Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Talk about tension! This entire book was full of anticipation, tension, and suspense. Sam could change back to a wolf and for good this time. And he and Grace only had a few short months together (not counting the 6 years people). The main vibe I got while reading this (besides the obvious growing tension) was hope. Hope that somehow Sam is different. That he can make himself not change like Grace did.

I decided to read this based off a couple of recommendations and finally ended up reading it for a challenge in one of my groups for February. And perfect timing too! All throughout the book, the tension is caused by the growing cold and right now where I live, it's been steadily getting colder for the past 3 days (the amount of time I needed to read this). It's been a cold winter!

So the characters. I got the feeling that Sam and Grace are a little like those tootsie pop lollipops. In the center, there's the sweet tootsie roll center and covering it in a thick layer is the sweet lollipop part. They are both old souls on the outside (and most of the inside) but somewhere, deep in there, they have youth. It was nice to see that the author included that - She could have just had them both be so hardened from their hardships that they had no youth left. However, she preserved that.

The plot was amazing. Sometimes in the middle, it seemed like I should have been bored but the growing tension throughout the book kept me immersed. And the end. What a roller coaster!

5 out of 5 stars!