Bloodrose (Nightshade #3) by Andrea Cremer review

As this is the 3rd & final installment in the Nightshade trilogy, there are spoilers for the first two books in this summary & review

Calla has always welcomed war.

But now that the final battle is upon her, there's more at stake than fighting. There's saving Ren, even if it incurs Shay's wrath. There's keeping Ansel safe, even if he's been branded a traitor. There's proving herself as the pack's alpha, facing unnameable horrors, and ridding the world of the Keepers' magic once and for all. And then there's deciding what to do when the war ends. If Calla makes it out alive, that is.

From Goodreads


We find Calla in what would have been her marital bedroom with Ren, who was supposed to be her mate/husband. After convincing him to join the resistance against the Keepers (by working with their longtime "enemies" the Searchers) the two former love-birds much face the fallout from his treachery. Naturally the person who has the hardest time dealing with Ren's involvement is Calla's other lover Shay. The Scion (as Shay is known) is the only one who can stop the Keepers & destroy their ability to control the Earth.

You would think with these two guys working on the same side they'd be able to put away their differences & back-burner their fight for Calla's heart. Not so much. The two alphas square off more than once & continue their altercations while they (and the rest of the pack) traipse all over the world collecting the pieces of the Elemental Cross.

Torn between her two lovers & her loyalty to defend her own alpha role, Calla must win this war at any cost. Unfortunately no one told her just how steep a price she was paying.

Well then. That was an interesting way to end the series. I had really high hopes for this book. With Nightshade and Wolfsbane having been such incredible books with a lush plot & heart-wrenching romance, I have to admit that I expected more from Bloodrose. Basically this book can be boiled down into a few sentences. Girl chases boy(s). Boy(s) chase girl. Appropriate humor inserted. Major conflict with no clear climax. Easy decision made for main characters.


Seriously. That's how it felt. We follow the pack all over the world collecting the pieces to the Elemental Cross so that Shay can defeat the Keepers. During their downtime Calla is sneaking around watching love bloom in several couples around her (all of them seem to be the same type of "I kind of always knew he was right for me & just didn't want to admit it" love) & getting her own nookie in. The cast of characters doesn't disappoint though. You still have the plethora of personalities that have to intermingle & manage to draw you in even when you feel like you're falling out of love. What was more surprising though was the depth that some of these characters contained. I was pleasantly surprised to see several drastic changes in certain characters' persona. I think I might have preferred just to read about them to avoid the triangle of annoyance that became Shay, Ren & Calla.


Instead of forcing these characters to work together & come to a painful, but ultimately necessary epiphany, the author decides to kill any chance of that happening. She lets her main trio take the easy way out of a very emotionally turbulent choice. Even worse though was the timing & manner of that choice. I just didn't see the flow. It was so jarring & discombobulated that I was thrown for several minutes expecting some magic to make things better again.


While I devoured the book hoping that the final battle would make up for a rather predictable build-up, I was ultimately disappointed. I still enjoyed the world the author built & the supporting characters she created, but the main love triangle & what should have been the climax of the story just fell flat for me. I'm still very glad I read it & still enjoy the first two books, this is not even remotely how I felt it should have ended.

Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer review

WARNING: Spoilers for Nightshade follow. You might want to look away if you haven't read it. Or you could read my review. :)

After the nightmare that was supposed to be her union, Calla Tor is not at all surprised when she finds herself waking up somewhere she has never been before. What follows her reawakening is what frightens her. She is trapped in the hands of her sworn enemies, the Searchers & they've got Shay. Only... no one is trying to kill her & Shay seems quite content as well.

It turns out the Searchers not the purely evil folks that the Keepers made the Guardians believe they were all this time. It turns out that the Searchers are the other half of the Keepers in a centuries-old struggle for harmony & balance. Over the course of the next few days Calla learns the true history of her people, what it means for Shay to be the "Scion" & helps plan the rescue of her packmates.

Unfortunately a lot happened in Vail during her nightmare & things aren't how they were anymore. Wolves are being stripped from their human halves, wraiths are being repeatedly used as torture devices & some Guardians are being outright murdered, all to prove a point. The Keepers believe that as long as they continue to lie & convince the more powerful wolves (including the alphas), then the rest will simply follow orders. What they didn't plan for was a new alpha & what happens when you lie about even the most basic facts.

Andrea Cremer continues to take us on a wild ride with the second installment in the Nightshade trilogy. While I have to admit that it did include some of the more banal qualities of a 2nd book in a trilogy, I think this was a key plot-building time for this story. So little time passed in this book (like I'm talking 2 weeks at most) but SO MUCH happened that alters where your allegiance lies & how the story will move forward from here.

Calla continues to intrigue me as she has now become the uncertain character that I tend to tire of in books, but her uncertainty is pivotal to her character development. She has had everything she has ever known stripped from her & everyone she loves is in grave danger because of her actions, so her response is natural & expected. I must say that I was rather impressed with Cremer's ability to make Calla a tortured character without over-stating her reality. Sometimes readers are beaten over the head with the sadness that the characters are experiencing, but Cremer held a fine balance on giving us a glimpse at Calla's emotions & then moving straight back into the action.

We meet a whole new cast of characters that you'll instantly like because they resemble the wolves so much while establishing their own unique identities. The Searchers are a fun-filled, dedicated group of watchers who will stop at nothing to ensure the safety of the world. Even better is the description of their world & the Old Magic that they practice. We don't see the Keepers' magic at all really, but with the Searchers it is such an integral part of their existence that it permeates their world.

I really enjoyed this book in the series as so MAJOR developments occur that will alter how the story can move forward. I will warn those worried about content that there is some sexuality involved & some hinting at violence used for domination, but nothing scandalizing. I look forward to seeing what Cremer brings us in the final installment Bloodrose due out in January 2012!

ARC graciously provided by Around the World Tours