Review: Nightshade (Deux)

Book:Nightshade
Author:  Andrea Cremer
Publisher:Philomel
Release Date: October 19, 2010
Pages: 452
Source: Kindle Purchase
Date Read: March 23, 2011

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?

Yani's Analysis:
Apparently werewolves are starting to become a favorite of mine, which is funny considering I was a HUGE Edward/vampire fan in Twilight, and because of that I stayed away from werewolf books for a while. But Nightshade is different, in fact the wolves of nightshade are not even werewolves, but Guardians who take the form of wolves to protect and serve the Keepers. They whole back story was one of the things that kept me reading, these Guardians really believe in duty and their life mission of protected the Keepers (even the evilish ones). And the Keepers treat them as pets. You can tell no one has ever questioned this because of their duty... until Calla meets Shay.

Calla is one of the strongest yet realistic female characters I have read. She is an alpha and while she doesn't back down from most things, including her alpha partner to be Ren, it takes her a while to build the courage to question her loyalty to the Keepers and all she has ever known about her own world. Slowly, with the help of Shay a human boy, she learns the truth about her world and for the first time ever she has to make a choice.

Back to Ren, I think this is the first time I have ever liked the #2 guy (guy who will probably lose in the love triangle situation) more than the guy she is clearly meant to be with. I hope I am wrong about this. Usually you can tell, even when the main character loves both, who she loves the most. But Ren was fantastic character, with all these layers.Shay was great too, a cute nerdy type that loved to read. There was a part in the book where philosophy was discussed and you can tell Andrea did her research. I mean guys actually discussing philosophical geniuses and ideas...definitely HOT!

Some people had problems with the sexual nature of Calla's relationship with the boys, but I didn't mind it at all. It was never gratuitous or too graphic, yes it was a little more intense then more YA novels, but I like it like that. Calla was really struggling with the attraction she felt for Ren and the love she felt for Shay, I thought it felt very real, considering their mind set of a wolf pack about honor, loyalty, and duty.

Ratings:

Plot: 5/5
Writing Style: 5/5
Uniqueness: 4/5
Characters: 5/5