Maggie Stiefvater

Grace is fascinated by the wolves in the woods behind her house; one yellow-eyed wolf in particular. Every winter, she watches him, but every summer, he disappears. Sam leads two lives. In winter, he stays in the frozen woods, with the protection of the pack. In summer, he has a few precious months to be human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again. When Grace and Sam finally meet, they realize they can't bear to be apart. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human - or risk losing himself, and Grace, for ever.

Shiver

In all the years she has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house, Grace has been particularly drawn to an unusual yellow-eyed wolf who, in his turn, has been watching her with increasing intensity.

Moira

She waited to change, and I waited to change, and we both wanted what we couldn't have.

His eyes were yellow, sad, wolf, mine. "These stay the same. Remember that when you look at me. Remember it's me. Please."

His eyes were half-lidded as he sang, and in that golden moment, hanging taut in the middle of an ice-covered landscape like a single bubble of summer nectar, I could see how my life could be stretched out in front of me.

Sometimes, I just wanted my silences to stay silent, full of thoughts, empty of words.

I'd found heaven and grabbed it as tightly as I could, but it was unraveling, an insubstantial thread sliding between my fingers, too fine to hold.

"After you were bitten, I knew what would happen. I waited for you to change, every night, so I could bring you back and keep you from getting hurt."

For once in my life, I was here and nowhere else.

She was past present future. I wanted to answer, but I was broken.

It seemed like you ought to pick the sort of person you would be, no matter what your parents were like.

Monicap

Awesome book! i love the new take on werewolves (not magic, but a disease) I love the characters, I think Sam and Grace's romance is so profound, more people should know about, because seriously, they are so much more romantic than Romeo and Juliet.

Maggie Steifvater came to a teen lit conference in Denver last month and I got my copy signed by her! Totally cool!

Sidney Schaffner

chloe rae

Re-read 2018:
I still really enjoy this book! It’s such a great winter time read. Reading it all snuggled up in bed is just such a cozy experience. The writing and the romance just leaves you feeling so warm. It’s not my favorite series by Maggie but it’s still a great read. 


Original review:
don't know about you, but I REALLY liked this book. I liked the totally different take the author brought to werewolves and their heritage (is that the right word?) I found it super interesting and I just fell in love with Grace and Sam's relationship immediately. I also loved the fact that it switched points of view, and it kept me guessing. Such a good book(:

Annika Arguemore

Quite the cliffhanger but it was a pretty laid-back read. A "puppy love" kind of story, I guess (Haha. Geddit? Geddit? No? Okay). This novel gave off a specific atmosphere that could translate into a cloudy, rainy day. Cozy but kind of gray. An air of mystery hanging around like mild mist. Kind of like what they show when someone says 'Previously on The Vampire Diaries...' in The Vampire Diaries TV series? On majority of the episodes on Seasons 1 and 2? I think you get the picture, yeah.

Reread 2024. I love this book as I did the first time, I can't believe it's been years since I last read it. And now I can't read linger until I get home.. this book is so amazing .it pulls at. Your emotions ! Def recommend

Aly Valenz

Lauren Grey

I honestly have no words to describe this book. It was wonderful and an absolute joy to read!! I had seen the series around, but only decided to read them, because I joined a Read-A-Long. There was a whole ten days set aside to read this book and I finished it in four. I wasn’t sure what to think about the book at first with it being about werewolves… it seemed a bit too Twilight, but it was nothing along those lines at all.

What I liked:

The male lead, Sam. He was such a refreshing character. Lately, the books I read have had such strong, obsessive, dominant male characters, but Sam Roth, although a werewolf, was so vulnerable and sweet. I wouldn’t say he wasn’t strong (he was a freaking wolf!), but he was tender, thoughtful, and liked to read books. Definitely my new literary crush. “I had planned a thousand different versions of this scene in my head, but now that the moment had come, I didn’t know what to do.”

The recognition that the main female character’s obsession with the wolves was unhealthy. This may seem like a strange thing for me to mention, but I felt that one of the greatest things about this book (in comparison to Twilight) was that, yes, Grace had a weird thing for the wolves that lived in the woods behind her house, but the author made sure to have her friends mention that it was odd and unhealthy. Of course, later on you learn why, but I liked how it didn’t encourage the behavior.

The author’s take on werewolves was so interesting and unlike any I had read before. I don’t want to ruin too much, but to have their changing be due to weather instead of just whenever they want made for a great story and causing them to have an “expiration date” added a nice touch as well.

It is rare when I like the female lead of a book. I normally always fall for the guy, but I liked Grace. She had a pleasant personality and didn’t do anything that made me hate her. “Her eyes flicked over the shelves, seeking possibilities for escape.” Maybe I liked her, because I could see a little bit of myself in her. Not only did she like to read, but she was also an introvert. “We’re introverts. We like doing nothing together. All talk, no action.”

What I disliked:

In complete honesty, I enjoyed this book so much and I didn’t write down nor can I think of a single thing that I disliked about this book.

What I thought overall:

This book was fantastic. It was a quick read, but it was so well written. Some of the sentences, I had to read more than once, because they were just so good. The characters were so real and likable; I couldn’t find anything about it to rant about. I can’t wait to start the sequel! Do I recommend reading it? Yes.

becky oh

** spoiler alert **
           What was I thinking? I don't know. It sounded interesting, so I bought it and read it, but then the ending is kinda weird. And how does Sam come into his human form again?
Even if this was a fantasy read, it felt gross. I know, it sounds weird, but it felt gross the way this author described the wolves and how they changed, etc. The romance was kinda gross/weird as well. I don't know why, but inside my heart, it felt a tiny bit disgusting. They sleep together, but it's awkard, and I bet they have no idea what they're doing.
Overall, not reading it again.

Briar's Reviews

This book was surprisingly very addicting, fast paced, and it was beautifully written!

I wasn't sure whether to read this series of not because of reviews I had heard from some preteens I knew from high school, but once I got my hands on it I became obsessed and I could not put it down. It was not a slow read (unlike Maggie Stiefvater's Raven Boys series) much to my surprise. I was expecting it to be very slow from what I had read of the author's other work, but it moved fast and kept me hooked at the end of every chapter. I didn't want to put it down.

This book was a werewolf love story with a twist! When the werewolves are cold, they became their wolf selves and when they are warm they are humans, until they are unable to change. 

I cannot complain about this novel at all! Except maybe the fact that I became so obsessed and I can't wait to get the rest of the series as fast as I can! 

Five out of five stars!

Manda

You can read my Shiver review at Yabookscentral http://bit.ly/cuHYrM or on my blog http://bit.ly/dnAY7o. Enjoy!!!

This is the first book I've read from Maggie Stiefvater and I really didn't know what to expect going in. I've owned this book for a solid 5 years and I've just never read it because I thought I wouldn't like it...damn I'm so happy I didn't unhaul the series!! 

It was so amazing and heartbreaking and I couldn't put it down for long periods of time because I just kept wanting to read it! I'm in love with Sam and Grace and the ending just I'm so shook. The whole last 1/4 of the book was so heartbreaking I'm not okay. 

Such an easy 5*'s, I haven't loved a book this much in a long time, and when I say loved I mean I loved every page! 

I'm literally picking up the next book right now off my shelves, I'm so in love!

The #1 bestselling SHIVER, LINGER and FOREVER trilogy rejacketed for a new generation of fans. This chilling love story will have you hooked from the very first page. When a local boy is killed by wolves, Grace's small town becomes a place of fear. But Grace is fascinated by the pack, and finds herself drawn to a yellow-eyed wolf. There's something about him - something almost human. Then Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away...

Addie 🌻

This book was actually better than I thought it would be! Seriously! I was only expecting it to be three stars but it definitely left me pleasantly surprised! I think if I had read this when I was younger I would have given it 5 stars but to be fair 4 isn’t bad! I thought that the instant love would put me off but it definitely worker for the plot. I also liked how fast paced the story was, I managed to read 330-odd pages in one sitting. Overall, a good read and I’m eager to start book two!

renee badenoch

I never read this one when it came out and just read it now. I gobbled it up like popcorn, but like popcorn it wasn't super substantial. The other book I'm slowly making my way through is Howard Zinn's The People's History of the United States so I wanted to read something light in between periods of grief and rage. 

I enjoyed this one while I was reading it. I like the way Maggie Stiefvater writes, all of her books have a nice flow, and the language is just pretty. I like that she holds her teens with a lot of respect, and respects the way they feel things deeply. A criticism I've often heard about Stiefvater is that her teens are unrealistic because they are well read, which is just baffling to me. I read poetry as a teen, teens I know read poetry, and it feels like Stiefvater's fictional teens are the right age to be impressed by Rilke. 

As much as I enjoy Stiefvater's prose (and I think it's what keeps me coming back to her work), she has some truly cringe moments. It annoys me that there's not a single non-white character in this book. That there's no black people in a mid-sized town in Michigan is harder to believe than that there's werewolves. Given that Stiefvater did what I can only describe as an annoying job writing a Chinese character in The Raven Cycle it's probably responsible of her to know her limitations when writing about the experience of non-white people, but just having an all-white cast is frankly lazy. 

While there were times that I totally bought into the romance (I am still an angsty teen in my core), the ICK factor of Grace being in love with Sam AS A WOLF I could never get over. Also if I could have a dollar for every time I winced because Sam calls Grace "angel," I'd have enough money to buy myself a new hardback version of this book. 

Tl;dr: A fun, engrossing read with some caveats included.

Aaliyah Jenkins

Didn't really grab me or hold my attention. I feel like it should have and I just missed something, but I was never thrilled to read it. It was enough of a story for me to finish it, but I was hardly itching to turn the page. And isn't that sort of the magic of books? I was slightly disappointed, yet I csn not say I won't read the sequels.

Emily Orlando

It's like Twilight,but with werewolves. And like Twilight, it was an okay read and I will read the next book in the series.

Kirsten Simkiss

I’m gonna be really honest: this is the worst book by Stiefvater that I’ve read so far. After reading 30% of the book, I skimmed the rest of it to see if it got any more interesting. From what I gathered, it did not.

I find it very hard to believe in instant romance. Even more so when a character has roughly no time to process that her favorite wolf in the woods can also be a human boy. I just get really frustrated with it when there’s not logical reason their connection should be that romantic that fast.

In addition to this, and I think I feel this way about all the characters in the Stiefvater books, I simply don’t believe the characters have real romantic connections even when they say they do. There’s a lot of words saying they feel it, but I feel like the writing lacks the emotional impact to make me really believe it. I love her worlds and her concepts - the wolves turning human in warm weather is such a cool concept - but the romance dominated this book so much that it made it almost unreadable for me.

I cannot recommend this book to other readers.

Ofelia

** spoiler alert **
           2,3/5
Intanto cominciamo col dire che in questo libro non succede assolutamente niente. Si, perché un buon 90% del libro sono dialoghi ma niente azione. All'inizio pensavo ad un incipit a rilento, dopo un pò però ho iniziato a chiedermi dove diavolo fosse l'azione che puntualmente.. non è mai arrivata.
Lo stile della Stiefvater non brilla mai, purtroppo mi ricorda pure un pò Twilight forse per questo non sono riuscita a digerirlo davvero.
Parliamo della trama.
Se solo non fosse che mannari/vampiri/angel/zombie etc sono incredibilmente di moda ultimamente direi pure che è originale. Ho sempre avuto un pò un debole per i lupi quindi gliela posso anche passare questa, ed è anche abbastanza originale la mutazione dovuta al freddo. In resto però veramente si perde dopo un paio di pagine. Il finale è troppo prevedibile, non dico che avrei voluto vedere Sam trasformarsi in lupo per sempre (non lo dico.. ma lo avrei voluto, quello si che sarebbe stato un finale inaspettato) e neanche che avrei voluto vederlo morire e stop ma il finale "e vissero (quasi) tutti felici e contenti" stride troppo soprattutto dopo che per tutto il libro Grace e compagnia non hanno fatto altro che ripete quanto fosse impossibile guarire.
Altra (grossa) pecca del libro.. il branco.
Si perchè ogni lupo che si rispetta ha un suo branco, ma dov'è il branco di Sam? Ah si c'è la classica rivale in amore, bella e bionda ovviamente. C'è anche la figura paterna per Sam, ma poi? Cita due o tre membri del branco, ne vediamo appena solo uno (Paul) neanche descritto veramente poi.. e gli altri? 
Questo è solo un esempio per sottolineare quanto tutti i personaggi siano solo un contorno per Sam e Grace, nessuno a parte loro è minimamente approfondito e sono lì solo per fare la loro parte in funzione dei protagonisti (cosa che sinceramente detesto, ma che purtroppo va alla grande in tutti i libri young adult)

DNF at page 215

maybe my teen self would have liked this back in the day but today it’s not for me. I like the concept of the wolves and I truly like the male protagonist. But the female protagonist is so annoying. This has been compared to twilight which yes, I could see the resemblance.. the difference is that I love twilight. Maybe because I was young when I read them and I just fell in love with sparkly vampires and over sized wolves.

The author’s writing is very poetic, romantic, and kind of whimsical. Don’t get me wrong, I love romance in my fantasy books, I need it, but this here was just so overwhelming to me. I hate dnfing books, this is the first I’ve dnfd in years. Maybe I’m not in the right mind set at the moment and will try again later? Who knows?

2 star

Nicole Dykeman

I'm not normally a fan of paranormal romance. But this??? I freaking LOVED this. I cannot explain why. But I loved it enough to revisit it years later, and it was just as wonderful the second time as the first. I don't know what it is about this story that makes me melt into a puddle on the floor. Every time Sam calls Grace "angel" my heart skips a beat. Every time they kiss I make an audible squealing sound. It's corny and fluffy and heart-wrenching and I just really love this book.

Dawn Keiser

Allison Garrett

I have long been a fan of Maggie Stiefvater’s work, and Shiver is no exception. On my first read of Shiver I was probably around twelve years old. It was an extremely odd feeling reading this book again, almost like déjà vu. I had such high expectations because I remembered how much I loved this book when I read it the first time around. I think it paled compared to expectations I had, but I still loved it. 

The Good: 
•	Grace and Sam are very cute together. The forbidden romance, sigh, warms my cold lonely heart. 
•	The suspense of wondering when Sam is going to turn and the anticipation of trying to figure out all of the next moves of the wolves. 

The Bad: 
•	Although I enjoyed the romance between Grace and Sam, it was a little too young love-doomed to fail type thing. It had a syrupy feel too it that seemed to go a bit far. 
•	Grace and her parents were terrible. I understand that they were part of how Sam was able to stay with her and blah blah, but it seemed almost like Stiefvater just wrote them off because they became inconvenient for her. 

It’s hard for me to be so tough on Stiefvater’s work because I think she has grown so much as a writer since she wrote the Mercy Falls series. This is still a wonderful book and I fully enjoyed it, but I definitely would gear it towards 13-15 year olds.

Tameka Young

I tried to stay away from this book. Darned series...I can't quit them, wish I could. I'm not sorry to have read this book though, it was so awesome, and I can't wait to see what happens next!

A few of my friends got into a bit of a frenzy when this book first came out last year. It was all I heard about and everyone had such visceral reactions to it. I was curious but once I heard it was about werewolves, my first instinct was to think **coughTwilightripoffcough** and stay as far away from it as possible. Then a few months after that, the book's author Maggie Stiefvater wrote a particularly compelling blog post on the defense of the YA genre and after reading it, I decided that I loved her and wanted to read her book.

Oh my gosh...this book is called Shiver and yes it takes place during winter in Minnesota making the imagery full of coldness, sadness, and longing but to me it was also very HOT. The beginning did kind of throw me for a loop, since the main character Grace was obsessed with a wolf and at the time of her obsession, she didn't know he could phase into a human. I was mildly creeped out by that but as the book continued, I was fully on board with the idea since Sam the boy/wolf in question kinda floated my boat. (Confession: He is 18 in the story so just this once, I will proudly wear my cougar badge even though I still find that sort of Taylor Lautner-esque frenzy appalling and disturbing.)

Anyhow, Grace and Sam are scorching couple. I love the way they communicate and the underlying heat of their relationship is hypnotic to read. Their chemistry is amazing and I love that while they are very wary of their effect on each other, they are still so committed to salvaging their relationship. It's so exciting to see how it all unfolds.

Hold the phone...no we don't get to see because we have to wait for the second book, Linger which is released on July 20th. Bah! No matter though, I'm thoroughly entrenched and must know what happens to Sam and Grace since Shiver ends (spoiler alert) on a cliffhanger.

Psst....loved this book. Loved it!

Ruby Kennedy

Ok so as you can see by my rating, I had a few problems with this book. My main issue thought was that basically the first 1/5 of the book is about how Grace fell/is falling in love with a wolf. Not like “Oh that’s such a pretty wolf!” In love, but seriously romantically in love. I don’t know about other people, but I find that just a little weird. Anyways, probably not reading the sequel or recommending this to anyone, but it’s fine if you have a different opinion on this book!

Zoe Ivie 

Honestly one of my favorite book series. 
If you love supernatural things and werewolves, this is a great book for you. The whole world created in this book is just phenomenal. 10/10!!  

Shiver

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