Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Feb 11, 2010 Gaijinmama rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, purchased

A sweet story of young star-crossed love that also manages to be creepy as hell.
Seriously, where were the YA books like this when I was in high school!!
Aside from graphic depictions of what it must be like to be chewed on by wolves, what upset me the most was the main character's parents. They were just awful! Not abusive, just criminally selfish, immature and neglectful. Not that I am a perfect parent myself, but I like to think I would at least know if my daughter were...you know...doing it wi ...more

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Sep 25, 2015 Nancy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, ya, paranormal, still-owned

Meh. I was so disappointed with this book. So far I have loved every Maggie Stiefvater book I have read but this one really didn't grab me. Of course, it was written well, but the character of Grace simply felt wooden to me. Unlike all of her other heroines, at no time did I particularly warm to Grace or relate to her. I did like the angle whereby werewolves changed in accordance with the change of weather, but unlike many of the author's other books, this book just stretched my credulity. In pa ...more

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May 01, 2010 Samantha rated it liked it

Shelves: 2010

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Shiver seemed to be a study in contrasts for me. I liked Grace and Sam, the main protagonists, but I also didn't like them. I thought their teenaged banter felt a little forced at times, almost like the writer was trying to scream "I'm a teenager, don't forget it!". Yet I liked Isabel, who seemed the most sarcastic of the group. I didn't expect to feel that way about the character from the beginning. I was really happy to find out that the next in the series has her featured more prominently.

I l ...more

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Dec 12, 2010 Logan rated it liked it

Shelves: borrowed-library, shifters, paranormal, young-adult

First impressions: I read the first few chapters of this book in a writing class, so that experience definitely influenced my impressions when I picked up the book this time around. Stiefvater sets up the story really well, introducing us to the dual perspectives of Grace and Sam that will carry us through the rest of the book. Her writing style is staccatoed and almost poetic at times, and she lets us know immediately that Sam's yellow eyes and the temperature will be important elements of the First impressions: I read the first few chapters of this book in a writing class, so that experience definitely influenced my impressions when I picked up the book this time around. Stiefvater sets up the story really well, introducing us to the dual perspectives of Grace and Sam that will carry us through the rest of the book. Her writing style is staccatoed and almost poetic at times, and she lets us know immediately that Sam's yellow eyes and the temperature will be important elements of the story.

Lasting impressions: There are some gruesome moments in this book. The encounter with the dogs, Sam's parents, people getting shot - not for the faint of heart. I was caught off guard by the amount of violence and it certainly stuck with me long after I put down the book. I'm not usually so affected by that kind of thing, but for some reason this story had me squirming at the level of brutality present at times.

Negative impressions: The story didn't really kick in gear for me until the last quarter of the book. I loved the beginning, thought the ending was solid, but the middle really dragged. I wasn't a big fan of the back-and-forth narration switches. I thought Grace was a little too quick to accept Sam's wolfiness (for lack of a better word). It also irked me that Grace's parents were basically written out of the book so Grace had a good excuse to spend all of this time with Sam. There didn't seem to be much conflict in the relationship with her parents, and the fact that they were never around bothered Grace, but not in any way that really affected the plot. It read like a device necessary to get them out of the house instead of a symptom of some larger issue.

Overall impressions: I loved the concept of temperature being responsible for Sam's shifting. Sam was by far the more interesting character to me. His backstory really drew me into the world, from how he was turned to how he came into his current pack. He had this long, complicated, tortured history that I connected with, and it made me understand his choices. I'm not sure I can say the same thing for Grace.

Grace annoyed me more than anything. She basically falls in love with a wolf, with the added bonus that he turns human sometimes. She never notices Sam as Sam, only Sam as wolf. Her relationships with her parents and friends are all strained, and none of her interactions with them make her the least bit likable. She was too self-absorbed for my taste.

Once I got through the slogging middle, the plot really picked up and I got really caught up in the race against time and temperature. I loved the way it ended, and it worked well as a stand alone novel, so I'm curious what the sequels will be about. Stiefvater has an interesting writing style, and the short chapters make it easy to flip pages, so I will probably read Linger. ...more

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Dec 24, 2010 Marla rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult, with-reservations, series, romance, paranormal, fantasy, shape-shifters, overrated, challenged, mixed-reviews

Another story of a nerdy, basically friendless girl (her 2 bestest friends seemed to be friends of convenience) falling for a paranormal boy. I didn't hate the story, but it was too slooooww and I didn't love the romance.

I finished the series and in hind sight would I read it again? Maybe. There were some good moments (like the 2nd book), but overall a disappointment of a YA romance and werewolf series. I expected much better given the high ratings.

Likes:
* Switching POVs
* Grace and Olivia recogn ...more

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May 28, 2012 PJ rated it really liked it

Shelves: pass-me-a-tissue, 2012-books-i-ve-read, young-adult, romance-paranormal

I'm absolutely Team Jacob after reading this. This isn't perfectly written, but it's perfectly imagined. I was left with a ton of questions, like why didn't they escape to somewhere warmer for a little more time? But the conceit kept the tension high..I mean how interesting can two broke teenagers be with one in school and the other jobless. The best moments are because they have such a brief amount of time together. I'm very curious to see what happens in "Linger". ...more

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Jul 06, 2010 Thenia rated it it was ok

Shelves: shifters, reviewed, series, paranormal, 2010

This book annoyed me very much at times and caused countless eye-rolls but the romance and the happy ending redeemed it a little. What can I say? I'm a hopeless romantic... ...more

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Feb 18, 2010 Cindi Kelley rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010-read

Cute teen read. Reminds me of a combination of the Twilight series with the House of Night series but with werewolves. At least, it isn't corny like the Twilight series. ...more

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