When a boy at school is killed by wolves, Grace finds "her" wolf on her doorstep, shot, bloodied, and in human form. He is the wolf that saved her from the wolf pack in a distant winter of her childhood. His name is Sam, and he has been watching her. But winter is coming on, and it is likely the last year that Sam is able to take human form.The language Maggie Stiefvater uses to describe cold, wolfy winters is beautiful. If Shiver was an exquisite painting or delicate piece of bead work that you could gaze on for a few minutes, it would be perfect. As a book of nearly 400 pages, it falls short of being satisfying.
While beautiful, there is an emptiness to the language, and this emptiness is carried over to the characters. Grace and Sam's first meeting goes like this:
I could have screamed but I didn't. I could have fought, but I didn't. I just lay there and let it happen, watching the winter-white sky go gray above me. (page 1)
And then from Sam's perspective:
I saw it happen. I didn't stop it ... I saw muzzles smeared with red. Still, I didn't stop it ... What was wrong with her? If she was alive, why wasn't she struggling? ... I thought she was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen, a tiny, bloody angel in the snow, and they were going to destroy her. I saw it. I saw her, in a way I'd never seen anything before. And I stopped it. (page 3-4)
Really, why wasn't she struggling? It's never explained. There has been criticism that Grace is an enfeebled heroine or that she's dangerously stupid. I didn't see evidence for either of these things, but I didn't detect much depth to her character, either. Take away her longing for her wolf, and she is nothing. Oh, she cooks. Conversely, take away Sam's longing for Grace and he is nothing. (A habit of composing corny lyrics is not a personality trait.) This works somewhat for Sam as he has no future as a human. Grace, however, does, but there's no sense of the person she wants to be apart from The Girl With Sam. And it is this that makes large parts of Shiver rather dull.
Shiver is a beautiful painting made prose, but without the depth of characters that makes for a truly satisfying and engaging read.
See, you and The Book smugglers are probably the only people in the blogesphere who don't like Stiefvater (at least not a lot) which is great, but then everyone else on this Earth LOVES IT SO MUCH I'm torn whether or not to spend money on one of hers. Maybe the library...?
ReplyDeleteDannie--It really depends on what you're looking for in the story. If the drawbacks I mentioned don't seem like they'd bother you then go ahead. And I'd love to hear what you think.
ReplyDeleteI actually really enjoyed this book, though I didn't think i was going to like it at first. You are right that we are very much told, especially Grace's story I think, only through the lens of her relationship with Sam.
ReplyDeleteOh man. I never thought we'd disagree on a book after you liked Ender's Game so much ;-) But I have to say, I LOVED this book! But I also didn't read it with much of a critical eye, so that might be why.
ReplyDeleteAfter I read it, I sent this HUGE e-mail out to my friends/mom to read it, and so far they've ALL had the same response that you did!
You know, I started this book awhile ago and I just can't get into it. I've put it aside for now but yeah, I know what you're referring to. It does seem as if something is missing. Too bad, I really wanted to like it. :(
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on Stiefvater's prose. I haven't read Shiver but I've read Lament and Ballad and while the language was nice initially, it got old quick because the characters weren't much to read. I consistently felt that I wasn't reading about the characters but more about how great a hand the author had at writing. All her characters sound the same to me because that lyrical writing is everywhere. Even those two snippets from Shiver you quoted I feel could be both from one character; they sound so much alike. Yeah, great lyrical writing that's about as deep as a puddle since it's attempting to fill a character void.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review, Rhiannon. I personally get tired quickly of lyrical writing, unless it's in the form of a song, especially if the character development isn't there. It's too bad the author wasn't able to do both--it sounds like it would've been an awesome book then.
ReplyDeleteFinally some one who agrees with me! Her characters aren't very meaningful and forgettable. Overrated, if you ask me.
ReplyDelete-amy
I really loved Shiver, but weirdly it's a book I chose not to review. I'm not sure why, but I think it's because I couldn't explain why I liked it in any way other than the fact it gave me that warm cosy feeling that some books do. I'm kind of taking your review as a challenge to reread it and come up with concrete reasons why I liked the book and the characters! Thank you for making me think about that.
ReplyDeleteHaven't read this but I want to now...though your criticisms sound like really good ones.
ReplyDeleteAnd I do hate the whole the protagonist is feeble or weak or just too dumb--maybe it's too much Twilight but it gets to me!!!
Ah, Rhiannon...once again I share your view. I swear, 95% of the time we have the same taste. I heart it, because if I haven't read the book, I know after your review whether I should bother or not. I wasn't feeling this one. At all. My little brother zoomed through it, though. Weird? Yes. You and I are rather demanding of our books, though...
ReplyDeleteYep, I pretty much feel the same about the book. My review wont be up for a week probably (considering all the others I have to review first) but I'll link to yours when I do.
ReplyDeleteI don't get the Stiefvater love AT ALL.
I wish this book got better reviews. Everytime I walk past the book and look at the cover I want to pick it up! I know, shouldn't judge a book by it's cover ;)
ReplyDeleteI agree with your review. Once they met I found it boring. I saw a review on dear author with the same kind of review.
ReplyDeleteI agree wholeheartedly. I never ended up bringing myself to review this, but basically, now I don't have to. You said it. The cardboardness of the characters was what bothered me the most. I did enjoy the book, in its way, but I didn't love it the way I wanted to (though I cam close to loving Sam -- I feel he's the only one fully fleshed out, and the most interesting and complex.)
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