Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Don't you hate it when you have arguments in your head? Strange thing to start off with, I know, but I really do hate it. And don't you hate it when you want to know everything but you don't so you just silently torture yourself wondering why the world doesn't know these very pressing questions (I actually took this to the point where I don't think to myself because I will drive myself crazy trying to understand why I don't understand how I think to myself!). Well anyway, I was having little arguments in my head, and then screaming at myself because I don't understand how the arguments in my head work all throughout this book. Let me get on to the synopsis to procrastinate trying to put the arguments into words a little longer.
This book is about Grace and Sam, Girl and Werewolf. Grace was attacked by a pack of werewolves when she was a kid, saved by Sam in wolf form, never turned into a wolf for some unknown reason. And you know, the werewolves don't turn into werewolves during the full moon, they turn to wolves when it gets cold (don't you love YA novels bashing ALL myths!). Grace didn't know that it was a pack of werewolves that attacked her, but when a kid at her school gets attacked by wolves, and she later sees a wolf with his eyes in the woods, she starts to expect the truth. The police start to hunt for the wolves, and Wolf!Sam gets shot. For some reason he turns into a human again, and Human!Sam goes to Grace's house and waits. When Grace returns to find Human!Sam shot and on her back porch, she instantly knows it's her wolf because of his strange yellow eyes. Grace takes Human!Sam to the hospital, where he gets stitches that are useless because werewolves heal MEGA fast. Grace takes Sam home and hides him in her room (this is achieved through Grace's parents never being home). The rest of the book (up until the climax) tells of Grace and Human!Sam's relationship and struggle to keep Human!Sam from turning into Wolf!Sam. There are many revealing points including

1. Grace and Sam love each other.

2. Grace and Sam would risk their lives to be together.

3. Grace wishes her parents would love her more.

4. Grace and Sam think each other hot.

5. Grace and Sam ..../.-/...-/./..././-..-/ (that was Morse code, if you beep Morse code, you know what I said, if you don't, well, look up the alphabet on Google.)

Anyway, I won't give away the ending, but I will tell you that I hated it, but not for the reasons you might think, like, someone dies. No, that would be too commonplace and meaningful to be worth the fit I threw in my head, it must be something trivial! The ending wasn't a solid one, (yay! they kiss!!). I swear when I get around to finishing my book, there will be a solid ending (however, there will not be a million like in Lord of the Rings).

Now for the part I've been putting off, the review. I honestly have no idea what to say, I'm torn between wanting to like so much, but that would result in giving into the majority (to quote G.H. Hardy, It is not worth an intelligent man's time to be in the majority. By definition, there are already enough people for that), and between wanting to hate for its stereotypical-ness. So let me explain my likes and dislikes. It was well written, but it seemed like the words were forced, almost as if the author had to pick and pull at her brain to get the right words out. There was a good story line. The characters were fairly likeable, but I never got to loving Grace or Sam, or any character in the book for that matter. I didn't like them all that much, I didn't root for them like I did other characters (Harry Potter, Maggie Quinn, Sayuri (Memoirs of a Geisha), Maddie (Runemarks, which I plan to review in the future, but it will be a re-read). Other than that, it was actually an enjoyable book, but unlike some other books, I'm not sad to leave it, nor am I happy, just, unfeeling.
Good day,
Taryn
P.S. I'd like to say that I kinda took the idea for the Human!Sam and Wolf!Sam from Rosemary Clement-Moore, it's on her blog, here's the link in case you want to read it. http://readrosemary.blogspot.com/
P.P.S. Completely unrelated to post, but I found out that on the list of Rosemary Clement-Moore's favorite television shows there is Phych! That is like the best thing on television since Bewitched! (There is also The Big Bang Theory, which I love.)