Review: Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

Title: Nightshade
Author: Andrea Cremer
Publisher: Philomel
Date: October 19th 2010
Pages: 452
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Romance
Series: Nightshade #1
Source: Hardcover

Goodreads Summary:
Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she'll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But when she violates her masters' laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything- including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?

Review:

Another paranormal romance and another book I fell in love with. I love books with vampires, werewolves, zombies oh my. I really love where there is more to the story than your average monster.

This story is original, fresh, and intriguing. Of course we have the love triangle. What would a YA paranormal romance be without a love triangle? We also have the outsider, the jerk, and the maiden. In the world of wolves there is an alpha and a female alpha. What happens when those wolves are also humans? This story lets us know.

What I like about the story…. Well many things. The author does an amazing job at weaving together lives of wolves and lives of humans that are also wolves. I love that the story is form a point of view that allows us to get into the mind of the main character, Calla, as human and as a wolf. The reader is able to see Calla’s struggle. She knows her place in the pack and what her future holds. She wants this, it’s best for her pack. As an alpha, she needs to put her pack first. As a human, her heart doesn’t always follow the lead that her wolf pack has given her. As a reader, I felt her struggle and didn’t know which path I wanted Calla to follow.

The author did a wonderful job with the character building. Not only did I feel a part of their lives, I felt part of their world when they were wolves. I could clearly see the wolves interacting as wolves would, not humans that turn into wolves. The wolves are a huge part of their life, it is who they truly are, and the author was true to that in their everyday life. The human part took secondary in their lives.

I fell in love with every character, even the evil ones, I loved to hate. Their personalities were strong; I knew each and every one. I could see their decisions before they decided and their reactions before they reacted. I think the main character is a powerful character. She tries to make the right decisions but realizes that sometimes what seems right is really wrong. Ren can be a jerk, yet somehow I still wanted to cheer him on. Shay is also amazing and easy to fall for. Everyone in the pack had a part of them that I loved.

This is a trilogy and even though the first book has so much to offer, it is just the beginning of a wonderful, dark, and thrilling story.

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