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kaylinwriter14 's review for:
Shiver
by Maggie Stiefvater
2.5 Stars
Overall:
I’d previously tried to read this several years ago, only to give up quite quickly. After seeing all the raving reviews about this trilogy, I decided to give it another shot. I would say I enjoyed it a little more than the first time, mainly in the way I managed to finish it. It’s conflicting to me, because there are certain aspects that were very good, but they weren’t enough to overshadow the parts that were very bad.
Pros:
I really love the writing style, enough that I definitely will be trying something else Stiefvater has written. It flowed very well, building tension when need and filled with lavish descriptions elsewhere.
I do actually love the twist of the werewolf genre with them changing due to the cold. I thought it was rather ingenious and a completely fresh take on one of the genres that have been a little exhausted lately.
I did like the characters- Grace especially. It’s not too often a female protagonist is allowed to be reserved without being frigid. She’s also smart and savy (for the most part—see cons) and far from a damsel in distress. I quite liked the comparison between her and Sam, who was a very emotional and open person. Really took stereotypes and chunked them out the window (which I am always a fan of).
Cons:
Oh dear. The romance. The literally driving point of the book. I just… hated it. Perhaps because the characters are implied to fall in love while one of them is a freaking wolf. YA has a habit of romanticizing a lot of things… and I guess bestiality is one of them?
Besides that, the characters seem to be in-love before they’ve ever had a conversation with each other. (INSTALOVE to the max) I mean, Sam has watched Grace for years (yes, you read that right. Stalking is another thing YA seems to romanticize, I guess.) but they seem to know nothing about each other .
Grace also seems to just disregard her personal safety several times. Namely before Sam has given her any explanation to who he is or what is happening, and she just is all twitterpated by the wolves. Taking in a strange man who’s been shot, and defending wolves who may have killed someone… just didn't seem like wise decisions from an otherwise smart character.
There’s some shoddy science at the end. Which is a big peeve of mine. Major spoilers ahead.
The ending didn't make a lot of sense to me. Maybe I missed something?
I'm just really tired of the "absentee" parent trope. Especially when I'm still supposed to care for the parents when they have neglected their child for years?
In Conclusion:
While I didn’t enjoy this, I am strangely curious to read the sequel. I adored the writing here, and will definitely be picking up something else written by Steifvater.
Overall:
I’d previously tried to read this several years ago, only to give up quite quickly. After seeing all the raving reviews about this trilogy, I decided to give it another shot. I would say I enjoyed it a little more than the first time, mainly in the way I managed to finish it. It’s conflicting to me, because there are certain aspects that were very good, but they weren’t enough to overshadow the parts that were very bad.
Pros:
I really love the writing style, enough that I definitely will be trying something else Stiefvater has written. It flowed very well, building tension when need and filled with lavish descriptions elsewhere.
I do actually love the twist of the werewolf genre with them changing due to the cold. I thought it was rather ingenious and a completely fresh take on one of the genres that have been a little exhausted lately.
I did like the characters- Grace especially. It’s not too often a female protagonist is allowed to be reserved without being frigid. She’s also smart and savy (for the most part—see cons) and far from a damsel in distress. I quite liked the comparison between her and Sam, who was a very emotional and open person. Really took stereotypes and chunked them out the window (which I am always a fan of).
Cons:
Oh dear. The romance. The literally driving point of the book. I just… hated it. Perhaps because the characters are implied to fall in love while one of them is a freaking wolf. YA has a habit of romanticizing a lot of things… and I guess bestiality is one of them?
Besides that, the characters seem to be in-love before they’ve ever had a conversation with each other. (INSTALOVE to the max) I mean, Sam has watched Grace for years (yes, you read that right. Stalking is another thing YA seems to romanticize, I guess.) but they seem to know nothing about each other .
Grace also seems to just disregard her personal safety several times. Namely before Sam has given her any explanation to who he is or what is happening, and she just is all twitterpated by the wolves. Taking in a strange man who’s been shot, and defending wolves who may have killed someone… just didn't seem like wise decisions from an otherwise smart character.
There’s some shoddy science at the end. Which is a big peeve of mine. Major spoilers ahead.
Spoiler
Really? You’re going to infect all three of them with the same strain of meningitis before you have any idea if it works? Maybe I’m biased because I work in health care, but meningitis is a very dangerous disease. There surely were several easier ways to induce a fever. Besides that, it’s a very contagious disease. Since these characters seem to take no precautions, they all would be infected. Also, mixing blood types is pretty dangerous, and Isabel just injects someone else’s blood into her brother.The ending didn't make a lot of sense to me. Maybe I missed something?
Spoiler
How is Sam back??I'm just really tired of the "absentee" parent trope. Especially when I'm still supposed to care for the parents when they have neglected their child for years?
In Conclusion:
While I didn’t enjoy this, I am strangely curious to read the sequel. I adored the writing here, and will definitely be picking up something else written by Steifvater.