\ Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy
by Maggie Stiefvater
for the overall series I give it 


Shiver
390 Pages


Alright, so judging from the name of this trilogy it is about werewolves. But it's not the Twilight werewolves. They have their own story and history.


17 year old Grace lives in the small town of Mercy Falls where her house is at the edge of town bordering the local woods. When she was little (like 9) she was dragged off by starving wolves destined to be their mid-day snack when somehow she is saved by one of the wolves and he takes her back to her house. Ever since she has had this connection with "her wolf." Funny thing though, he's only around in the winter time...during summer he magically disappears. humm....


Sam is not your average boy. When he was 5 he was bitten by a wolf and ever since he has become a wolf during the cold months and is back to boy when it is warm. His parents disowned him and his has been raised by the others in the pack who, like him, become human in the summer months. Sam has always been too shy to speak to Grace in the summer months but ever since he saved her he has been in love with her.


There has been some commotion going on in town where the wolves supposedly attacked and killed a local boy is killed so illegal hunting parties are going out trying to get rid of the problem. Grace finds him on her back porch. Sam is shot and for some reason it makes him turn human only to realize that it is fall...he missed changing this summer. Sam is sure that since he missed changing this summer if he changes back now he may never come back. Now that Sam and Grace are together they must fight to keep him human.


Linger
362 pages


In the squeal Sam is human due to the cure they have found. But things can't be happy for long, otherwise there wouldn't be 2 more books to write! So Grace is starting to get sick and they don't know why. She is getting head aches and nosebleeds and all sorts of crazy things.


There is also a new wolf named Cole. He was the lead singer in the biggest rock band NARKOTIKA. (yes it is yelled at you in caps ever time it is mentioned in the book) and like most stereotypical rockers he was all about drugs, sex and rock and roll and he needed an out. It was either become a wolf or end it all himself. The problem? He can't quite get the wolf part of him to stick and albeit winter, he keeps on changing back into his human self.


This is helpful though because Cole turns out to be a super genius and is realizes the true science behind the transforming and wolfish ways. He is able to help save Grace, unfortunately the only way to do so is to turn her into a wolf herself...


Forever
386 Pages


Grace is dealing with newly being a wolf and being away from Sam. Meanwhile the hunt for the wolves by the towns people is growing and there is no way that the wolves can stay where they are and survive.


Cole is still in search for a permanent cure so that they can end this cycle of wolfery once and for all meanwhile Sam is trying to find a new place to relocate the pack away from the hunters.


That's pretty much what this book is about. I also need to explain my 2 star rating. This book wasn't that bad. It entertained me and I read it in a day but the thing that I just DID NOT LIKE is it didn't answer all of the questions. Isn't that what the final book in the series is supposed to do? Answer questions? Instead I was left with a bigger cliffhanger than the first book. I'm sure that the author was trying to keep it open ended so that the reader could decide the fate of the characters, blah blah blah, but see...I read a book so that people can tell me what happens. If I wanted to write a book I would. When I finished I said out loud "Seriousuly? That's it? DUMB!" and my husband thought I was crazy.

My Review
Writing
The writing was actually really pretty. She has a very poetic way of describing things and helps you imagine instead of just telling you straight up. The only problem is that it is written from alternating first person point of views of Sam and Grace and I'm pretty sure that no high school student thinks that eloquently.
Plot
I thought the plot was pretty original and kept me guessing. There were a few lulls in the story but for the most part it moved quickly. It has a very different feel than Twilight so if you didn't like Twilight you possibly would like this. It doesn't spend half of the book describing how perfect the main dude is.
Characters (development)
So I'm torn with the characters. It seemed to me like Grace didn't stay on character a lot of the time. She's supposed to be this level headed, independent, good girl, but I don't know, sometimes she did things that were just opposite. but I guess we do have to remember that she is a 16 year old girl. Sam was a little hard for me love the way you are supposed to love the main guy in a book. I don't know, maybe he's just not my type but he seemed a little too emo and poetry for me. I also had a hard time believing that Sam's parents hated him after he became a wolf, expecially since he was so young. Maybe it's because I have a regular little boy and not one who is a werewolf, but I'm pretty sure I would still love him. but that's just me. I think that Cole was my favorite and the most developed character in the book. Maybe it was his crazy past, or maybe it was just because he was so stinkin funny and sarcastic but he just seemed so real to me.
Romance
I get that Sam and Grace have loved each other for years without knowing eachother. And I really wanted to believe the love in this book, but it was a little hard for me to buy. Like in many (especially newer) YA books it just developed too quickly. It was like "oh were here...and we're in love!! let's make out" Do they even talk about how they have wanted to be together for forever? no. even just the mention of that would have helped. I guess it was just unspoken...or something. They also "do the deed" but it's more of a fade to black kind of thing. But they didn't even talk about it afterwards. Maybe I just like to talk about my feelings a lot, (my poor husband) I don't know, but there seems to be a lack of relationship building communication going on here.
Overall
I still hate the ending and almost wish I didn't read it because of it...but that aside I thought it was a good story. Yeah it had some character issues and developing issues but over all I like it. It is a paranormal book but done in a very subtle way. So if you like poetry writing, guitar playing emo guys, werewolves, and writing the ending of books you should give this a shot!

oh, and another thing that has nothing to do with the story at all but the text in the books is the same color as the covers instead of black. So the first one the whole story is in dark blue text, the second is all in green, and the third, and maybe most distracting althought my eyes eventually adjusted and I didn't notice it was dark red. So if you didn't like reading it in my review, then it might annoy you in the book. I didn't mind it, but I did think it was pretty different.
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