Shiver

S H I V E R

BY MAGGIE STIEFVATER
(pronounced: steve-otter)

Can I even sum up this book in one post? Brilliant. I had - as cheesy as it sounds - shivers while reading this novel. The book has a brilliant powder blue design on the front cover (US version) with heart shaped leaves drifting down, a blood spot to dot the "i" in the title, and a wolf hidden behind weaving, tangled branches. The inside text has a hint of navy, and each chapter title gives the number, character point of view (switches between the two main characters), and the outside temperature, which, as the reader reads on, will play great significance. 


 First, if you don't know the plot, I'll start by explaining, to the best of my ability, but please, I will warn you if you are very sensitive to any bit of spoilers, there may be a few, so I encourage you to go read the book and then come back here:


Summer girl, Grace, was saved by yellow-eyed Sam six years ago when she was attacked by the Mercy Falls wolves. "Well, it was love at first sight," according to Grace (p. 282).  They didn't meet human-to-human until this year and now it is a race against the clock. Grace must keep Sam human for this is his last year phasing back and forth between both species. How? The change in temperature brings the horrific and painful transformation. As the months pass and the temperature approaches below normal, Grace and Sam must manage to stay concealed from any bit of frost. Will their love outlast the winter? 


Enough of the spoilers, what I love is the author. Maggie Stiefvater has a Twitter, website, blog, and YouTube account. On her YouTube account, she creates trailers, artwork, and music for her books. She plays many instruments; "they keep me warm at night," she says. Her music literacy transfers to her writing, which - being a musician, myself - I loved to see. Sam was always conjuring up lyrics to go along with every part of the day. 


By keeping up with the technology, Stiefvater contacts her fans easily. 
Yesterday, I tweeted: "I'm in love with Shiver by @mstiefvater... it's hard to put it down. Damn homework..."
To which she replied, "I'm so glad you're loving it!"
And I responded, "thank you for making my procrastination worse! :P :)"
And she, "Well, I'm a girl of many talents." 
Indeed you are, Ms. Stiefvater, indeed you are.


Along with her talents, she has impeccable taste in music. As soon as I saw that she had a playlist while writing her book, I downloaded as much as I could and listened to it while polishing off the last half. Personally, I love when authors show you their playlist because it's hard to believe that authors sit in silence while they're writing 300 pages that you adore. (Although, I must say, I never thought I'd have that much Snow Patrol on my iPod.) 


Have you read Shiver? Do you know of The Crooked Shelf, Shiver's fansite? No? Go check it out! The movie rights were just sold and they are discussing actors to portray your favorite characters.


Bright Side: It is an amazing fantasy romance novel.
Down Side: You have to wait until July to read the next book in the series, Linger, but there will be a third book, Forever, which she is writing now.


Below is her playlist and a few of my own added songs that you can listen to while reading this amazing book:

Some people compare this to The Twilight Saga, which I can see for many reasons:

Grace(Shiver) and Bella(Twilight):

- cooks for herself; independent 

- book worms

- don't like being the center of attention

- parent(s) don't hover around them

- determined and stubborn

- brave

- (and the obvious...) falls for a mythical creature, who happens to be a guy.

Sam(Shiver) and Edward(Twilight):

- gentlemanly; believe in honor and protecting women

- believe they are monsters, not good enough for the other

- protective

- pale

- messy hair

But what about these differences:

Grace and Sam; Bella and Edward:

- Grace and Sam don't wait until their wedding day -wink wink-; Bella and Edward do

- Met human-to-human after six years of awestruck glances; didn't speak until a week after their first "biology experiment"

- limited time to be together; limited time until Bella must be transformed

- Given voices throughout the book (alternating between points of view); Bella's point of view for the first three books, then switches off to Jacob (Edward has unfinished Midnight Sun)

(there are also more obvious ones such as Sam is a werewolf, Edward is a vampire, etc.)

Sam (wolf): 

-  painful transformation 

- changes with cold temperatures

- bitten by Beck, another werewolf

- only has a certain number of years before change is permanent

Jacob (wolf):

- instant transformation (explosion of fur)

- changes with extreme emotion

- born into the lifestyle

- physical boost, but they must change or else their age decay increases rapidly after a period of not phasing

Being a Twilight fan first, I can admit that I love Stiefvater's wolves better than Meyer's, Stephenie Meyer, through Bella's point of view, made the wolves barely a threat at all, where in Shiver, their trembling beginning set off a spark to the reader to keep reading to see if Grace made it out alive! 

As Stiefvater puts it: werewolves are the new vampire. I have to say, I had a more enjoyable read when I picked up Shiver, than I did Twilight. It was nice to get into the mind of the fictional character your heart strings yearn to find in reality (sigh). I think that may have been the kicker for me. Stiefvater gave us a frequent glimpse of Sam's point of view, which kept me reading and sunk me deeper into the fictional world she created.

Another thing, while many people - including myself - hate Bella in the Twilight universe, I loved Grace! There wasn't an ounce of selfishness that was so massive. While Bella spent no time with her other friends and didn't really mention that fact, Grace would feel bad about it and call them frequently or see them in school and apologize. Grace had a good memory (remembering Beck's phone number even in a tight bound, stressful situation) and Bella wouldn't even remember anyone's name her first day of school because they were of little importance to her. I loved Grace and Sam and rooted for them the entire journey, rather than one or the other.

If you are like me and love Twilight, are Team Jacob, Team Quileute, or Team Bella-is-a-whiny-do-nothing-who-does-not-deserve-either-one-of-them, then pick up this book. You won't regret it. Now, I will patiently - somewhat - await the sequel. Until then, pick it up! I have a feeling this series is going to get big real fast.

@barelybueno


I'll be adding the Linger and Forever reviews to this page as well as some movie news when it arrives.