Review: Bloodrose by Andrea Cremer

Bloodrose (Nightshade #3)
by Andrea Cremer

Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult
Publication:  July 5th 2012
Format: Paperback, 408 pages
Source: Own
Connect: Website

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 unnamable 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. That is, if Calla makes it out alive.

Bloodrose by Andrea Cremer is the third installment of the Nightshade. I like the previous two books, Nightshade and Wolfsbane. I can’t wait to read the final book to see how it ends and who Calla will end up with. But I was afraid to read the third book because I could guess who Calla will end up with and I know that she will not be with the person I’m rooting for.

In Bloodrose, Calla rescued Ren and the plot continues as the guardians find their way to escape the Keeper once and for all. There are romances along the way, mostly among Shay-Calla-Ren. I thought that the book’s pace was a bit quicker.  First, there’s rescuing Ren. Then, the guardian and searcher went on various quests to search for swords and there’s the battle with the Keepers. I feel that a lot of things were cramped into this book. But still, Bloodrose was as good as the first two books. I enjoyed this book even though I didn’t really like what happened to Ren. The ending surprised me. I didn’t see that that will happen. It was a sad, but beautiful ending. I guess, Calla and the pack got their happy ending. Just not the happy ending I thought they were going to get.

Book Review: Wolfsbane

Wolfsbane (Nightshade #2)
by Andrea Cremer

Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult
Publication: July 26th 2011 by Atom
Format: Paperback, 390 pages

This thrilling sequel to the much-talked-about Nightshade begins just where it ended. Calla Tor wakes up in the lair of the Searchers, her sworn enemy, and she's certain her days are numbered.

But then the Searchers make her an offer,one that gives her the chance to destroy her former masters and save the pack and the man she left behind. Is Ren worth the price of her freedom? And will Shay stand by her side no matter what? Now in control of her own destiny, Calla must decide which battles are worth fighting and how many trials true love can endure and still survive.

I love Nightshade. In fact, as soon as I finished Nightshade, I bought the second book, Wolfsbane as soon as I could. I could not wait to learn what was going to happen to Calla after she ran away from her pack to save Shay.

Calla and Shay are now with the Searchers. Calla wanted the Guardians to be given freedom and the chance to make their own decisions. For that, Calla and Shay has joined forces to help the Searchers to save her fellow pack from the Keepers. And the Searchers needed Calla’s pack to help them with their war against the Keeper.

Wolfsbane had quite a slow start. The first part of the book was a bit confusing with lots of information dumping on the Searchers and Keepers, Guardians, Scions… Then, I was introduced to a few new characters from the Searchers – Connor, Adne and others. It was a bit confusing to figure out who’s who.

But, things began to get a lot more interesting when Calla went back to her place and find out that everything has changed with her pack. It was quite surprising to learn what had happen to Calla and Ren’s pack after Calla escaped with Shay. The part where Calla, with the aid of the Searchers went to save her pack from the Keepers was interesting as there was a bit twist with Ren (not that I wasn’t expecting them).

Wolfsbane is a good continuation of Nightshade (But, I wasn’t really happy that Ren didn’t make lots of appearance in Wolfsbane). Andrea Cremer had solved a few questions regarding Keepers and Searchers. But I really wanted to know more about Scion (not that I like Shay that much). I hope that I get to know about them soon!  

Book Review: Nightshade

Nightshade (Nightshade #1)
by Andrea Cremer

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Publication: July 2011
Format: Paperback, 480 pages

'I wanted him to kiss me-wished he could smell the desire that I knew was pouring off me. 
You can't, Calla. This boy isn't the one for you.' 

Calla Tor has always known her destiny: graduation, marriage and then a life leading her pack. But when she defies her masters' laws to save a human boy, she must choose. Is one boy worth losing everything?

I wanted to read this book when I learned that the heroine, Calla is an alpha werewolf—the one who is leading her pack called Nightshades. I found it interesting to see the heroine with power instead of having her playing as a damsel in distress.

Nightshade begins with how Calla breaks the rules by saving a human boy (Shay) which later will play an important role in the story. Then the story gets a bit slow and confusing when Andrea Cremer starts to explain a bit more about Calla’s and the werewolf life, the Guardians, the Keeper, and the Searcher. It gets a bit boring during the explanation and I had to put down the book away for a few times. The story finally pick up its pace when Shay showed Calla a book on ‘the war of all against all’ which was forbidden by the guardian to read and their investigation begins.

I like Calla. She’s a strong woman, she fights back, she protects her pack and she’s good at it. Although it kinds of annoy me when she can’t seem to make her decision whether she likes Shay or Ren. There were hints of how she is attracted to both male. Calla didn’t really like the idea that she’s going to marry Ren because that was her destiny. That she didn’t have a choice for she is a warrior. She thinks of it as her fate. Then she met Shay, the human boy. For some reason, she was drawn to him as he is to her. But the thing is I think Calla had more chemistry with Ren than she had with Shay.

Ren didn’t really sound like a good guy at first. There is his behavior with the other girls which Calla didn’t approve. But after a few chapters, I could see that Ren is a good guy and that he loves Calla. And Calla seems to have some kind of attraction to Ren as well. Which makes me wonder, if Calla was attracted to Shay because she was trying to rebel. It was as if she wanted to say that she can make her own choice. (So… you could probably see that I’m rooting for Ren).

I love Nightshade. Andrea Cremer succeeds in building the story, characters and twist. I like how the love story between Calla, Ren and Shay didn’t overshadow the story itself, that the suspense and romance between characters complimented each other. I enjoyed the book and the suspense as it gets to the end. But then Andrea Cremer had to end the book with a cliffhanger. *sighs* WHY!! I’m really looking forward to read the next book and find out what happen to Calla next.