Scholastic, 2009
ISBN: 978-0545123273
Available: Hardcover, paperback, multiformat digital
Grace has been fascinated by wolves since they attacked her in her backyard six years ago- and especially by a wolf with yellow eyes that seems to keep watch over her. Although she doesn’t know it, they are werewolves, whose change occurs not during the full moon, but when the temperature drops.
Then there’s a second wolf attack. Jack Culpeper, well known if not well liked, disappears. Convinced that Jack has been killed by wolves, his father, Tom, instigates a wolf hunt. Grace’s wolf is wounded, and transforms into Sam, a boy not that much older than she is. Naturally, they fall in love. And naturally, Jack is not dead- he has transformed into a werewolf, but without guidance from the pack. Unpleasant as just a high school kid, he becomes angry, dangerous, and unpredictable, and Sam feels a responsibility to reach out to Jack. Jack’s sister, Isabel, demands Grace’s help in finding a cure for Jack’s lycanthropy. Grace, Sam, and Isabel theorize that high internal temperatures may be the cure, and Isabel acquires blood infected with bacterial meningitis to inject into Sam and Jack in hopes of curing them.
Shiver has the elements to create a nice YA paranormal romance- girl meets wolf, girl and wolf fall in love, overcome obstacles, and get a happy ending. But the words got in the way of my engaging in the story. First, Stiefvater writes in first person from the wolf’s point of view, and wolves don’t express themselves in words. In fact, later Sam is able to communicate images directly to Grace, if he’s a wolf. Second, although Stiefvater’s lyrical style can be pleasing, it can also be disruptive. For example, at one point Sam muses, “I was a leaking womb bulging with the promise of conscious thoughts…” Not only is that a metaphor I don’t think any teenage boy would ever come up with, but it’s such an unpleasant image that I actually stopped reading.
The “change with the temperature” idea is an interesting one, and the way the chapters are marked with the temperature at the time events are occurring is neat, but I could never figure out what the “trigger point” was for transformation. I also had a real problem with the ending. The bacterial meningitis kills Jack, but Sam, who is injected in wolf form and escapes, somehow survives and several weeks later comes back to Grace as a human. Naked. In the snow. Huh? I’m glad they got their happy ending, but I still can’t figure out how Sam survived. Even if he kicked the lycanthropy, it’s December in Minnesota… and he doesn’t even have frostbite. Still, if you can get past the giant plot holes on the way to the happy ending, Shiver is an interesting take on werewolves and a YA paranormal romance that the readers of Twilight will very much enjoy. Highly recommended for YA paranormal collections in public libraries and high school library media centers.
Contains: Violence, implied sex, language.