I know people talk of fiction being character-driven or plot-driven. SHIVER by Maggie Stiefvater, I believe, should rightly be considered emotion-driven: sad, longing, romantic, and bittersweet.
While comparisons with TWILIGHT will be inevitable, particularly from those who pit werewolf stories against vampires, I believe SHIVER is orders of magnitude superior. Very well-written, with descriptions in places that deserve a double-take and obvious care given to each character’s quirks and reality. Grace, unlike Bella, is a strong, solid heroine, though they do seem to share a certain practicality and play the role of parent occasionally. Sam, unlike Edward, wastes little time brooding (and sparkling), instead coming across sweet and humanly flawed. Sam does tread dangerously close to being a little too perfectly designed to tug on the reader’s heartstrings, but I didn’t mind. This book pivots on the humanity of the characters, and the dangers of losing what makes us human, something Stiefvater pulls off well. To put it simply, SHIVER could eat TWILIGHT for breakfast, in my humble opinion.
In many ways, SHIVER reminds me of BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE by Annette Curtis Klause, another young adult werewolf romance that remains my gold standard for werewolf stories. SHIVER is the wintry, sweet, sad story; BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE is the summery, lustful, angry story. I like them both, though I would have to say I lean in favor of B&C if only because SHIVER can be so sad in places. The tension both kept me reading and compelled me to put the book down, because I dreaded what would happen to the characters for much of the story. It was worth reading to the end, of course, and I highly recommend you do the same.