Nightshade (Nightshade, #1; Nightshade World, #4) in Once Upon a Twilight blog

Nov 15, 2010 Savannah (Books With Bite) rated it it was amazing

This book calls for breaking all the rules. Saved a human she wasn't suppose too? Check. Fell in love with him even though she was betrothed to another guy? Check. Told lies. Check. The guy she fell for was someone important. Double Check.

Calla has know her future her whole life. She knew the role she had to play. What she didn't know, was how one boy she made a snap decision in would play a significant role in not only her life, but her heart. Now she has to decide. Not only her life, but for t ...more

Like · see review

Oct 08, 2010 Christin (Portrait of a Book) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: btc-review, young-adult, 100in2010, urban-fantasy

Nightshade is one of those books that got tons of hype around the blogging community before its release, and even more after - and in this case, it was 100% deserved. Although Nightshade is about werewolves, it really has something for everyone - great characters, well-developed setting, fantasy, a little history, and a lot of romance. And look at that cover - is it not beautiful?

Calla has never questioned what life has in store for her - she loves being a Guardian, and the Keepers provide for e Nightshade is one of those books that got tons of hype around the blogging community before its release, and even more after - and in this case, it was 100% deserved. Although Nightshade is about werewolves, it really has something for everyone - great characters, well-developed setting, fantasy, a little history, and a lot of romance. And look at that cover - is it not beautiful?

Calla has never questioned what life has in store for her - she loves being a Guardian, and the Keepers provide for everything her family could want. She's always done what she should, until she reveals her true nature to save a strange boy from certain death by a bear. Though worried, she thinks nothing will come of the incident - until the boy shows up in her class at the Mountain School the next day. It soon becomes clear that Shay plays a much larger part in her world than Calla ever realized; in fact, her world is not even what she imagined it to be. As she learns more of the Keepers' secrets, she finds herself drawn to Shay; but she is mated to Ren, the alpha male. Throughout the book, the tensions and romances heat up, all coming to a head on Samhain, the day of the union - the day for which nobody is prepared.

The world of Nightshade was excellently created. I loved the blending of actual history with a fantasy world. But more than that, I loved the characters. The Nightshade and Lumine pack members were quite diverse and yet all believable. Calla is definitely a strong, independent character, though not without her flaws and unique traits. And Ren and Shay - how could anyone choose one?

Occasionally parts of the story were a bit confusing, but as the reader learns along with Calla, that is to be expected. And the ending...well, all I can say is that I needed Wolfsbane yesterday.

Nightshade kept me turning page after page, eager for more, with its engaging story, sweet (and sometimes steamy) romance, and imaginative world. Andrea Cremer has a brilliant style, and I cannot wait to read more! ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Nov 02, 2010 Megan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: i-challenge2011

Calla is the young alpha of her pack of wolves, Guardians, as they call themselves. She is a few months away from joining her pack with Ren Laroche's to form a new pack that they will lead together, after they are mated. She's always known that this was her future. Everything has led up to this. But then her world is tipped on its axis when Calla stumbles across a bear attacking a hiker on the pack's territory. The Guardian wolves are forbidden to aid human trespassers but something about the bo Calla is the young alpha of her pack of wolves, Guardians, as they call themselves. She is a few months away from joining her pack with Ren Laroche's to form a new pack that they will lead together, after they are mated. She's always known that this was her future. Everything has led up to this. But then her world is tipped on its axis when Calla stumbles across a bear attacking a hiker on the pack's territory. The Guardian wolves are forbidden to aid human trespassers but something about the boy makes Calla decide to save him. She thinks that once he has left the mountain that she'll never have to see him again or worry about her secret getting out. Imagine her surprise when she sees him again in one of her classes at school. Shay (the hiker) is determined to get closer to Calla at any cost and Calla knows that no matter how much she might want to get closer to Shay that it can never happen. Who owns Calla's heart? The cocky alpha male or the sweet human boy?

I love the cover of this book!! Of course, it's even more beautiful in person. Nightshade is Andrea Cremer's debut novel and I think that the words inside are just as beautiful as the cover. I really enjoyed reading this one. I love wolves to begin with so a book about two packs of teenage wolves had me excited to read this book even before it was released. Calla is a pretty strong female character but I did not like some of her choices and behaviors. Ren, I disliked from the get go. He just rubbed me the wrong way. But Shay- Oh Shay!- I fell in love with him from almost the first moment we see him in the book. Shay is so sweet and he tries so hard. He is willing to do pretty much anything to help Calla and to be with her in any way. Ren just takes it for granted that Calla is HIS. At least, that is the way it came across to me. Overall, I loved this book and highly recommend it. It's appropriate for teens and up. There are some sexual discussions, overtures, and some heavy petting type behavior but nothing too racy.

...more

Like · see review

Jan 07, 2011 Sierra rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A world of creativity taken to the highest level. A world of Guardians and Keepers and Searchers. Never would of imagined those nouns could mean so much. Andrea Cremer proved me wrong.

Calla Tor knew what her purpose in life was from the very start. She knew she would become the Alpha in her pack. She knew that she would have an arranged marriage. She knew her mate and husband would be Ren, the school's player. Except, a new guy comes into the picture. While Calla was on patrol, she stumbles upon ...more

Like · see review

Feb 02, 2011 OpenBookSociety.com rated it it was ok

http://openbooksociety.com/article/ni...

Brought to you by guest reviewer Erin

When I first heard about this book, I was really excited for it. Sounded a little like Blood and Chocolate, which I enjoyed. But then it fell of my radar, only to pop up again when the e-book was $2.99 a while back.

It started out strong, even if the pace was a little slow. Calla is the alpha female of her pack, the Nightshades, and a great warrior starts out incredibly strong. She is slightly nervous about her upcoming http://openbooksociety.com/article/ni...

Brought to you by guest reviewer Erin

When I first heard about this book, I was really excited for it. Sounded a little like Blood and Chocolate, which I enjoyed. But then it fell of my radar, only to pop up again when the e-book was $2.99 a while back.

It started out strong, even if the pace was a little slow. Calla is the alpha female of her pack, the Nightshades, and a great warrior starts out incredibly strong. She is slightly nervous about her upcoming union with the alpha of the Bane pack, Renier, but resigned to her fate. Until a mysterious human whose life she saved while he was hiking, starts going to her school and her life gets turned upside down. Shay saw her in wolf form, and is determined to talk to her about it.

As soon as the boys start paying attention to her (physically- they seem to become deaf when it comes to what she has to say or her boundaries; there is only once in the whole book where she isn’t literally fighting and shoving their hands off her), she becomes a simpering little girl, destined to be only a love interest, no sign of the alpha anywhere. Her own pack members start ignoring her orders for those of Ren, their future alpha male, which she is annoyed at but does nothing to fix (not very alpha of her, if you ask me). Of course it seems like everyone knows more about the individual pack members than her, and she’s not quick to share any details with anyone, save her little brother. She occasionally takes control of some situations after this, but more often than not is bossed around by her boys.

Calla’s attraction to Ren felt forced; not in the way it was supposed to, but in the way she was attracted to him in close physical proximity but constantly annoyed and irritated by him otherwise. The way she feels when he touches her is never explained in a way that makes sense; is it because she’s been so sheltered? Because she has hyper wolf senses? It seems over the top. Her attraction to Shay makes more sense, but even he aggravates her as much as he interests her.

It took awhile to really get into the mythology of the world (almost halfway), despite terms like Keeper and Guardian being thrown around. But it moves quickly after that. I really enjoyed the history of this world, the way it tied in with philosophy and the human Renaissance era without going into too much detail. There is a ton of information about the world, so I’m sure the other books will have even more amazing detail. Once you start learning the details of their world the action starts to snowball, with the book ending on a huge cliffhanger. I’m torn between wanting to know what happens, and not wanting to deal with Calla being such a pushover. She started out with such a strong personality that I was extremely disappointed with her by the end. I can only hope she’ll gain some of her Alpha personality and independence back in the next two books. ...more

Like · see review