Shiver is the perfect title for Maggie Stiefvater’s romance due out from Scholastic in August 2009. In the literal sense, of course, because it’s the cold that forces Sam into wolf form and pulls him away from his one true love, Grace. But in the figurative sense as well because both Sam & Grace, and readers, will shiver throughout this book with delight, anticipation, yearning, fear and delicious sexual tension. 
Grace is a 17 year old girl who yearns for something other than her middle class existence – escape; passion; an uninhibited life – something embodied in the wolves she watches every winter in the woods behind her house. One in particular, with amazing golden eyes, seems as drawn to her as she is to it. Sam lives two lives: one as a wolf in the winter, keeping watch over the girl he yearns for; the other, for a brief time every summer, as a human teen, who aches for a girl he’s unable to have because of what he is.
Finally one autumn Sam and Grace are forced together, both as humans, and allowed to explore the feelings they’ve had for each other since Sam saved Grace so many years ago. Knowing their time is brief, their romance doomed, and that all they truly have is their passion for each other, Sam & Grace tell the story of their autumn together before they’ll be separated, perhaps forever.
Shiver has everything a teen girl wants in a romance and Twilight Saga fans will find a new couple whose romantic intensity rivals Bella/Edward/Jacob page for page. In fact, Shiver has something Twilight does not – Sam’s point of view interwoven with Grace’s – and that makes all the difference in this story. Grace & Sam’s dual narration of the story adds intensity as it commingles from 2 distinct voices into one emotionally charged voice, full of longing, aching need, and a desperate desire to remain whole and united.
Stiefvater creates a world where werewolves can easily exist, putting a new spin on an old legend. Her prose is beautifully descriptive, emotionally intense and fluid. The plot is moves quickly, the characters are well rounded, and the action and mystery of the story are elegantly intertwined with the intense romance of these two characters. Delicious!
- Posted by Cori
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