READING : Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again. Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

In my opinion, Shiver is the most praised book of the year. Everyone talks about how different this book is and how much it stands out from the rest of the genre.Unfortunately, try as I might-and believe me, I tried-I didn't see that.

What I liked about this book and what is,I believe, the best parts of it are first and foremost, Stiefvater's style of writing which was lyrical and beautiful throughout the whole book and even though I didn't like what she wrote at times,I liked the way she wrote it which I think only great writers can accomplish.And Stiefvater is a great writer, no question about it.I loved how she portrayed Sam,basically a tortured soul who thirsts for a sliver of happiness and when he finds it,he risks dying to keep it.Also the picturesque scenery was ideal for the setting of the story.So, writing aside, there were also three scenes that I absolutely adored and in my opinion, saved the book for me:the one when Sam is about to change but Grace saves him,the one he did change and the ending scene.They were absolutely brilliant, beautiful and heartbreaking. 

What I didn't like was,basically,the rest of the book,.I didn't care a lot for Grace.The ease with which she approaches the wolves(oops, sorry!HER wolf!),even after the traumatic experience she had as a child, made me laugh and not in a good way.Romance does not always have to be squeezed in even when it doesn't fit!It's a big book, could have happened later.

The characters that surrounded the couple did just that,surrounded and shadowed the leads, hovering over them aimlessly.Especially Grace's parents who granted, were weird, but were very easily accused of being horrible people and not caring about Grace at all, which was totally wrong in my opinion.

Last but not least, what this book lacks in is action.Nothing action like or remotely action like happens in this book.You think when the book is about werewolves, you could at least indulge in a badass fight or two.But there was none of that.Everything was about Sam's and Grace's love and how to keep Sam from turning,which was not at all bad,but it gets old and boring very quickly.

Overall, I think Shiver was a nice read,and that's it. I will definitely read the next one, trying to have no expectations whatsoever about it.Fans of Twilight will surely love this,as Shiver was peculiarly similar to it .Definitely not the writing but the story is pretty much the same,minus vampires.If I wanted to read something like Twilight I wouldn't buy another novel, I'd just re read Twilight. But that's just me :)

3/5