The book Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater is apart of a trilogy, in a thrilling 67 chapters Stiefvater puts the readers through different emotions. The main characters are Grace Brisbane, the protagonist; Samuel K. Roth, Beck Roth, Isabel Culpeper, Jack Culpeper, and Shelby; the antagonist. The story focuses mainly on Grace and her experience living in Mercy Falls but the author also switches between Grace and Sam’s point of view.
You could describe the genre of this book as romance, fantasy, and young adult fiction. The main target audience would be teenagers, around the ages of 12-18. This book may be too mature for anyone younger than the minimum age. Also, romance does not have to be specific towards one gender of people, but it sometimes can be that way, in this case it would happen to be teenage girls.
Shiver appeared #9 on the New York Times best seller list, was the Indies Choice Book Award finalist, and ALA Best Books for Young Adults along with many other awards. She lives in Virginia with her welcoming husband and two lively dogs with one criminally insane cat.
If you could describe Shiver in one word, ironically, it would be cold. Cold as in very dreary and hard-hitting to your feelings. Stiefvater does an outstanding job of putting the reader into the mood of the story with her use of description of not only the setting but of the characters emotions. As you read you almost feel the bitter winter air of Mercy Falls and the heart-wrenching despair in Grace when she finds out a life-threatening secret about Sam.
The plot mainly focuses around Grace and Sam finding a way to cope with their Romeo and Juliet-esque relationship. Two star-crossed lovers awaiting doom, right? Without giving too much away for you interested readers, Shiver will absolutely have you wanting to read the next chapter as each chapter usually does end in a cliff-hanger. Like most good fantasy novels, you find yourself never wanting to put them down because of the other-dimension-like feel they give you. Stiefvater really makes that one of her key elements throughout the book. However, unlike most authors, Stiefvater adds a refreshing twist to the ending and makes it so you could rest at night awaiting to read the next book.
The best time to read a book like this would ultimately be in the winter, it supplies you with the best atmosphere because you are already conditioned into the coldness of the outside, at least if you live in a regular-climate area. Summer might kill the dreary “cold” vibes that make this novel so worth reading because of the mellowness of the warmth. However, with a book of this quality, any condition might be just perfect to read it in!
