For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf – her wolf – is a haunting presence she can’t seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human — until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It’s her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears and the temperature drops, Sam must fight to stay human or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

Release Date: August 1, 2009

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A friend of mine recommended this to me last week, so yes I know I am reviewing this way late. Regardless, this is one of the best Young Adult books I have read all year! Even better, the film rights for Shiver have been acquired!

As a child, Grace would sit on a swing in her backyard watching the wolves in the forest surrounding her. Little does Grace know, they are werewolves. After being attacked and almost killed by the very wolves she loves, Grace is saved by a yellow-eyed wolf, whom she comes to love as she watches him for many years after.

After a fellow student is killed by the wolves, the town men go into the woods and shoot as many wolves they can. As Grace hears about the shooting, she rushes into the woods to save her wolf who she ends up finding on her patio. This is when she finds out, her wolf is also Sam.

I haven’t read another YA novel that spoke to me the way Shiver did. My throat was clogged and my heart broke through-out the book. I left email messages for my friend who recommended this to me, yelling and telling her she was breaking my heart with this book! I wanted it to end and I didn’t want it to end. Grace is a great character, she’s smart and loving and it comes across extremely well in Maggie’s writing. Sam is such a docile character for a werewolf, he’s been through so much that you want to reach through the pages and hug him.

I loved that the wolves only change in cold weather and that they only have a few years of being able to change before they are forced in their wolf bodies for the rest of their lives. It made for lots of action and a fast paced storyline.

Shiver is truly one of the best YA novels of the year, if not of all time. It’s also one of the hauntingly saddest romances I’ve ever read.

5/5 Wolves