YA Fiction Review: Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, Book 1) by Maggie Stiefvater

Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, Book 1)
by Maggie Stiefvater
Copyright 2009
Scholastic Press
392 pages
ISBN: 9780545123266
Fiction

From Goodreads:
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.

My Review:
I'll admit I didn't like werewolves. After reading the Twilight series I have always been Team Edward. Don't get me wrong, a muscley Jacob Black as played by Taylor Lautner is nothing to frown at but I guess I like my heroes to be cold, hard as marble and immortal LOL! So needless to say, going into this book I was prepared to not like Sam, our hero as he is a werewolf but...yeah...I kinda like him...a lot (he reads books). So I guess that means you can chalk one up for Team Werewolf. Team Vampire people need not worry after all there is Damon, Stefan, Edward, Jasper, Eric, Dimitri etc etc and Team Werewolf only has Sam and Lord Conall Maccon from Soulless by Gail Carriger.

Although the whole werewolf/human, forbidden romance theme of Shiver isn't new I still enjoyed this book very much. While I was a little weirded out by Grace having an obsession for an animal who she thinks is a wolf at the very beginning, (not a werewolf and therefor can't shift back into a human) I let that go and just enjoyed watching the relationship unfold between Grace and Sam once the werewolf truth came out. It is a teeny bit Twilight-esque but from what I understand the original story was written before New Moon was even printed. Since I love the Twilight series so much, if a book seems a little similar it doesn't really bother me, the more vampire or werewolf love stories the merrier in my opinion. So in short, if you like a great romance with a lot of sizzle read this. If you like paranormal stories, read this. If you're a fan of YA, read this. I loved it and I'm super excited to get my hands on book 2, Linger soooo if any of you have an extra copy around.... *cough cough*

To learn more about Maggie Stiefvater visit:
Her WEBSITE
Her BLOG
Twitter

Content Note: Some strong language and a love scene that's pretty tame. I'd recommend it for older teens and up.

* This book was read by me for my personal enjoyment, I was not obligated to review it but I did because I love you and want to help you find good books to enjoy.*