Kyle

794 Reads

Several months after re-reading: Honestly, despite making me tear up once, this book really only deserves a two-stars, for me personally, mainly since Sam creeped me out WAY too much, and sounded like a teenage girl (a REALLY angsty one at that).

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After re-reading this book this Novermber of 2011, I think this book deserves a 3.5/5 stars, only because this time around it made me tear up a little.

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I read this book back in November of 2010 (or in December according to Goodreads), and I thought it was simply good (which is a 4/5 stars for me) and it was my second paranormal romance book (my first was Hush, Hush), so the cliches and predictability wasn't striking me.

Honestly, there's one really bad thing about this book, the reason it drops from a 4/5 to a 3/5 - it's not that memorable. I honestly cannot remember about half the ending of the book, and that's the part I usually remember most about a book. I remember the most important stuff, the stuff that I should remember (SPOILER ALERT): Sam changes back to a human, Jack dies, and that's really it. I also can't remember any of the middle, I don't remember who was more important, Rachel or Olivia (they weren't really that important, but one was more so than the other) and it's all some strange jumble of - “Did that happen?” “When did that happen?” “Did I really like this book?” “Was Grace annoying?” “Was Sam annoying?” Way too many questions about things to be memorable.

The only character I honestly remember liking was Isabel (is that how you spell her name?) and that was because she was sarcastic and rude, but helpful at the same time. Reminds me a lot of Caine Soren from the Gone series. Grace is forgettable, Sam was too perfect now that I honestly think of it, Grace's parents were too frustrating, and Becks was weird.

Maggie Stiefvater shines best with one thing in this book at best: her beautiful, gorgeous, vivid writing style. It definitely conveys emotions beautifully, and it definitely paints a picture of the heart, and really could touch your heart, and makes the romance a bit more bearable.

Which leads into the romance section of the book. It wasn't as disgusting and cliche as stuff like Fallen or Evermore, but I will get into that. It's definitely beautiful, and is sweet, but it really isn't much more than that. It doesn't give you butterflies in your heart, or make your heart soar, like it did for Grace and Sam, but I wouldn't say it'll make you want to throw up.

The ending of this book makes me a little bit weary to keep reading on with the series, because for me at least, Shiver gives me one thing at best: a satisfying, full ending. It does leave some questions open, which are suggested in this book: why didn't Grace turn into a wolf when she was attacked as a child, why did Sam survive and not Jack, and several other questions that I believe aren't fully explored at all during the series. However, while Shiver isn't the best book around, it by far isn't the worst.

The only reason I'm writing this review though is simply because I will be re-reading Shiver so that I can remember the book enough to read Linger, which is the second book in the series. This is my opinion, and my opinion alone, so I'd be very appreciative if you respected that opinion, like I respect the opinion of others.

Official Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Kyle

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