Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

This genre of books is certainly popular right now!  Anyway, I liked this story - not quite as much as Beautiful Creatures or Twilight, but I definitely enjoyed the read and I am looking forward to the sequel!  I liked Grace and Sam's relationship because they were obviously connected - no matter what "shape" Sam was in. I liked that there was less teenage angst when Sam changed "for the final time" and also after Grace and Isabel tried to save him by injecting the meningitis-infected blood and thought they had killed him instead. With that being said though, I wasn't as emotionally involved in their relationship (as I was Bella & Edward, for example), probably because of the lack of teenage angst! So apparently, you can't win with me. :-) I guess I want to FEEL the emotion, but not be hit over the head repeatedly for 400 pages with it. (Again, a reference to Bella "losing" Edward).

Werewolves intrigue me - although I wonder why so many shape-shifters change into dogs/wolves? That just confuses the issue. I have to read up on the "history of werewolves" because I didn't know they changed with the weather. Interesting concept. There were a lot of unanswered questions in this book (hence the sequel, right?) Why did Sam have so few human years? Why did Beck feel the need to make new werewolves before HE changed for the final time - especially since he had trained Sam to take over after he was gone and he seemed to know that Sam wasn't going to make it any longer than Beck himself? Also, why would Beck change more when he still felt guilty about changing Sam? Who is going to lead the human pack now? Who is going to lead the wolf pack now? How do you kill a werewolf for good? I wouldn't have minded a more involved explanation for things. I have to assume that we will find out in the next book why Sam survived, when Jack died from the meningitis. I really thought that Isabel should have taken her chances and brought Jack into the ER on day two of his illness! Just my opinion. I admit I know very little about meningitis.

I always wonder about parents who are SO uninvolved in their children's lives! Honestly, what is up with Grace's parents? Are their senses as dull as Grace's senses are magnified? Can they not hear, see, smell, sense another presence in their own house? My kids would never get away with hiding a wolf boy/girl in our house, let me tell you! ;-)

One more comment and then I am done for now. Why do teenage girls who fall in love with supernatural beings have to drive such crappy cars???? I'm just saying.....

Wendy's Rating: ***1/2