tells the interconnected story of Grace, a girl with an obsession for wolves, and Sam, a yellow-eyed boy who shows up on her doorstep one night looking remarkably like her yellow-eyed wolf. As winter approaches, Sam struggles to stay human in order to remain with Grace. Their time together is scarce, but they must make the most of it, as the wolves' existence and Grace's life are both in danger.
Things I Liked:
The werewolf mythology (I'm assuming that's not really a spoiler) is fabulous - I love the details Stiefvater has woven into their existence and the rules they must obey. The characters, especially Sam and Grace, are very real. Their interactions, the love story in essence, was very well done. Even the minor characters came to life. All of this is probably due to Stiefvater's beautiful writing. It was just gorgeous. I had to throw in two quotes I loved:
"Behind the counter, I slouched on my stool in the sun and sucked in the summer as if I could hold every drop of it inside me. As the hours crept by, the afternoon sunlight bleached all the books on the shelves to pale, gilded versions of themselves and warmed the paper and ink inside the covers so that the smell of unread words hung in the air." p.8
"Her face was turned toward the trees, but I was invisible, intangible, nothing but eyes in the woods. The intermittent breeze carried her scent to me again and again, singing in another language of memories from another form." p.387Things I Didn't Like:
The story itself was a little slow. Not a lot happened in the early part of the book. I was personally annoyed by Grace's parents and their issues. It seemed also like some of the emotional things Grace and Sam experienced were not discussed. They kinda skipped over what I thought would have been normal reactions.
Read-alikes:
I hate to say it, but it is rather like Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Also reminded me of Need by Carrie Jones
BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: !@
scattered throughout
mrg-factor: X
implied, not described
v-factor: ->->
wolves are involved (they fight)
Overall rating: ****
Do you have a favorite werewolf depiction or mythology?
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Posts
Grace's parents drove me nuts too. Would it be too much to ask for a character in a YA novel to have normal parents?
ReplyDeleteNotNessie, I guess through the eyes of teenagers, parents are never normal? I definitely love it when there are good, solid, involved parents.
ReplyDeleteI'm seeing this book being talked about a lot these days. But the first place I saw it was when a YA librarian at "my" library sent out a review and BLASTED it! So, now I'm curious. Will I like it or hate it? Hmmmm...
ReplyDeleteSuey, I'd be interested in what that librarian said. I've heard both sides of the argument as well, but ended up liking it.
ReplyDeleteOoh, I want to read this. I haven't really read any books purely about werewolves. I have come across them in Twilight, Harry Potter, and The Mortal Instruments.
ReplyDeleteI guess it is not so much which mythology is my favorite, I like them all for different reasons.
Amy, yeah, I think most people just like the ideas of werewolves and vampires and fallen angels, etc.
ReplyDeleteI didn't read your review when you posted it, because I knew I would be reading SHIVER soon and I didn't want to have any pre-conceieved notions. I totally agree about Grace's parents - completely obnoxious. I also thought the book was fairly slow, especially at the beginning. I liked it, but it definitely has issues ...
ReplyDeleteSusan, yeah I have had a lot of "like it, but..." reads recently. I enjoyed your assessment of Shiver and Twilight.
ReplyDelete