Recently Read: Shiver
Shiver
Maggie Stiefvater
Scholastic Press, 2009
As a small child, Grace was taken by the wolves. Snatched from her backyard and dragged into the woods, Grace was on the verge of death when she was saved by a wolf with yellow eyes. Over the years, her fascination with the wolves -- and in particular, the wolf she's come to think of as hers -- only grows. When a boy from her high school disappears and the wolves are blamed, Grace steps in to protect her wolf. And so Grace finally meets Sam -- Sam, who spends summers as a boy and winters as a wolf; Sam, who is kind and cute and writes her love songs; Sam, who she is more and more in danger of losing, possibly forever, as winter draws ever nearer.
Shiver, Ms. Stiefvater's third novel, spent something like thirty weeks on the NY Times bestsellers list, and has already been translated into and published in seven foreign languages, with thirteen additional translations in the works. Talk about an international success! The film rights have been bought by Unique Features, so there is the (probably vague) possibility that fans will be able to look forward to a film version sometime in the future.
But, onto the novel.
With Shiver, Ms. Stiefvater has crafted a lush, melancholic novel full of romance and mystery. Reading it is like tiptoeing through a room built all of delicate glass[ 1] -- at every moment, you're afraid that the precarious balance will shatter. I found myself putting down the book various times to put off upsetting the moments of peace. By the time I reached the novel's excruciating final hundred pages, I practically needed to clutch a fluffy pillow to my chest.[ 2]
There is no doubt that Shiver's dreamlike universe revolves around Grace and Sam, and because the novel is narrated in their alternating first person points of view, we see the secondary characters as though through hazy glass, always distanced by their exteriority to the protagonists' romance. They are not two dimensional, but rather more like real people wandering in and out of the narrators' dreams. This distance extends also to the reader: though we read Grace and Sam's most intimate thoughts, both hold us at arm's length, observers rather than participants. We feel for (empathize with) the protagonists without feeling as them.
When it comes to Grace and Sam, Ms. Stiefvater's delicate prose sharpens along with their heightened awareness (emotional, physical) of each other, sometimes flirting with the too intimate or the cloying.[ 3] The entire novel -- and please try to forgive me for the descriptive phrase that follows -- the entire novel beats with the lovesick teenage hearts of its protagonists. Cold-hearted academic that I am, sometimes this was a bit much for me.
Still, enthusiasts of paranormal romance will revel in Grace and Sam's written-in-the-stars love; girls will squeal over Sam (if this is made into a movie, the poor boy who plays this role will face fangirl attentions of R. Pattz proportions); and the rest of us YA dilettantes can appreciate, if not love, an atmospheric, mysterious romance with likable characters, well-accomplished plotting, and often quite pretty prose.
If you are as enamored of the book design as I am, you absolutely have to watch this gorgeous book trailer, with handmade art by the author and music composed and performed by the author and Kate Hummel. Breathtaking.
The second book in the Werewolves of Mercy Falls trilogy comes out in July. You can learn more on the author's website or on her blog: m_stiefvater.
[ 1] The glass flowers at Harvard!
[ 2] "I NEED A FLUFFY PILLOW!" -- exclaimed in the epically fabulous romcom 13 Going on 30. For evidence, see video, from around 7:15 to 7:55.
[ 3] "'Oh, angel, I would take you with me if I could," I said, and I was simultaneously surprised that the word angel came out of my mouth and that it felt right to call her that." (158). "I nuzzled my face into his armpit. It smelled very Sam in there." (219) *wrinkles nose*
Maggie Stiefvater
Scholastic Press, 2009
As a small child, Grace was taken by the wolves. Snatched from her backyard and dragged into the woods, Grace was on the verge of death when she was saved by a wolf with yellow eyes. Over the years, her fascination with the wolves -- and in particular, the wolf she's come to think of as hers -- only grows. When a boy from her high school disappears and the wolves are blamed, Grace steps in to protect her wolf. And so Grace finally meets Sam -- Sam, who spends summers as a boy and winters as a wolf; Sam, who is kind and cute and writes her love songs; Sam, who she is more and more in danger of losing, possibly forever, as winter draws ever nearer.
Shiver, Ms. Stiefvater's third novel, spent something like thirty weeks on the NY Times bestsellers list, and has already been translated into and published in seven foreign languages, with thirteen additional translations in the works. Talk about an international success! The film rights have been bought by Unique Features, so there is the (probably vague) possibility that fans will be able to look forward to a film version sometime in the future.
But, onto the novel.
With Shiver, Ms. Stiefvater has crafted a lush, melancholic novel full of romance and mystery. Reading it is like tiptoeing through a room built all of delicate glass[ 1] -- at every moment, you're afraid that the precarious balance will shatter. I found myself putting down the book various times to put off upsetting the moments of peace. By the time I reached the novel's excruciating final hundred pages, I practically needed to clutch a fluffy pillow to my chest.[ 2]
There is no doubt that Shiver's dreamlike universe revolves around Grace and Sam, and because the novel is narrated in their alternating first person points of view, we see the secondary characters as though through hazy glass, always distanced by their exteriority to the protagonists' romance. They are not two dimensional, but rather more like real people wandering in and out of the narrators' dreams. This distance extends also to the reader: though we read Grace and Sam's most intimate thoughts, both hold us at arm's length, observers rather than participants. We feel for (empathize with) the protagonists without feeling as them.
When it comes to Grace and Sam, Ms. Stiefvater's delicate prose sharpens along with their heightened awareness (emotional, physical) of each other, sometimes flirting with the too intimate or the cloying.[ 3] The entire novel -- and please try to forgive me for the descriptive phrase that follows -- the entire novel beats with the lovesick teenage hearts of its protagonists. Cold-hearted academic that I am, sometimes this was a bit much for me.
Still, enthusiasts of paranormal romance will revel in Grace and Sam's written-in-the-stars love; girls will squeal over Sam (if this is made into a movie, the poor boy who plays this role will face fangirl attentions of R. Pattz proportions); and the rest of us YA dilettantes can appreciate, if not love, an atmospheric, mysterious romance with likable characters, well-accomplished plotting, and often quite pretty prose.
If you are as enamored of the book design as I am, you absolutely have to watch this gorgeous book trailer, with handmade art by the author and music composed and performed by the author and Kate Hummel. Breathtaking.
Click to viewThe second book in the Werewolves of Mercy Falls trilogy comes out in July. You can learn more on the author's website or on her blog: m_stiefvater.
[ 1] The glass flowers at Harvard!
[ 2] "I NEED A FLUFFY PILLOW!" -- exclaimed in the epically fabulous romcom 13 Going on 30. For evidence, see video, from around 7:15 to 7:55.
[ 3] "'Oh, angel, I would take you with me if I could," I said, and I was simultaneously surprised that the word angel came out of my mouth and that it felt right to call her that." (158). "I nuzzled my face into his armpit. It smelled very Sam in there." (219) *wrinkles nose*