Review: Nightshade by Andrea Cermer

Title: Nightshade

Series: Nightshade #1

Author: Andrea Cremer

Release Date: October 19th, 2010

Publisher: Philomel

Pages: 454

Age: Young Adult

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?

First of all, I want to warn you. Maybe after you read this review you'll want to kill me. Or send me to therapy. Just saying.

Nightshade is one of the most popular books of this year. With this amazing cover and blurb, who wouldn't want it to read?. So, when it was finally released, I bought a copy. Werewolves are one of my favorite paranormals themes, so I was really happy to read this book.

Calla is an alpha female. She's destined to mate with Ren, the alpha male. At first, she's very strong, and I loved her character because she was independent. She wasn't that kind of dumb girl who can/won't take care of herself and knows her limits. She was totally sure about her future, until she met Shay.

And now she's confused. Her heart and her mind aren't working at the same page. She likes this guy, but she can't be with him.

And as the story begins to unfold, Calla turned to be vulnerable. It was interesting, but annoying. She made some decisions that I wasn't totally sure about it.

The Ren - Calla - Shay trio didn't fulfill me. I always fall in love with the alpha males, so yes, I like Ren (some people said I needed therapy ;P). He wasn't the good guy. He maybe isn't the right guy for Calla, but he did like her. Even more than like her. And he is sooo intense.

Instead, Shay was just kind of dull. I felt as if the author took more time creating Ren than him, so when he appeared, I just didn't understand why Calla was so crazy in love. Their relationship was instant, and between him and Ren, he didn't seem the best choice, specially at the ending.

But, it's interesting to see a different relationship, in which the paranormal character is a girl and the human is a boy. I was waiting for an author who was brave enough to change things.

The good thing? The plot, wow!. Andrea Cremer did a great job making werewolves interesting again!! She created a world were werewolves may not be the strongest, and where the characters have to open their eyes and understand the reality in which they have been living.

Also, the ending definitely was s-h-o-c-k-i-n-g. Why, WHY, did it have to end that way? *huge cliff hanger*

Overall, I was expecting more but I enjoyed it very much. I'll read the sequel, Wolfsbane, because really, I want to know what is going to happen to Calla!

More about this book at www.andreacremer.com, Amazon, Goodreads.