Review: Shiver | Maggie Stiefvater

This review is spoiler free.

“It is possible to be in love with you just because of who you are.”

Series: The Wolves of Mercy Falls
Published: 2014, by Scholastic.
Pages: 448
Format: Paperback
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal, Werewolves, Fiction
Contains: Death, Violence, Murder, Blood/Gore, Strong Language, Sexual Content

‘Shiver’ tells the story of Mercy Falls. When a local boy is killed by wolves, Grace’s small town becomes a place of fear. Unlike everyone else, Grace is fascinated by the pack, finding herself being drawn to one in particular, a wolf with yellow eyes. There’s just something about him, something almost human, and Grace is determined to discover what it is.

This book has been on my To Read list for quite a while now, being a fan of Maggie Stiefvater’s works, so I knew this would be another worthy contender for my favourite read of the year. However, the reality was a little disappointing.

With a romance like this one, it’s very difficult to not start making comparisons between The Wolves of Mercy Falls and the Twilight Saga, the similarities just being so eerie. Grace was a worthy contender for Bella Swan, being incredibly dull and hardly bringing out any personality amongst the pages. Her fascination with the wolves was borderline creepy, and the romantic elements between herself and the other main character weren’t that interesting.
Sam had a little more character to him, being a young boy with werewolf abilities and a lot of teenage angst to make the younger readers swoon. However, that was all there was to him; I don’t know anything else about him. I don’t know his interests, I don’t know how painful his history is other than the small flashbacks, I don’t know why he is so besotted with Grace. None of it is explained, and all of it is assumed. They’re quite dull characters.

The writing style itself is very simplified and not very Stiefvater-like. There are no luscious metaphors or vivid imagery, there’s just a lot of cringe song lyrics and basic poetry. There’s very little substance to the writing, making this a lengthy read as there was no motivation for me to complete it. It made for an incredibly boring read and I’m heartbroken by my dislike of it.
However, it wasn’t all bad, the short chapters and jumps in perspective making it a somewhat fascinating read on occasion, and the inclusion of the temperatures allowed you to get a little deeper into the story. It involved you more, and I appreciated that.

Overall, this was a disappointing read. It wasn’t what I expected from Stiefvater, however, I’m giving it the benefit of the doubt as this was one of her early novels. I’m still curious to continue the story, wanting to discover the writer’s talents improving as the story progresses.

2/5