Book Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: Shiver
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Series: The Wolves of Mercy Falls #1
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Release Date: August 1 2009
My Source: Library

My Rating: 4/5

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human ... until the cold makes him shift back again.
Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

Shiver was exactly what I expected it to be. The two main characters, Grace and Sam, have loved each other forever, it seems. The romance is really nice and refreshing. They've never met in person, but when they do, they're instantly attatched to each other. There's not of that "which boy should i choose?" or anything. It's just the two of them, but it fails to get boring, because of the way they interact. What they have is like a dream relationship. I'll admit- it probably is unrealistic in some ways, but for a story it's good none the less. That was definitely my favorite part about this book.

On the other hand, it was extremely predictable and lacked tension. I felt like I knew what was going to happen and there was really nothing there to keep me reading. The only reason I kept reading was because of the romance between the two main characters- they kept it interesting. But when I got done with the book, I looked back at it and thought what a great read it was, it just left me with a happy satisfaction when I was finished, so I gave it four stars. The only thing I wish this book could've done for me is leave me eager to read the next one. I still will read Linger, but it seemed like Shiver wrapped up most of the loose ends, so I'm not dying to read the next one. Maybe Linger will top Shiver with some kind of new plot to keep it going. I sure hope so.
*content warning: some mild language and suggestive content