Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publication Date: 2009
Details: The Wolves of Mercy Falls series bk 1, 392 pages
Review: I just recently read a highest rated review on Goodreads about shiver. Which says that Shiver is like a twilight clone. So I guess mostly people have/would have the same opinion about it. But I would like to make things clear. Its true that you may find it similar to twilight; how sam and Grace stay together at night; how he keeps on stopping her from getting personal, cause its not right; how Grace doesn't get along well with her parents; how she cooks food for them. But hey, aren't all the paranormal books kinda same in some ways? Here is what makes me feel its very different from twilight:
Sam and Grace are a much more different couple than Edward and Bella; who seemed like a very serious couple--not that Sam and Grace are not--as in that they were always struggling to keep things right and fighting for their love. SO they seemed like a serious and mature couple, always trying to sort out things. But here Sam and Grace knew that once Sam changes he won't be able to become human again, but they preferred not to discuss about the big issue and tried to spend whatever time they had, happily. Again, I don't mean that Bella and Edward were not trying to spend time happily. But they could have done better. If Bella had not cried all the time for 'more of it' and had patience with the becoming a vampire thing. And if Edward would have not made things harder for her. But Sam and Grace preferred to go with the flow. Grace was different and she did not try to figure out a way to become a werewolve, neither Sam made things harder for her; and unlike Edward he was the one to lose control.
The take on the werewolves was entirely different. The Twilight werewolves were actually Shapeshifters, whereas these were real werewolves with a totally different mythology. The idea of it was very simple--they change when its cold, and a time comes when they never change. Thats it. But I guess its good that she kept it as simple as that. Or it would have been like twilight, in which the whole book was just filled with questions that Bella kept bomabarding on Edward--which was a drag--but shiver has much more to it. Although, they followed the same track again and again--home, school, home, school, home... etc--but it just didnt get boring. There were many cute scenes when I just couldn't stop smiling. They just became my favorite fiction couple. And in such a case when you want more of it, and there are just two more sequels, you wouldn't want the first one to just pass on in understanding a complicated mythology.
Also, Grace was not a boring sad soul like Bella. She had good friends, she got along quite well with them. But, sadly here things went wrong when in the end her selfishness ruined the mood. It can be possible that someone may be so crazy and so much in love that they can risk their or their partners life to be together. But here I could only think of her as the worlds most selfish girl, cause only that kind of girl would go out on a trip with her bestfriend after being so sure that she had killed her love. Way to ruin the mood. Atleast she should have cried the hell out of her everyday. But instead she was hanging out like 'ALL IS WELL'. Even Isabel, was the same. I think the problem was not with Grace and Isabel's character. The problem was with the author. So overall, I would give it a 4 star. And this is another reason why I think Grace was different from Bella. Bella was like a zombie after Edward left her. If Grace was like Bella, the same case would have been with her. But it wasn't.
So I hope I made things clear, and now you won't feel like its a total twilight clone, and won't underrate it.
