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Shiver (Book 1 of The Mercy Falls series) by Maggie Stiefvater Review

Hi ForeverBookers, 

I've just finished Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater and it was great. Much better than I remember it being. This is about the third time I've read it I think. 

There are minor spoilers below but there are some big things that I didn't include in the review that happen as well.

Shiver tells the story of Grace, an ordinary girl with a normal life and Sam, a young man who becomes a wolf if it gets too cold. When Grace was younger she was outside in her garden/yard when she was bitten by a wolf. People who get bitten change into wolves when it's winter - all except Grace. We don't know why she doesn't in this book. Sam hates turning into a wolf each winter so he and Grace spend all Autumn doing things together. Humans only get a certain amount of Springs, Summer's and Autumns as humans once bitten. Sam feels that the Autumn in the book is the last Autumn that he'll ever see as a human so he and Grace spend that Autumn doing good things together.  

The story is told in duel perspective so we get to see Grace's opinion as well as Sam's opinion. This was good most of the time. There were just a few instances where we didn't need Sam's perspective I feel. The story could have gone along fine without them. 

Also in the story, there's a boy, Jack who got turned unwillingly. Grace, Sam, Olivia (Grace's best friend) and Isabel (Jack's sister) try to help save Jack from being a werewolf because he hates it. Olivia, also becomes a werewolf but at the end of the book she's happy to remain one. 

There are everyday aspects to this book as well, such as school, homework, shopping, painting etc. Grace's parents aren't there for her. They're more her older classmates than her parents. The author really showed how some parents just don't care for their children in this book, I feel. This isn't a major part of the story though. Grace was able to invite Sam into her house and let him sleep in her bed every night for a month or so - that's how absent they were. 

Grace and Sam fall in love of course. This is a YA story so there's nothing explicit in the romantic scenes. Grace does lose her virginity but as I said above it's very chaste. There is a slight love triangle as well. It wasn't annoying like most though. Shelby is the other girl who wants Sam. She's a selfish character, only after what she wants. She doesn't appear much in Shiver. 

Overall I give this book 4.5 stars because the romance was cute, it had an addictive story and a few comic moments as well. The only thing that I didn't like were some of the Sam scenes because I just felt they were unnecessary. We learnt the things that were portrayed in those scenes in previous parts of the book. 

I look forward to starting Linger (#2) soon. I'll have a review for it up when I've finished it. 




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