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Title: Shiver
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Category: Fiction, Young Adult
Rating: 3/5
Why I Read It: Heather’s review at Tales of a Capricious Reader was the one that snagged me.

Summary: Every winter, 17-year-old Grace watches the woods behind her house for a wolf with yellow eyes—her wolf.

Review: Love at first sight can be a pesky little thing. Especially when you happen to fall for a guy who’s missing a few key chromosomes. Poor Grace.

I devoured this story of species-crossed lovers. And unlike most stories with alternating points of view, I felt an immediate connection to both Grace and her wolf, Sam.

But it also left me wanting more. Grace’s entire existence was wrapped up in Sam, and she didn’t seem to have much of a life outside of her yearning for him. All-consuming love, I don’t mind. But for me, it’s even more powerful if a girl is her own person with her own dreams and aspirations outside of being with a certain guy/wolf/vampire.

Still, I will be reading more by this author because the writing was engaging. Here’s a taste from the opening:

I remember lying in the snow, a small red spot of warm going cold, surrounded by wolves. They were licking me, biting me, worrying at my body, pressing in. Their huddled bodies blocked what little heat the sun offered. Ice glistened on their ruffs and their breath made opaque shapes that hung in the air around us. The musky smell of their coats made me think of wet dog and burning leaves, pleasant and terrifying. Their tongues melted my skin; their careless teeth ripped at my sleeves and snagged through my hair, pushed against my collarbone, the pulse at my neck.

While we’re on the topic of romance, be sure to check out the latest list of book recommendations over at Flashlight Worthy: The Most Romantic YA Books of All Time.

Your Turn: What makes for a better romance—an eternal love that obliterates all longing save the lovers’ desire to be together? Or a big ol’ mess of two separate people with their own wants and needs who have to figure out how to make it work on top of everything else?

Or, to put it another way:

Or…

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