Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Get ready Twilighters…there’s a new book in town. But in this book, nobody sparkles, they shiver…

Grace was brutally attacked by wolves when she was a child. She survived, which was something just short of a miracle. Even though she was attacked by wolves, she has a strange connection with them. She has a strange connection with one in particular who has distinct yellow eyes. He is her wolf.

Sam watches her from the woods during the cold months, but never has the courage to approach her during the warm months. As a wolf, Sam can keep a silent watch over Grace outside of her house, but as a human he fears how she will react to him.

Grace and Sam know they are in love long before they meet face to face. When they finally do meet, Grace is nursing Sam back to health after he is shot in wolf form. He has turned human again, much to his surprise because it is getting cold outside and turning this late in the season usually does not happen. It seems like this meeting was meant to be.

The problem? The next time Sam turns into a wolf will be his last. Grace and Sam have to make the most of their time together before the true cold comes and Sam shivers away forever.

This book switches perspectives between Grace and Sam, plus gives the temperature updates for every chapter. As the temperature falls, the tension grows. Other complications arise when a student at Grace’s school gets bitten by the wolves and starts to go through the change. Grace starts to wonder why she never changed into a wolf after she was bitten, and she starts to remember who saved her from the wolves so long ago.

There are many levels to this book that will keep you reading. Sam has an interesting back story filled with deception from his own parents (who tried to kill him) and his adopted parent, Beck. Grace too has parent issues, but not the deadly kind, just the typical absentee parents who ignore her. Another subplot has to do with Grace’s best friend Olivia, but I can’t tell you what happens or it will give everything away. Just pay particular notice to Olivia during the book. Oh, and another cool thing about the book is that it is written in blue ink!

If you love the Twilight saga, you will be pleased with the romantic love story between Grace and Sam. However, I will tell you that the ending kind of surprised me in a way that made me slam the book shut and say, “That’s how it ends?!?” Although the ending is abrupt, don’t worry readers, there is a sequel called Linger that is coming out July 20, 2010.

Read Shiver and you’ll be thinking about it long after you slam the book shut. Leave comments to let me know what you think!

Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson

I don’t know why I feel I need to tell you all how I discovered a book or why I read it, but alas, I do. It’s a compulsion. So, I will tell you how I came to find this little gem of a book by Maureen Johnson. It all started when I stumbled upon MJ’s blog (see link under my blog list) via Justine Larbalestier’s and Scott Westerfeld’s (also see my blog list). She was so splendidly funny and entertaining; I thought I would check out her actual books. Her first book I read, 13 Little Blue Envelopes, (which I will review for you at a later time) really drew me in to her writing style and character voice. Since I enjoyed that book, and saw that she had many other books, I thought I would give more a try. At the time on her blog, she was promoting the release of Suite Scarlett in paperback. She was giving away advanced copies of the book to her blog followers. Well, I didn’t win one, but it motivated me to order the book and read it so I could book talk it to you guys!

Suite Scarlett is about a girl named Scarlett Martin who lives in her family’s hotel, The Hopewell, in New York City with her parents, her oldest brother Spencer (who is an actor and a hit with the ladies), her older sister Lola (who dates a rich guy, but works at Bendel’s), and her younger sister Marlene (who had cancer when she was younger, but has fully recovered). When the book begins, it is Scarlett’s fifteenth birthday. In the Martin household, on your fifteenth birthday, you are given the responsibility to take care of a suite in the hotel. Scarlett is given the best suite in the hotel called the Empire Suite. She is slightly relieved because the Empire Suite is the most expensive one and it is rarely inhabited. It will be easy to take care of this suite, or at least that is what Scarlett thinks.

The next day Scarlett gets a big surprise when a permanent summer guest arrives at the hotel and specifically requests the Empire Suite. This guest is Mrs. Amberson who is a crazy, kooky, older, ex-starlet. Scarlett’s summer completely changes. Mrs. Amberson expects Scarlett to be at her beck and call, insists on calling her O’Hara, and unabashedly flirts with her brother Spencer.

Meanwhile, Scarlett’s parents are having trouble keeping the hotel open because of money problems, Spencer is told he has to go to college or finally get a role in a real theatre production, Lola and her boyfriend have some trouble, and Marlene is a pain in the butt to everyone. Scarlett feels like she needs to be there for everyone in her family, but is having trouble with her new summer guest who keeps getting Scarlett into trouble one way or another.
One day when Scarlett is helping Spencer rehearse for a role, she meets Eric. Eric is a hot, young, southern gentleman who moved to NYC to pursue his acting career. Just when Scarlett thought her days couldn’t get more complicated, she develops a huge crush on Eric. Not to mention that Mrs. Amberson gets her hand in the action and causes major mayhem. How will Scarlett survive the summer with all this chaos?

One of the best parts about this book is the extremely likable Scarlett Martin. After reading, I want to be her friend and help her get out of all the messes she gets into! Plus Scarlett wants to be a writer someday, which is an interesting touch to her personality. Also, the setting is fun and fabulous. Using New York City as the back drop for this story makes the plot, which is filled with crazy hijinks, believable. The Hopewell Hotel is an extremely unique place to have a character live and the way Maureen Johnson describes it, I want to visit there myself.

Maureen Johnson’s writing is very smooth and easy to read. Her natural wit that I loved from her blog comes straight through in her novels. She adds quirky details to the story just for pure entertainment (i.e. Naked Lady). I have a feeling that some of these events from the book may have actually happened to Maureen herself!

Good news! Suite Scarlett’s sequel, Scarlett Fever, will be coming out soon. I’m not positive on the release date, but I know it is written and in proof form right now. I will keep you posted on the sale date. And, just so you know, I have another Maureen Johnson book in my book reading queue called Devilish, which includes soul selling and demons! I can’t wait!