Miss Amelia's Reviews > Shiver

EDIT: Now that I'm halfway through with Linger, I think I need to change my Shiver rating. So I'm bumping it up to 5 stars. I so wish GR gave half-stars, because this would be 4 1/2/5 :).

I'm going to start my review of Shiver with a weirdo analogy!
Authors are like ice skaters, and books are their 'programs.' I like to grade books on technique and “performance”: strong storytellers are not necessarily strong writers, too, because writing is a mixture of personal expression and technicality. Shiver succeeds on both fronts, so therefore, if Maggie was an ice-skater (in my weird analogy), she’d be a Tara Lipinski, for sure!
I love the writing style. A lot of people have commented on how lyrical Maggie’s writing style is, and that is definitely a great word to use! I can’t even describe how beautiful it was. I do, however, think that Grace and Sam’s voices/perspectives could have contrasted more – they sounded a little too…I don’t know, similar. But maybe I’ve just never met a guy who is as Sam-like in real life…YET.
I liked Grace as a character. She’s described as stoic, but actually, I thought she did show quite a bit of emotional depth. For a girl in love, Grace is rather practical, she doesn’t let her love cloud her judgment (for the most part) and I found that very refreshing. To be sure, I didn’t always agree with her choices, but it wasn’t that big of a deal because I always knew why she made certain decisions. Personally, I like the stoic, rational, self-sacrificing characters, and so I found Grace very enjoyable and fun to read. Everybody has different tastes, though.
And now…Sam. Sam, Sam! I loved Sam. When it comes to boys/love interests in YA fiction, it seems that there are two predominant types: the sweetie-pie, almost-too-good-to-be-true boys, and the “bad boys.” Here’s another personal preference: I like good boys over bad boys. I guess I’m just so sick of bad boys that I’m now over on the other end of the spectrum. I liked him and thought he was a great character. Yes, some of his comments were eyebrow-raising, but I didn’t care. So to conclude a really long, rambling point: I liked Sam just fine, thought he was a great character, and I liked the way Maggie chose to portray him. Thanks Maggie for helping control the bad-boy population :)
The supporting characters were very well fleshed out, and the plot kept rolling along at a nice pace. The foreboding and anxious tone reminded me of a growing thunderstorm, and most of my Shiver time took place during weekend storms. Excellent weather conditions for a book like this! Well, cold weather would have been best, but storms and rain was a good consolation. Maggie is one of those authors who pays such attention to detail and gives so much consideration to the overall tone of the story; it made Shiver seem so polished and well crafted. And indeed it is.
There was one part in particular (and I bet most of you can guess which part it was) that just made me sob. I mean like really, really sob. I’m kind of a “detached” reader, so for me to get this emotionally involved in what was going on is not only a testament to how well-written Shiver is, but also what a powerful and evocative story it is.
I loved this book! Definitely recommended! Yeah, there’s one part (and really only one part) that I wish hadn’t been included, and those who know me can probably guess what it is. It was handled well though, and I wouldn’t have any problem giving my 14year old cousin this book.
:D