Book review: Nightshade(Nightshade #1) by Andrea Cremer

My summary:

Calla Tor is an alpha of The Nightshade wolves, she is the leader of a pack of young and faithful wolves. Calla is ready for Blood Moon and her upcoming union with Blood Moon with another young(and sexy) alpha named Ren Laroche. This union has been destined almost since they both were born. 

One day while Calla is patrolling the forest she breaks one of the ancient laws to save a human boy. Calla discover things that forces her to look at the laws and history of her people, is it all a lie? Calla and her friends and family is Guardians, it is part of their duty to follow the Keepers commands and guard the sacred sites.

The book trailer:

My thoughts:

Although I enjoyed reading Nightshade and I finished it rather quickly I do have some issues with it. Mostly it has to do with character connection, it is not often that I can say that I like the minor characters a lot more than the main character, but in this case I can. I enjoyed reading about the different pack members, they all made the story come alive, but when it came to the MC, Calla, she didn't quite feel real to me. I mean I've been a teenager with hormones and I've been in love so to a certain point I should be able to relate, right? If say my life where in imminent danger I, personally, would have focused all my energy on surviving, not stopping to do some very passionate kissing..

This is a paranormal romance and one cannot escape the love triangle, so we do of course have two beautiful and sexy boys that both loves Calla. We have Shay, the intrepid human, and we have Ren, the possessive and jealous werewolf. Calla shares her kisses with both of them and of course her behavior brings out the best in Ren. If one of my friends had a partner with Ren's unhealthy character traits I would have advised them to find a good guy but alas this is a novel and I feel for Ren. Since the romance is in focus here I'm a bit disappointed to say that I couldn't feel the chemistry, sure it was there on the page but I just didn't feel it. To me it was just words. 

The world Cremer has created in Nightshade is interesting with its mythology and the politics of the Guardians and the Keepers. Cremer can write, that must be obvious since I continued with the book even when I wasn't to keen on the romance part or the main character. I want to read more, and I want the sequel but I'm not desperate for it.

Nightshade is entertaining but it is also predictable and sadly there were no huge surprises or suddenly and unsuspected twists to the plot. I do love the "I did not see that one coming"-feeling when I'm reading. I did enjoy the plot a whole lot more than the romance part, it just didn't work for me as a YA paranormal romance. 

The cover:

I love my hardcover copy, it is so so pretty. I like the way the pages have been cut, it looks like you hold an ancient book in your hands.

My rating of this book:

3 stars out of 5

Want a second opinion? Check out these reviews written by some of my book blogging friends:

Check out Audrey's review over at holes in my brain.

Check out Eleni's review over at La Femme Readers.

Check out Adele's review over at Persnickety Snark.
Check out Christina's review over at Confessions of a Book Addict

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Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

Published: October 2010
Pages(hardcover): 454
Publisher: Philomel
ISBN: 039925482X (ISBN13: 9780399254826)
Full disclosure: Purchased 

This book can be purchased from a number of local retailers and on-line book stores such as Amazon or The Book Depository (I'm not an affiliate of either). The latter store does by the way have free shipping to about 100 countries.