The cold weather poses a threat, though, of taking Sam away. He fears when he shifts into a wolf this winter, he won't shift back, meaning he and Grace, who've loved each other for years, will never be together again.

My Thoughts: My feelings about this book are kind of just... "meh." It was okay, but for me, it just didn't live up to the hype. There were some aspects about this book that I enjoyed. The chapters are told in alternating viewpoints between Sam and Grace, which was cool; I like being able to see into more than one person's head. I also thought it was an interesting concept for a romance: loving someone you can't have... because he's a wolf! However, I guess I was just expecting this book to knock me off my feet and it didn't. There was never a point in reading where I felt that little "ding," like WOW, must. keep. reading. It wasn't eventful enough to keep me completely engaged, and while that would normally be okay, this book wasn't really character driven either, and to me, it seems like a book should be one or the other: really eventful and interesting, OR really character driven. I never felt close to Grace and Sam, just kind of felt at a distance, nor did they develop a lot throughout the story. I will be reading Linger though, because I'm intrigued just enough to continue the story, it just didn't captivate me like I'd been hoping. I do think big fans of paranormal romance will really enjoy this book, as well as teen readers.

My Rating: 3/5