Book Review- Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater

Book review- Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater
Spoilers alert!

Synopsis:

     For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human… until the cold makes him shift back again. Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human—or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

Book Review:

     I am a huge fan of Maggie Stiefvater (pronounced steve-otter) and her books. I am also a fan of werewolves. So it seemed only natural that I should check out this book from the library and proceed to finish it in four hours.
     I'll admit, I was a little worried- was Stiefvater going to go with the traditional full-moon approach, or take the Twilight route and have emotions trigger the "shift?"
     To my surprise, Maggie chose neither, instead taking a whole new approach and having the change from human to werewolf and the reverse be triggered by the seasons- namely, the temperature.
     I was, and am, impressed at her ability to present Sam, the love interest and werewolf, and his family/past/murder attempt by parents so flawlessly. There was a lot that could have gone wrong, but there wasn't even information overload- instead, there was extremely effective foreshadowing, but I didn't feel like I was deprived of information, either. So kudos to you, Stiefvater!
    One thing that I wasn't overly pleased with was the first-kiss segment- I felt like it happened too quickly, seeing as they only met as humans for the first time, like, the night before, when he was bleeding to death. Also, he's a freaky werewolf. I would be a little hesitant.
    The werewolf wasn't an ultra- sexy muscular dude, as written in so many other books. Which was a nice change. I felt like it only empathized the fact that Sam was normal, human, before he was bitten. Jacob, step aside. There's a new werewolf in town!
    Grace, the other main character and love interest, was extremely well-written. I really understood her, and her personality was perfect for dealing with werewolves- calm, cool, and collected. Even if she could be a little too calm at times.
     I loved the wisecracking side characters, and was extremely impressed at Stiefvater's ability to express the danger represented by the hunters determined to kill the Mercy Falls wolf pack.
    This fast-paced, exciting love story is a must-read for ages 12 and up.
     Five out of five stars.