Review: Shiver (Wolves of Mercy Falls, Book One) by Maggie Stiefvater

in a sentence or so: when Grace was 8 years old, she was pulled from her backyard tire swing and attacked by wolves. Grace survived the attack thanks to a mysterious wolf with stunning yellow eyes, who continues to watch her every winter from the woods bordering her house. Grace knows there is something unique about her wolf, and is becoming increasingly aware that there is something unique about her too...

Grace is 17, lives in Minnesota, daughter to absent-minded parents and best friend to two girls with whom she begins to feel a growing distance. Grace has had a thing with wolves, particularly her wolf with the yellow eyes, ever since her attack. her parents dismiss it, as they do just about everything with Grace. when one of the popular boys from Grace's high school is killed, and then his body goes missing from the morgue, the townsfolk begin to blame the wolves and Grace knows she has to do something to protect her wolf from the desperate men looking for answers with their guns. little does Grace know that the answers the men are looking for with their guns will deliver the biggest answer Grace can possibly hope for - her yellow eyed wolf, Sam, at her doorstep. too bad he's bleeding like crazy because he was shot in his shoulder...

Grace and Sam, who have been in love with each other for years...just in an inter-species kind of way...have finally connected. the chapters alternate narrators between Grace and Sam, which gives us a sweet insight into their personality and into their view of one another. but, just because Grace and Sam are finally together, doesn't mean that everything is hunky dory with these new loves. there is a dark element, an impending doom and a sad past that permeates their relationship - not the least of which is the fact that this is Sam's last year to alternate between human and wolf. as the weather continues to drop, Sam get's closer to changing into a wolf and separating from Grace forever.

this truly is a love story. however, this is also a story about brokenness and finding a place where you belong, which Stiefvater weaves into her story naturally and shows the reader that finding our place is different for each of us. this book packs an intensity, particularly near the end, rich with taught emotions and the unsteady dare to hope. without spoilers, i want to say that the conclusion was extremely well done - in plot and in style.

fave quote: "Some days seem to fit together like a stained glass window. A hundred little pieces of different color and mood that, when combined, create a complete picture." (89)

fix er up: i had a tough time getting to form a connection with the characters. i liked their story, but i wasn't emotionally invested until about halfway through. i wasn't sure what made them tick as individuals, only together...but maybe that was the point?

title: Shiver (Wolves of Mercy Falls, Book One)
author: Maggie Stiefvater
genre: Romance, Fantasy