1 out of 5 hearts
Not all that glitters is gold.
I had high hopes for this book and I was highly disappointed. I didn't finish it. I stopped at page 120. Maybe it gets better after that, but I couldn't continue.
The synopsis for this book reads:
the cold.
Grace has spent years watching the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—watches back. He feels deeply familiar to her, but she doesn't know why.
the heat.
Sam has lived two lives. As a wolf, he keeps the silent company of the girl he loves. And then, for a short time each year, he is human, never daring to talk to Grace...until now.
The greatest issue I had was it's strong similarity to Twilight, minus the vampires. I noticed it when I read the back of it, but I thought it would bring something different to the table. Reading it, I felt that it didn't have a sense of originality. And, it was too predictable. There are some books that you read and know how it ends, but the thrill comes from finding out how it happens. As I was reading Shiver, I felt like I already knew what was going to happen and how it would.
The protagonist, Grace, was portrayed as vulnerable and quiet at first, but then there is a 180 change that made it seems like the author lost sense of the character. With the metamorphosis of a character, you can pinpoint the situations that led to it or the clues; its part of the character development. In this case, Grace is a bag of contradictions. You are introduced to her one way and then a few pages later, she's a whole other person. Sometimes I would have to go back to make sure I read the words correctly.
Then there is Sam, who is a wolf, then a guy, then wolf, guy, etc. Sam and Grace fall in "love" but their relationship is annoyingly sappy. To make matters more complicated, Steifvater switches the POV throughout the entire story and the transitions are choppy. Some books aren't well written but have a good story. This one didn't cut it for me.
Maybe it is because the market is saturated with all things werewolf as it is. Or, it could be read this right after The Book Thief. Nonetheless, the more I read it, the more frustrated I became because I wanted to be intrigued and it didn't play the part.
I'm not suggesting not to read it. It is bestselling and it was going to be made into a movie at some point, so somebody thought it was good. Just, not me.
-Mariela
Paperback, 392 pages
Published June 1st 2010 by Scholastic Paperbacks (first published August 1st 2009)
ISBN 0545123275 (ISBN13: 9780545123273)
Edition language: English
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