Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

A bit of a new twist on werewolf lore, August 30, 2009

I confess, I read the reviews on this book before I started reading it so I was perhaps expecting it to be a bit "more" of everything because of the high ratings it was given. My analysis after finishing: the story was a predictable and contrived, somewhat interesting but finally merely banal. I thought it was a little better than OK and I would recommend it to any teen girl who likes reading werewolf stories or sweet, paranormal romance. The tale involves a girl named Grace who falls in love with a werewolf named Sam. They can't be together while he is animal, but for a time they share human love during the waning days of summer and throughout some of autumn in Minnesota. Supposedly it is cold weather and climate changes that make the wolves turn from animal to human and vice versa.

That said, my main problem with the plot is that so many questions are left unanswered and left dangling at the end of the book. We are also given a trite explanation for Grace's continued human existence despite the fact that she was bitten by a wolf. The characters -- mostly wolves -- are stereotypical good guys and bad guys. Not much depth of character development there. Except of course for Sam who is the lovesick wolf, the "best" of the pack.

Now I must say that the part that bugged me most about the book, however, was the complete absence of adults in the lives of almost all of the teens in this novel. I realize that there are parents who are self absorbed, but I think the author of this tale got a little carried away and made them completely worthy of a visit by the local child protective services. Not only were they physically not present in their homes much, but they didn't interact with their children nor were they consulted when events transpired that might have necessitated a legal guardian being available. It just didn't ring true but then again, this wasn't probably meant to be realistic fiction -- more like fantasy!

Although not my cup of tea, I think the intended audience -- teen-aged girls -- will probably like this book a lot. The chasteness of the relationship between Grace and Sam, the longing and angst over their too short period of togetherness, will appeal to those who like that tension and who hope for a happy ending with true love conquering all.

Ms C.