Shiver
Maggie Steifvater

Hard Copy

Public Library

So I took a few days to write this review just to think about the book.

Characters:
This book was weird. While reading it, I really cared about Sam and Grace. I wanted them to be happy. Thinking back on it, I find that I just don't care as much. That's odd for me. Normally, once I latch onto a character, I love them for life. I can't even really say what I liked about them while reading it. Neither one seemed all that special. I mean, sure, Sam is a werewolf, but who isn't in YA these days? It's different that they only change when it's cold. And I did feel bad for him and his messed up childhood with what his parents did to him. But that's it. Now. But while reading Shiver, I thought he was just awesome. I'm not going to act like I wasn't relieved when he was human at the end though.

Plot:
This started pretty slowly for me. Some people enjoy that easy going start. I'm not one of those people. Overall, the action in this book was lacking. The end was decent however. I never would have guessed that by getting them sick, they could be cured. Well, not for Jack, but... Whatever. He was a jerk anyway. Aside from the romance, there didn't seem to be much of anything. Which for a romance is fine, but I expected more. I don't even know why. All I have ever heard about this book is that it is a good romance. I just think werewolves, so there must be something more to it. Not really.

Setting:
Meh. Nothing special. Could have been my hometown. Which is fine.

Writing:
This is why Shiver is getting four stars from me. Because despite everything complaint I just had, the writing drew me in. I wanted to read me. Some parts were downright lyrical, folks. If you want romance and pretty writing, this is the book for you. If you need some action to go along with it, pass this one up.

Meh. This was okay. I thought the story had a great premise.

Setting:
I really loved the idea of Beau Rivage. But I think there was so much more that Cross could have done to give it more personality. I mean, she had this FAIRY TALE TOWN for goodness' sake. Liven it up. Instead the kids spent their time at concerts and beaches and getting drunk at parties. Seriously? Couldn't they do something more fairytale-ish? What? Was Cross trying to show the readers that the story characters are just like regular teens? Then there is no point. I just wish there could have been more. Except for the candy cottage, there wasn't much to say that it was very different than any other town.

Characters:
There is a slew of characters here, and some I like more than others. Obviously. But it is more because of how they are written than because of the characters themselves. Take Viv for instance. There is so much more that could have been done with 'Snow White'. Like, I don't know. Make her actually like SNOW WHITE instead of some spoiled brat. Or make Freddie more three dimensional instead of a doormat who just wants to be a hero. Give these characters some depth.

Relationships:
This is new for me. I usually don't focus on them as much, but since this book was nothing but relationships, here we are.
Blue/Mira- They're both dumb. Blue was wasting his time, pining over a girl in love with his brother. Honestly, if it took her that long to figure Felix out, she deserved to have the life sucked out of her.
Felix/Mira- What an idiot! All the signs were there. I get that he could 'charm' her, but she even considered the truth and still rejected it. I wanted there to be a spin so badly. Like maybe Felix saving Mira from Blue, but no. Predictable.
Freddie/Mira- Basically everyone and Mira. I mean, come on. He was like a wet, sad puppy. And even worse, that's all he was meant to be. I really wanted some closure for him. Like for him to get with a fairy or something. Just so he isn't the nice loser at the end.
Viv/Henley- What kind of messed up relationship is this? Basically, he is destined to simultaneously love and hate her. She teases and drags him around. It was just annoying.
Layla/Rafe- Honestly, I think this had the potential to be the most interesting relationship in the story, but they nearly completely ignored it. Barely gets a mention. Of course, Beauty and the Beast was always one of my favs, so I'm biased.

Plot:
So predictable. The only surprise would have been Mira finding her parents. Otherwise, you knew who the bad guy was. You knew what he was going to do. You knew who was going to save her. I kept hoping that something would pop up and surprise me, but no. 

Overall:
I really really liked the idea of this book, which is how it earned the three stars. But the execution left something to be desired.

First, the names in this aren't my favorite. I mean, Snow? Seriously. Yes, she controls the snow. Sure. But Paige really could have come up with something better than Snow. And Jagger? Like, hey, look at me. I'm a bad ass. Nope. And Algid. Sucks. The names just suck. Period. Moving on. The pacing at the beginning of the book took a bit too long for my liking. I get that she wanted back story so we'd all know how Snow how suffered in Whittaker. That way she could bemoan it later. It just took forever. Like 1/3 of the book. I just couldn't bring myself to care about the Robbers. Oh, and her precious Bale. OMG! I am so over Bale already and he is barely in the book. Was actually hoping they'd just let him die at the end. Sure he had his own little surprise, but I don't care. Move with Kai.



Ah, Kai. I liked him. He was the only character that came off as not pretending through the book, even in the end. I just have a feeling he knew exactly what was going on. He knew who he cared about and didn't let that sway him. Also, I like that he doesn't do magic. I don't know how I feel about the magic in this book. Everything is elemental or potions. That's different, but I'll have to read more to decide how much I care for it.


1. Kai
2. River Witch
3. Snow
4. Greta

Felt like a lot of filler until the very end. A lot of Becky just going on about the facility.



However, the facility was pretty cool. Not so much what they wanted them to do to the real zombies, even if they are already dead. I'm glad Becky didn't give in like the others, and her actions made the others thinks about what they were doing. The end was pretty cool, but poor Mark. Why was he there? Hopefully, the next book explains. The zombie process was interesting. It was unlike anything else I've heard of. Becky goes into detail about it (filler!), and it could have been shortened, but it is good to know. Glad Josh let her go in the end.

Okay, first of all, let me say, I thought this was going to be a continuation of the first book. So... it wasn't and that's okay. Kind of wish it had been, but oh well. That said, this story was totally different than the first. It was much darker, even the writing itself. There were quite a few very deep subjects: drug abuse, rape, abuse. The writing flowed well and I enjoyed it.

Plot is tricky just because ink Exchange isn't what I thought it would be, and honestly, what I was looking forward to. So, I'm already bias. Still, this was a strong stand alone story. I didn't like it as much as Wicked Lovely, but that's okay. There were a lot of places where this story dragged for me. It was like Marr was caught up in flowery language or too many descriptions. Maybe I'm just being picky lately, but it's not my favorite.

Leslie is an easy character to feel sorry for. She's been abused, raped, abandoned. Yeah, it is pretty sad for her. But she's resilient, or at least tough, but that's only the exterior. She is pretty desperate on the inside for someone else to take care of her for once. She's pretty understandable. Irial was a pretty complicated character. For so much of this book and through nearly everyone's perspective, he's absolutely horrible, but there are rare occasions where he is actually pretty decent in his own way.