Book Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

"My wolf."

This book really got me into wolves. I love the way it was written and the short chapters. It was basically an easy read. I feel like I just started and it is now finished.

Grace was the girl who was bitten by the wolves but never turned. No one really knew why or how she was able to stay human. Despite the failed transformation, she retained some wolf traits such as sensitive smell and hearing. She was also drawn to the woods and the wolves in them ever since. Especially one in particular: the wolf with the yellow eyes.

I really can't picture an animal or a human with yellow eyes, but that was Sam. He was only human during the spring and summer seasons and then he turned into a wolf when it got colder. The winter months were the wolf months. During those times, all he could do was watch Grace from the edge of the woods, filled with longing.

When they finally had time to be together, it was so beautiful and wonderful. They were so in love. It would have been unrealistic but the way the author wrote it, it just made sense. They both fought to keep Sam in human form until the very end.

This book is absolutely amazing, I would really recommend reading it. Check out a couple quotes I bookmarked :)

"My wolf was a cute guy and he was holding my hand. I could die happy."

G: "What do you eat?"
S: "Baby bunnies." She narrowed her eyes so I grinned and said, "Adult bunnies, too. I'm an equal-opportunity-bunny-eater."

Excerpt:

With peculiar clarity, I remembered that conversation clearly, down to the expression on Beck's face: "Sam. Come on, bucko."
"What's that?"
Beck shoved his back ineffectually against the glass door, suffering under the weight of a huge box. "Your brain."
"I already have a brain."
"If you did, you'd have opened the door for me."
I shot him a dark look and let him shove against the door a moment longer before I ducked under his arms to push it open. "What is it really?"
"Schoolbooks. We're going to educate you properly, so you don't grow up to be an idiot."
I remembered being intrigued by the idea of school-in-a-box, just-add-water-and-Sam.