A great start to a refreshing read, the wolves of mercy fall are a compelling pack to journey with on this touching teen romance fantasy novel! ( )

Werewolves that change depending on the season and cold weather rather than the full moon? Sign me the fuck up. [insert good shit meme that goodreads won't let me post]

No, for real, I LOVED it. It's such a great take on werewolves, and I keep thinking what more you can do with it. Like, werewolves that change constantly depending on if they are cold or not? That could be hilarious. Wouldn't work with this story, but still. Let's get creative.

Another reason I loved this book is because I love the girls with wolfish boyfriends trope, and yes, fine, I'll go kinkshame myself right now, but FUCK YOU, I love it. Like Scarlett in the Lunar Chronicles or Alexia in the Parasol Protectorate. Mmmyes. Another great trope: geeky/nerdy girl has to make friend with the bitchy popular girl who turns out to be awesome (like Cordelia in Buffy or Ida in Engelsfors).

I also liked how every chapter started with the curren temperature, though it didn't always make sense. Your breath turning into mist when it's 7 degrees outside? Naaah. And sometimes it seemed to be about the outside temperature and other times the inside and I couldn't keep up. But it did make it the perfect book to read while commuting in late November/early December.

And I know it is a romance novel, but do they have to be so ... romancy? I know, I know, they're teens, and love is new and never better, but do they have to tell me how much they love each other and wanna kiss on EVERY page? Come on, chill a little (but not too much, HAHAHHAA).

Oh well, I guess I shouldn't begrudge them their happiness. They were pretty cute together. ( )

TW/CW: Child abuse, violence, death, sexual situations

RATING: 3.5/5

REVIEW: Shiver is the story of Grace, a high school student ignored by her parents who finds herself obsessed with the wolves in her backyard after an attack when she was younger. It is also the story of Sam – one of those wolves – werewolves – who has been watching her just as long.

I enjoyed this book. It’s not the best book ever written, but it’s fast moving and not an entire waste of time. I liked the werewolf mythology in this book – it was unique and not like anything I’d ever read before. It was also an interesting way to bring tension into the book. The writing was easy to read, although sometimes I thought it got a bit flowery and a little emo – but that could just be because it’s a YA book and young adults are often flowery and a little emo. 😉

The book has a bit of odd pacing. It seems to crawl for the first 300 pages, and then shove the whole climax and conflict into the last ( )

Someone told me to read this when it's cold, and definitely read it with a blanket! Great wintry feel to this book. The end leaves you hanging to want to read the second. It took me awhile to get into this and I started it a couple times, but once I did it was a great read! It's the first I've read Maggie Stiefvater and I am enjoying her writing. ( )

I definitely liked it but not enough to continue the series, I think. ( )