Shiver: Maggie Stiefvater

I was super excited when I heard a rumor that Shiver wasn’t a series and that I’d actually get some closure from a YA book, especially a YA paranormal romance. It was a complete psych-out and book number two, Linger, will be coming out July 20, 2010.

Shiver is another paranormal romance that has risen to bestseller status. On a side note, I really liked the atmosphere of the story. It felt cold. Weather played a big part and Stiefvater did a good job of making "temperature" just as salient as the characters and the setting.

Even so, I don’t think Stiefvater’s ability to bring out details was the reason it was a bestseller. However, she did do one thing that I have yet to see in other paranormal romance. Whether or not it is the reason for its popularity is debatable, but it’s worth mentioning.

What separated Shiver from other paranormal romance was because of it’s ….

Point of View

Shiver was from the viewpoint of both love interests (the wolf-boy and the girl) in the first person. This is no easy feat, but because Stiefvater was able to pull it off, it provided a greater depth to the characters. We were able to see the world from their eyes and the eyes of others.

There really is no “how she did” type of explanation, but I think if this is going to be replicated certain rules will have to be adhered.

1. Who?

a. You must clearly write out who is taking the lead. Make it blatantly obvious. The reader must know right away whose head they are in or they will only get confused.
b. Stiefvator titled each chapter with the name of the character. It wasn’t fancy, but it worked and left no room for confusion.

2. Voice

a. Character voice is going to be really important. Readers are going to figure out right away if the boy and the girl sound exactly the same. I doubt the reaction will be good.
b. Stiefvator used little things about the characters to separate them. For example, Sam was a musician and he’d break out in lyrics, making his voice guyish. Grace would worry and ruminate, making her voice sound girly.

I liked Shiver’s point of view and I think Stiefvater skillfully handled it. Something like this could easily unravel. It’s really important in working with dual point of views to make the voices and POV completely clear to the reader or you’ll lose them.