Quantcast
Channel: Bookish WWAD – Oh, the Books!
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 3

Bookish WWAD: If Asti Were In Shiver

0
0

Bookish WWAD: If Asti Were in Shiver...

Bookish WWAD (What Would Asti Do) is a discussion-based feature in which I speculate about what I would do if I were in a book I have read, whether as one of the characters or just in a general where-would-I-fit-in-this-world way. This edition will focus on a specific scene that happens within the first sixty pages of the first book in the series, and while there are no major spoilers I will be mentioning some details one doesn’t find in the synopsis! If you’re 100% anti-spoilers and like to go into a book completely blind, it’s probably best you don’t continue reading. Proceed at your own risk.


The Set-Up

Shiver, by Maggie Stiefvater

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can’t seem to live without.

Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human… until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It’s her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human—or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

I’m starting to wonder if it’s just Maggie Stiefvater who can make me want to imagine what I’d do if I were a character from a book. My first edition of WWAD I featured The Raven Boys, and now I’ve decided to talk about Shiver. Obviously she just needs to write me into a book so we can put these thoughts to rest.

Now I have to admit, I really disliked the Wolves of Mercy Falls series when I read it. I binge read it during a read-a-thon and struggled so bad, and if it weren’t for the fact that I had already purchased the entire series previously to blogging, I probably would’ve given up on it.

I think one of my biggest issues was that I found the plot to be so ridiculous. In my mind, if I were in Shiver, I would never do the things Grace did, and I just wasn’t convinced that she would do them either.

So, as the synopsis says, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy who she knows because he’s usually hanging around in the shape of a wolf and, as the synopsis implies, there’s a struggle to keep him human because otherwise they can’t be together. You know. Typical love stuff. (Blegh.)

Now, the thing the synopsis doesn’t make clear is that the “meeting” between Grace and Sam is her finding him naked outside one day, all dirty and bloody from being shot. Romantic, right?

Let’s talk about what I’d do in that situation…


What Would Asti Do…

If I were to stumble upon a naked guy outside of my house, I WOULD RUN INSIDE AND SHUT THAT DOOR SO FLIPPING FAST YOU’D THINK I WAS THE FLASH! Like, seriously?! Who finds a naked stranger outside and doesn’t automatically freak out? Is this a normal occurrence that happens for other people? Is the lack of naked men on my doorstep a sign that my life is less than what it should be? (Wait, don’t answer that.)

And he’s bleeding to death from a GUNSHOT! Like, even if he was super hot and the temptation was there to invite him in because he’s putting it all on display, I would be put off by the blood gushing out of him. I get that we should care for our fellow people and maybe not just leave them out on our doorsteps to die if given the opportunity, but the combination of nudity and gunshots makes me feel like the best thing to do would be to leave him outside and call the authorities.

(To provide some context, Grace did find him after being out in the wooded area by her house and running into hunters, so it’s sort of implied he was accidentally shot by a hunter instead of shot by some girl who was acting on self-defense when he tried to rape her with his naked bits, but still!)

As far as I’m concerned, my story would’ve ended before it even began because the cops would be on their way to save me from this naked weirdo within a minute of finding him. I wouldn’t drag him into my house, I wouldn’t take him to the hospital, I would just toss some rags out the window and tell him to apply pressure to his wounds and hang out while emergency personnel head over.

Of course, the main reason why Grace tosses all caution out the window is because as soon as she sees this naked, bleeding boy, she knows he is the yellowed-eye wolf that hangs out outside her house all the time. Um… what?

For one thing, I think it’s a bit unhealthy to be overly obsessed with the animals outside of your house to the point where you think about them all the time. But then to automatically jump to the conclusion that one has turned into a human? It’s almost as if she were waiting to have a romantic relationship with this animal and just needed a good excuse because, you know, bestiality is wrong.

But hey, say I did see this boy and just knew that he was my wolf-boy… I still would proceed with caution. He’s naked. He’s bleeding. He’s a freaking werewolf! Just because he hasn’t taken a chunk out of me in the past, doesn’t mean he won’t change his mind when he’s been recently shot at by humans! People do crazy things when their life is in danger.

Let’s take it one step further though. Let’s say I do let him in and eventually drive him to the hospital like Grace does. If there is one thing I can guarantee you I would not do, it would be to then bring the boy back home to sleep in my bed with me, and make out with him the next morning. Um… yeah. I know seeing his naked bits may have caused some inappropriate thoughts, and I know at this point I’d be quite sure he’s my “wolf”, but I DON’T EVEN KNOW HIM. I don’t invite strangers into my bed, especially when a) they’ve been shot in the last twenty-four hours and showed up naked outside my house and b) I have to worry about them turning into a wolf at any given moment.

Just no. No, no, no, no.

If I were the main character in Shiver, Grace, I would have called 9-1-1 and left Wolf Boy naked outside to either bleed to death or get rescued by the authorities. And then I would enroll myself in a “How to Safely Fall in Love with the Supernatural” class because obviously I have the potential to make some very poor life decisions.

(PS. I tried to Google what the appropriate thing to do if you find someone shot outside your house, and couldn’t find anything. I thought maybe I was being a bit too… unhelpful? selfish? by my lack of desire to save the bleeding naked boy but I don’t know. Is there like an actual suggested method of response to such things? Why don’t they teach this in school?)


What do you think? If you were Grace, what would you do? Would you save the naked boy or call the authorities? Would you let him sleep in your bed that night or send him to the doghouse? Let me know!

Asti


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 3

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images