balance is grace standing still

I'm here to talk about a book. Not just any book, either. I've read a lot of good books so far this year, and I've read a couple exception books. But number 30, the halfway mark in how many books I'm going to read this year, is the best book I've read this year. And that's saying a lot.
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater is that book. It absolutely blew my mind. The language is luminous and beautiful and lush. You can feel the ache, the yearning in the main characters for something that they know they will never have. It hurts to read this book, in the best possible way. Sam and Grace read like people I would want to hang out with, and the relationship between the two of them is hard. But . . . I don't even know how to say all the things I feel about this book. I was trying to tell a friend about it and she said, "So, it's what Twilight was trying to be." And that's sort of right. I mean, in a sense, yes, it is a teenage love story between a mortal and a supernatural being. But Twilight felt trite to me. An emasculated vampire who wants to be with (and eat) a girl because of how she smells? Yikes. Shiver, on the other hand . . . Oh, it gave me chills. It's visceral and raw and full of hardship and wanting and confusion. I held my breath for most of this book, and wept at the end. It's that good. This is one of those books that I think everybody should read, regardless of whether or not you usually read YA or paranormal. This transcends all of that, and is really just an amazing love story.