Wolfsbane (Nightshade, #2; Nightshade World, #5) in Once Upon a Twilight blog

Jul 16, 2010 Heather rated it really liked it

Shelves: arcs-i-own

Part of the Wolfsbane Blog Tour as hosted by Mundie Moms. View the full review at http://fireandicephoto.blogspot.com

Nightshade was one of my top ten reads of 2010 so when I got an advanced copy unexpectedly in the mail of Wolfsbane I may have squealed *just a little.* What can I say other than that Andrea Cremer is one smart cookie?! First she created this amazing spin on wolf lore in her first book with the perfect love triangle. Then in the second installment, Wolfsbane, the readers are intro Part of the Wolfsbane Blog Tour as hosted by Mundie Moms. View the full review at http://fireandicephoto.blogspot.com

Nightshade was one of my top ten reads of 2010 so when I got an advanced copy unexpectedly in the mail of Wolfsbane I may have squealed *just a little.* What can I say other than that Andrea Cremer is one smart cookie?! First she created this amazing spin on wolf lore in her first book with the perfect love triangle. Then in the second installment, Wolfsbane, the readers are introduced to a whole new set of characters. Andrea adds layers upon layers of history, back story and twists of plot.

Wolfsbane picks up right where Nighshade left off and many of the questions about the Keepers, Guardians and Searchers are answered from a very different point of view than Calla is used to. She and Shay are in enemy territory and are soon learning things are not as they once appeared.

I would recommend readers have a concrete grasp of the difference between the three groups before plowing ahead. Wolfsbane has a whole lot of information power packed into those 400 pages. Teachers and book clubs may want to put together a vocabulary list with all the terms or a map of characters to keep things straight.

The thing I love about these book is that they are not a light fluffy read- they are deep and multi faceted as well as incredibly detailed. I fell in love with several of the pack members in book one and in book two I became attached to acouple of the Searchers. Connor kept me laughing with his snarky personality and I grew to love Adne for what we see in her during the last chapter. Be prepared for plenty of action, romance and witty sarcasm.

This is one of those reviews that is nearly impossible to write without spoilers. I will say I stand firmly as team Ren though he makes some really poor choices. Shay is just not my cup of tea with his possessive, jealous and pushy personality. If you loved Nightshade you will not be disappointed with book 2! Bloodrose, the final book, comes out in February. After reading a first chapter sneak peek I'm sure we are all on pins and needles.

Content- I would recommend the series for readers 18 years of age due to language, sex, domestic violence and graphic fight scenes. Mature teens with parental guidance through pages 284-285 and 360-361.

And I will say that I love the cover of my ARC which is the original green one. I'm very sad they changed it :( ...more

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Apr 06, 2010 Megan (magan bagan) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

I would like to thank the Penguin Teen Group for sending me this advanced copy to review. And I know that the covers have changed, but the ARCs still look like this and I love the first cover. Isn't it gorgeous!

Wolfsbane picks up right where Nightshade left off. Calla and Shay are in the heart of the Searchers lair and Calla had to recover from an injury. When she wakes she quickly learns that things aren't always what they seem, and the searchers have a plan of their own for the two of them.

But I would like to thank the Penguin Teen Group for sending me this advanced copy to review. And I know that the covers have changed, but the ARCs still look like this and I love the first cover. Isn't it gorgeous!

Wolfsbane picks up right where Nightshade left off. Calla and Shay are in the heart of the Searchers lair and Calla had to recover from an injury. When she wakes she quickly learns that things aren't always what they seem, and the searchers have a plan of their own for the two of them.

But if Calla thought things were going to be easier, she soon realizes that was a mistake. They're in the middle of a battle and it's only going to get more difficult.

In Nightshade we got a really good look at how close the wolf packs are. Andrea showed us their connection and their lives with the Keepers, building a good base for them so that we could better understand them in Wolfsbane. One of Calla's main priorities in this book was to protect her pack and get them away from the Keepers. Her fear of what might have happened to them after she left one of her strongest motivators.

That's important in understanding her longing to save her pack throughout the book. But, we also get a chance to better understand the Searchers. We're introduced to some new characters and they have a very interesting relationship with each other that takes Calla a little while to get used to. But, I think that helped ease some of the tension that was created in Wolfsbane.

More secrets are uncovered with the help of the Searchers, but by the end you find yourself with even more questions and a cliffhanger even worse than the first one.

I fell in love with Nightsahde because it was a strong story, unique, and a bit mysterious. Well Wolfsbane, in my opinion, just cemented that for me. It was a bit rougher to get through than the first book, but well worth it. Andrea has created an amazing world here and I can't wait for the conclusion of this series. I'll be sad when it's over, but I know it will be just as good as the first two books. ...more

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Nov 02, 2010 Cynthia Lopez rated it really liked it

Wolfsbane starts about a week after Nightshade ended, you really don’t miss much since Calla has been unconscious that whole week thanks to those nasty bolts they shoot at her at the end of Nightshade. In this one we get into the world of the Searchers, we get introduced to them and their way of life, what they believe in and deeper into the mythology that Andrea created in Nightshade.

This one starts off at a pretty fast pace, we have lots and lots of action and fight scenes, we get a whole set Wolfsbane starts about a week after Nightshade ended, you really don’t miss much since Calla has been unconscious that whole week thanks to those nasty bolts they shoot at her at the end of Nightshade. In this one we get into the world of the Searchers, we get introduced to them and their way of life, what they believe in and deeper into the mythology that Andrea created in Nightshade.

This one starts off at a pretty fast pace, we have lots and lots of action and fight scenes, we get a whole set of new characters and at the beginning I felt very much like Calla does, not able to really trust anyone and in an emotional turmoil over her pack being left behind with the keepers and what they might be doing to them. I love that we get a bit of backstory to the fight between the searchers and the keepers and a lot on Shay being the Scion and how that came to be. Which brings us to Shay, we get to know a whole lot more about him, and he seemed a bit different than what I expected. I really loved him in Nightshade but in this one he seemed a bit pushy, jealous and way too overprotective. I came to realize that I was really missing Ren, which was a bit of a shock because I wasn’t that crazy about him in Nightshade but I think that after Wolfsbane I’m definitely on his team.

Wolfsbane was filled with magic, action, mystery, the wonderful mythology and everything that I loved from Nightshade but with a whole new setting and characters. We do eventually get to see some of the old characters but Calla’s world has changed dramatically in this one, everything is new and different and I loved that about it. I loved getting to know this whole new world in Wolfsbane and the Searchers, they’re much more like a big family that can kick ass and used their strength and magic for good, some of them have become new favorite characters. Just like in Nightshade Andrea knows how to end each chapter with a mini cliffhanger that makes it impossible to put the book down, it’s just as addicting as the first one and will leave you with a crazy ending wanting the third book right away. ...more

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Nov 08, 2010 Stacey (secsec1) rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2011-tm-100-books

WOW! I just finished this book like 2 minutes ago - WOW is about all i can say! Most of the time a second book in a series is to get you from point a to point b, so not the case in Wolfsbane. It is jam-packed from start to finish and then end will leave you in tears! This is an amazing second book and if you have picked up Nightshade run out now so you can buy Wolfssbane when it comes out!

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Nov 07, 2010 Brandi rated it really liked it

Shelves: paranormal, young-adult

For me, it was kinda 3.5 stars. I really missed the pack dynamic in the first 3/4 of the book. That was one of my favorite things in the first one- The great pack characters. I felt like it took forever to get to some real action but once it came I could not put the book down. Excited to read the next book!

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