I loved that Sam was n't an alpha wolf
What do you feel about this character?
I had some reservations about buying this book. I knew little about it except that it was the love story between a girl and a werewolf. As it is a YA I'll admit I was worried it would be a little too Twilight, which I loathed. The beautiful cover was what was sucked me in and I certainly don't regret it.Shiver is everything Twilight isn't, a truly believable romance with believable, equal characters, and above all it is beautifully written. Maggie Stiefvater is an artist with words, creating stunning pictures with just a few sentences. A true wordsmith.Sam and Grace's relationship is just beautiful. I have found recently that YA paranormal romance can actually provide a much ore meaningful relationship than adult paranormal romance. Adult paranormal romances have sex and intense sexual attraction to keep the pace briskly moving along. In YA paranormal romance relationships are expected to be more chaste which means even a little thing like handholding can become incredibly significant and touching.I loved that Sam wasn't an alpha wolf. He was just an ordinary guy with an extraordinary secret. It made him wholly believable and made his falling in love with Grace all the more believable too. I'll admit I found it a bit odd that Sam apparently fell in love with Grace when she was 10 and she with him when she just knew him as a wolf but once these two characters are together, you really don't care about how they fell in love, simply that they are in love. Their relationship was rich with meaning, every look and touch leaping off the page. It is rare that two characters complement each other quite so well and I laughed with them, cried with them, held my breath for them. They were so excellently portrayed that I really felt like I knew them both and cared so badly about what happened to them.The secondary characters were equally wonderful; fizzy Rachel and introverted Olivia, who I'm sure we'll see more of in Linger, Shelby, who again may have more to contribute and my favourite, Beck. My only complaint about him is that there wasn't enough of him! What was so wonderful about Beck was that he actually only appears in person in a very small part of the book. The rest of the time he is only being spoken about, primarily by Sam to Grace. It is testament to Stiefvater's writing skills that I really felt like I was in Grace's shoes at this point so by the time she and Beck actually met, I felt that I already knew him. Paul was perhaps the one character I didn't much care for. He didn't have much to contribute to the story and what little page time he occupies he seems to be getting attacked/injured. I didn't find him very impressive considering he is supposed to be the pack alpha.There is no trite love triangle in Shiver, though Stiefvater has opportunity to evolve one with the character of John. This is, quite simply, a love story between two brilliantly portrayed people who want nothing more than to be together but who both know they might not have much time.The book alternates between Sam and Grace's point-of-view, cleverly evolving both characters at an equal rate. The pacing isn't brisk but fluid and I simply couldn't put the book down. Stiefvater is perhaps the only author I have ever read who can write chapters that are, at times, half a page long, and actually not annoy me. Normally this is one of my biggest turnoffs when reading but Stiefvater's skill with words not only pulls it off but made me realise the book couldn't have been written any other way.A truly exquisite love story. I can't wait to read the sequels. 