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klaragon73's review against another edition
3.0
I read Bloodrose THE DAY it released, the very day, in one sitting. It has taken me the better part of a month to become impartial enough not to just sit down and write a scathing review about how badly I disliked certain things that happened. That wouldn't have been fair, because while there were things about this book that frustrated me, Bloodrose is a very well written book, with plenty of action and romance that kept me reading for eight straight hours, and any book that can do that...well, it deserves better than I would have given it minutes or even days after I finished tearing through it.
I needed to complain to my friends and anyone else who would listen. I needed to let all the events settle. I needed to step away and gain some perspective. Which is exactly what I did.
In the third and final installment of the Nightshade Series, Renier Laroche is now at the Academy and the sexual tension reaches an all time high. In order for Shay to complete his quests, he needs to be surrounded by people he can trust and strong warriors. Everybody knows Ren is the best there is, but can Shay trust him? Strangely enough...yes, at least in battle...now with Calla, that's a whole different story.
Calla calls top spot as the Alpha going into this final journey, stating she refuses to pick a mate until the war between the Searchers and the Keepers is behind them. The saying "easier said than done" takes on a whole new meaning in this case. Neither of the boys gives her a single moment of peace, each promoting their own agenda and Calla finds it hard to resist either of them. But Calla and her men aren't the only ones in love...many of the secondary characters finally find their homes.
The final battle is one of my favorite action scenes in any book. Pack mates are forced to fight one another, others reunite, and many will perish for the greater good. Those left standing may not be happy with their ultimate destiny...some will relish in it.
Many people will be heart-broken and maybe a little furious with the conclusion of the Nightshade Series. Honestly, I was mortified but I have the utmost respect Andrea Cremer's writing and her talent. She writes fascinating and complex characters and throws twists into plots like no one else can...well, she and Cassandra Clare run a close race in that arena. Things will happen that you never saw coming, and most of them, well...you'll just have to decide for yourself...
The actual story is not why Bloodrose isn't receiving a higher rating from me...it's more about the digression of the storyline throughout the series. Now...while Bloodrose was fast-paced and action-packed, I felt like everything I loved about Nightshade just disappeared during Wolfsbane and this installment. The underlying themes of fate, politics, and hard choices are what pulled me into this series initially...by the third book, the only thing left was a farce of political shortcomings. I feel like this series could have been so much more...I'm just not sure where it all went wrong.
I needed to complain to my friends and anyone else who would listen. I needed to let all the events settle. I needed to step away and gain some perspective. Which is exactly what I did.
In the third and final installment of the Nightshade Series, Renier Laroche is now at the Academy and the sexual tension reaches an all time high. In order for Shay to complete his quests, he needs to be surrounded by people he can trust and strong warriors. Everybody knows Ren is the best there is, but can Shay trust him? Strangely enough...yes, at least in battle...now with Calla, that's a whole different story.
Calla calls top spot as the Alpha going into this final journey, stating she refuses to pick a mate until the war between the Searchers and the Keepers is behind them. The saying "easier said than done" takes on a whole new meaning in this case. Neither of the boys gives her a single moment of peace, each promoting their own agenda and Calla finds it hard to resist either of them. But Calla and her men aren't the only ones in love...many of the secondary characters finally find their homes.
The final battle is one of my favorite action scenes in any book. Pack mates are forced to fight one another, others reunite, and many will perish for the greater good. Those left standing may not be happy with their ultimate destiny...some will relish in it.
Many people will be heart-broken and maybe a little furious with the conclusion of the Nightshade Series. Honestly, I was mortified but I have the utmost respect Andrea Cremer's writing and her talent. She writes fascinating and complex characters and throws twists into plots like no one else can...well, she and Cassandra Clare run a close race in that arena. Things will happen that you never saw coming, and most of them, well...you'll just have to decide for yourself...
The actual story is not why Bloodrose isn't receiving a higher rating from me...it's more about the digression of the storyline throughout the series. Now...while Bloodrose was fast-paced and action-packed, I felt like everything I loved about Nightshade just disappeared during Wolfsbane and this installment. The underlying themes of fate, politics, and hard choices are what pulled me into this series initially...by the third book, the only thing left was a farce of political shortcomings. I feel like this series could have been so much more...I'm just not sure where it all went wrong.
ttmusic's review against another edition
3.0
This review also took me forever to write. I was just so frustrated by the way some things were “resolved”. Yes, if I were speaking this, I would use air quotes on that word. If you’ve read the book, you know why. I tried to keep my review of Wolfsbane simple, but that didn’t work well. I’m trying it again.
Things I loved: 1)End of chapter 2. My notes say “HELL YEAH CALLA!!!” I absolutely loved how she handled the feuding boys here, her declaration of “I don’t need a mate, I need soldiers” was the best thing that could have happened to this love triangle. If only it’d stayed that way longer. Also, LOVED that Ren was the first one to follow her orders! Calla needed to pay attention to details like that. 2) I loved the relationship between Adne and Ren. It was an adorable sibling relationship, and after all those two had been through individually it was nice to see them bond and have someone after all the tragedy. 3) The general plot. The idea of the Scion and having to go find the pieces of the elemental sword was very interesting, and it was the reason I couldn’t put the book down. Having Shay’s uncle be this crazy bad guy was a good move, too. We pretty much knew he was a creeper and general bad guy, but having him be über bad was something I didn’t expect. 4) Sabine and Ethan. Both characters were introduced as hot-headed and somewhat abrasive. Having them fall in love and counteract each other was a cute move, although the way in which it played out was extraordinarily cliché, very “love at first sight” and all that crap. I also liked how Sabine gave up her wolf for Ansel in the end, she became a much nicer person over the course of the trilogy and not having the reminder of her horrendous past constantly was a good ending for her. 5) Honestly, I kind of liked the ending. I liked how the Guardians were able to take a step back and say “you know what, it kinda sucks that we won’t be able to be humans again, but we really need to LOCK the Rift, not just close it.” It emphasized the way that these characters were shown to LOVE being wolves, how their wolf characteristics bled over into their human lives. Which was something I really appreciated about Cremer’s storytelling.
Things I hated: 1) Chapter 5. Calla says “I’m not choosing”, and then proceeds to do the deed. Really, Calla?! Sleeping with one of the guys you’re “not choosing” yet isn’t choosing? She chose long before she admitted it to herself and she knows it. Yes, I am aware she is a fictional character. I don’t care. She chose. She did. 2) Pretty much any Calla/Shay interaction. She was constantly “not choosing”, yet acting like she’d chosen Shay. 3) Adne has had all of her family taken from her. Her mother, her father... Ren has had all of his family taken from him. His mother was murdered when he was an infant, his “father” has always been a crap excuse for a father...he finally learns who his real father is, and then he dies as well. He gets a sister out of this revelation though. Sounds perfect, right? Two orphans lose their parents only to find each other. Happy ending, right? NO! As if these two (awesome) characters haven’t lost enough, one of them is now sentenced to have ZERO family, as the other is killed off. REALLY?! REALLY?! Poor Adne... 4) Ren. Poor Ren. I cannot believe all of the crap that happened to him in this book. It’s really ridiculous. He has his Alpha position challenged, loses Calla to Shay, confronts the man who raised him to hate his real father and sister, and then has his life taken as well. Ignoring the fact that it is completely a BOGUS way to “resolve” a love triangle, Ren’s death was completely insensitive. It took away all the family Adne had left, and they barely mourned him! Calla agonized over her feelings for the two boys and her sense of duty and leaving her pack behind more than she mourned Ren’s death. Sure, it was probably overshadowed by the fact that they eventually won the battle, but seriously? Seriously? 5) IT IS COMPLETELY SPINELESS TO “RESOLVE” A LOVE TRIANGLE BY KILLING OFF ONE OF THE MEMBERS SO THAT THE MAIN CHARACTER DOESN’T HAVE TO MAKE A CHOICE. PERIOD. THE END. 6) What happened to the whole mother-decides-the-child thing? Shay’s mother was not a Guardian. I don’t give a flying F if he was changed by an Alpha. His mother was human, he should have stayed human. On that note, I felt really bad for Shay’s parents. They barely got to even see him before he was taken from them again, with even less time than Adne and Ren had. Another reason he should have stayed human.
In summary, while the plot was good for the most part, I couldn’t get past the absurdity of the love triangle, and it has (probably unfairly) irreversibly tainted my view of this book. If this is what I can expect from this author, it would be a total shame, because I love her writing style and the prequel to this trilogy sounds great.( Also, she’s a fellow “Canadian Shield-er” Yay Minnesota! And Wisconsin!)
Also, BOO for not having a pretty cover to match the style of the original Nightshade and Wolfsbane covers. I abhor it when publishing companies do crap like that.I am very OCD about my books. I want a series to all be in either paperback/hardcover, and have the covers match.
Things I loved: 1)End of chapter 2. My notes say “HELL YEAH CALLA!!!” I absolutely loved how she handled the feuding boys here, her declaration of “I don’t need a mate, I need soldiers” was the best thing that could have happened to this love triangle. If only it’d stayed that way longer. Also, LOVED that Ren was the first one to follow her orders! Calla needed to pay attention to details like that. 2) I loved the relationship between Adne and Ren. It was an adorable sibling relationship, and after all those two had been through individually it was nice to see them bond and have someone after all the tragedy. 3) The general plot. The idea of the Scion and having to go find the pieces of the elemental sword was very interesting, and it was the reason I couldn’t put the book down. Having Shay’s uncle be this crazy bad guy was a good move, too. We pretty much knew he was a creeper and general bad guy, but having him be über bad was something I didn’t expect. 4) Sabine and Ethan. Both characters were introduced as hot-headed and somewhat abrasive. Having them fall in love and counteract each other was a cute move, although the way in which it played out was extraordinarily cliché, very “love at first sight” and all that crap. I also liked how Sabine gave up her wolf for Ansel in the end, she became a much nicer person over the course of the trilogy and not having the reminder of her horrendous past constantly was a good ending for her. 5) Honestly, I kind of liked the ending. I liked how the Guardians were able to take a step back and say “you know what, it kinda sucks that we won’t be able to be humans again, but we really need to LOCK the Rift, not just close it.” It emphasized the way that these characters were shown to LOVE being wolves, how their wolf characteristics bled over into their human lives. Which was something I really appreciated about Cremer’s storytelling.
Things I hated: 1) Chapter 5. Calla says “I’m not choosing”, and then proceeds to do the deed. Really, Calla?! Sleeping with one of the guys you’re “not choosing” yet isn’t choosing? She chose long before she admitted it to herself and she knows it. Yes, I am aware she is a fictional character. I don’t care. She chose. She did. 2) Pretty much any Calla/Shay interaction. She was constantly “not choosing”, yet acting like she’d chosen Shay. 3) Adne has had all of her family taken from her. Her mother, her father... Ren has had all of his family taken from him. His mother was murdered when he was an infant, his “father” has always been a crap excuse for a father...he finally learns who his real father is, and then he dies as well. He gets a sister out of this revelation though. Sounds perfect, right? Two orphans lose their parents only to find each other. Happy ending, right? NO! As if these two (awesome) characters haven’t lost enough, one of them is now sentenced to have ZERO family, as the other is killed off. REALLY?! REALLY?! Poor Adne... 4) Ren. Poor Ren. I cannot believe all of the crap that happened to him in this book. It’s really ridiculous. He has his Alpha position challenged, loses Calla to Shay, confronts the man who raised him to hate his real father and sister, and then has his life taken as well. Ignoring the fact that it is completely a BOGUS way to “resolve” a love triangle, Ren’s death was completely insensitive. It took away all the family Adne had left, and they barely mourned him! Calla agonized over her feelings for the two boys and her sense of duty and leaving her pack behind more than she mourned Ren’s death. Sure, it was probably overshadowed by the fact that they eventually won the battle, but seriously? Seriously? 5) IT IS COMPLETELY SPINELESS TO “RESOLVE” A LOVE TRIANGLE BY KILLING OFF ONE OF THE MEMBERS SO THAT THE MAIN CHARACTER DOESN’T HAVE TO MAKE A CHOICE. PERIOD. THE END. 6) What happened to the whole mother-decides-the-child thing? Shay’s mother was not a Guardian. I don’t give a flying F if he was changed by an Alpha. His mother was human, he should have stayed human. On that note, I felt really bad for Shay’s parents. They barely got to even see him before he was taken from them again, with even less time than Adne and Ren had. Another reason he should have stayed human.
In summary, while the plot was good for the most part, I couldn’t get past the absurdity of the love triangle, and it has (probably unfairly) irreversibly tainted my view of this book. If this is what I can expect from this author, it would be a total shame, because I love her writing style and the prequel to this trilogy sounds great.( Also, she’s a fellow “Canadian Shield-er” Yay Minnesota! And Wisconsin!)
Also, BOO for not having a pretty cover to match the style of the original Nightshade and Wolfsbane covers. I abhor it when publishing companies do crap like that.I am very OCD about my books. I want a series to all be in either paperback/hardcover, and have the covers match.
chapters_and_pages's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I have finally finished rereading this trilogy, and it’s safe to say that I have some mixed feelings…
As this is the last book in the trilogy, I’m not going to go into the storyline, except for the fact that I thought it was okay. It wasn’t bad, but it definitely wasn’t something I haven’t read in 50 over books.
In terms of the main characters, I found most of them to be a little on the annoying side. I’m not a fan of the love triangle in this series, or the 3 characters involved in general, and while I do like some of the side characters, others I found to be irritating for a range of reasons.
There is one minor aspect of the storyline that I want to mention that is technically a spoiler but it’s a small one, and I think it’s important to highlight it. In this book, there are two characters, Adne and Connor, who begin a romantic relationship, and my problem with this particular romance is the fact that Adne is a 16 year old teenager, and Connor is a 21 year old grown adult. I first read this series back when I was about 14 years old, so to be honest, I didn’t really pick up on this, however, as a 24 year old now, this relationship made me feel very uncomfortable, and even though nothing inappropriate or untoward was described or even hinted at, it doesn’t change the fact that these types of relationships are not okay, and shouldn’t be something that are glamorised in the media, especially in media that teenagers will read. In addition to this, I found the fact that the other characters were not only supporting this relationship, but actively encouraging it, was just a bit much for me.
On a bit of a lighter note, I absolutely loved the ending! I won’t spoil it but it felt like the perfect ending for Calla, Shay and the rest of the pack.
Overall, this series had its problems and it’s probably not something I’d often recommend but I have enjoyed rereading it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Animal death, Grief, Blood, and Death
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
aamethystash's review against another edition
5.0
all of these books are so amazinggggg ! i would sooo recommend the entire series ! (read the two prequels first - i didn’t know they were a thing until i was on this third book)
quietweather's review against another edition
4.0
WHAT.THE. FRICK.
That ending was Terrible.
Not only did the author purposefully kill Ren just to get him out of the way, but it looked like Calla was the only one that cared about his death. What I cannnot believe is what happened at the end with the pack, it was just like " WHY? Why do that?" They could have just lived as humans with the keepers, but no, they got turned into animals.
It just pissed me off
ALOT.
That ending was Terrible.
Not only did the author purposefully kill Ren just to get him out of the way, but it looked like Calla was the only one that cared about his death. What I cannnot believe is what happened at the end with the pack, it was just like " WHY? Why do that?" They could have just lived as humans with the keepers, but no, they got turned into animals.
It just pissed me off
ALOT.
racheljade100's review against another edition
3.0
honestly, very VERY disappointed with the ending...
(After managing to collect all the pieces of the Eternal Sword, there is the final battle between the Keepers and the Guardians and Searchers. Calla and Shay defeat evil uncle magic dude and in order to fully destroy the Keepers they have to seal a door that reverts all magically influenced creatures to their true form - wolves. Calla, Shay and their pack revert to wolves, Sabine transfers her wolf to Ansel and stays with her boyfriend Ethan, who is a Searcher. Ren dies in the fight (!) by Emilie and Calla's father kills him. Everything is finally at peace.)
(After managing to collect all the pieces of the Eternal Sword, there is the final battle between the Keepers and the Guardians and Searchers. Calla and Shay defeat evil uncle magic dude and in order to fully destroy the Keepers they have to seal a door that reverts all magically influenced creatures to their true form - wolves. Calla, Shay and their pack revert to wolves, Sabine transfers her wolf to Ansel and stays with her boyfriend Ethan, who is a Searcher. Ren dies in the fight (!) by Emilie and Calla's father kills him. Everything is finally at peace.)
pewterwolf's review against another edition
5.0
Review Taken From The Pewter Wolf
Calla has always welcomed war. But now, the stakes are higher than anything she has ever faced, and even she is unready for this fight. And the situation keeps gets more complex. How will Shay, the forbidden love she fleed her former masters (the Keepers) for, react when she rescues Ren, her former flame and the man she was meant to be alpha with? How can she save her brother when he is so broken from the Keepers ripped out his wolf and destoryed it, and killing their mother? Will Shay and her new allies, the Searchers, get all four swords to create the Elemental Cross that will put this war to an end? And, when the final battle comes, who will survive? And who will Calla choose to be her mate… that is, if she herself survives, and she's not even sure of that fact any more…
The price for love has never been higher.
As you guys should know (or be a little aware), I ADORE Andrea Cremer since I got my hands on that shiny ARC of Nightshade (from my first EVER blogging event at Atom Books HQ! So, if you have a copy, you understand…). And since then, have read and devoured her books at a stupid speed. Whenever Atom have sent me a copy of her books, I have always reacted in the same way: very very excited, and tweeting/emailing my thank yous.
So, from the above paragraph, you must suspect that I had high expections for Bloodrose. And I did, but I always trusted the author to know what she was doing. I did that with big books (like Harry Potter, Twilight, Hunger Games, etc). I want an certain ending (like most fans), but I also trust the author completely. I know that they will give me an ending that will leave both of us happy/heart-broken. If I don't get my ending, that's fine as I know the author gave an ending that they wanted/knew that the story needed.
So… the book. Did it live up to my expeditions? Did it, like Nightshade and Wolfsbane, suck me in and want me rooting for Calla?
One big word answer: yes. This book was non-stop action and you kept going at a stupidly fast pace. It was almost a breathless read. Now, I know some of you guys are going to find it too much an action read and wish there was moments where it stopped and took a breath, but with some people classing Wolfsbane as the "info-dump" book, it kinda balances out. And Andrea's writing is wonderful. I can't fault it.
And as for the ending - right, people are saying it's quite "surprising". Even the author said that it might surprise some readers. But, after reading it, it made sense to me why the ending that to be that. It might have felt a bit out of the blue, but Andrea laid down the clues through the book. You just have to look for them. But I sense that some readers might think it's too "neat", but it's fits with all the characters...
When I did finish the book, I was mixed on how I felt. I wasn't sure if I was going to be emotional because I was leaving a world and characters behind that I enjoyed and loved (and the last few chapters were emotional), or if I want to grab something sharp (a pencil or a basilik fang) and stab the book, cursing her to hell as I wasn't ready to leave this world (and we're not. The UK publisher, Atom, has confirmed that they are going to publish the prequels, Rift & Rise in the future).
So, yeah. I love this book. I love this trilogy. I love this author and I want her book children. And now, I'm off to mourn this trilogy and annoy Atom by asking/demand information on Rift. I want it now! I'm not 100% ready to leave this world behind. Not just yet…
Calla has always welcomed war. But now, the stakes are higher than anything she has ever faced, and even she is unready for this fight. And the situation keeps gets more complex. How will Shay, the forbidden love she fleed her former masters (the Keepers) for, react when she rescues Ren, her former flame and the man she was meant to be alpha with? How can she save her brother when he is so broken from the Keepers ripped out his wolf and destoryed it, and killing their mother? Will Shay and her new allies, the Searchers, get all four swords to create the Elemental Cross that will put this war to an end? And, when the final battle comes, who will survive? And who will Calla choose to be her mate… that is, if she herself survives, and she's not even sure of that fact any more…
The price for love has never been higher.
As you guys should know (or be a little aware), I ADORE Andrea Cremer since I got my hands on that shiny ARC of Nightshade (from my first EVER blogging event at Atom Books HQ! So, if you have a copy, you understand…). And since then, have read and devoured her books at a stupid speed. Whenever Atom have sent me a copy of her books, I have always reacted in the same way: very very excited, and tweeting/emailing my thank yous.
So, from the above paragraph, you must suspect that I had high expections for Bloodrose. And I did, but I always trusted the author to know what she was doing. I did that with big books (like Harry Potter, Twilight, Hunger Games, etc). I want an certain ending (like most fans), but I also trust the author completely. I know that they will give me an ending that will leave both of us happy/heart-broken. If I don't get my ending, that's fine as I know the author gave an ending that they wanted/knew that the story needed.
So… the book. Did it live up to my expeditions? Did it, like Nightshade and Wolfsbane, suck me in and want me rooting for Calla?
One big word answer: yes. This book was non-stop action and you kept going at a stupidly fast pace. It was almost a breathless read. Now, I know some of you guys are going to find it too much an action read and wish there was moments where it stopped and took a breath, but with some people classing Wolfsbane as the "info-dump" book, it kinda balances out. And Andrea's writing is wonderful. I can't fault it.
And as for the ending - right, people are saying it's quite "surprising". Even the author said that it might surprise some readers. But, after reading it, it made sense to me why the ending that to be that. It might have felt a bit out of the blue, but Andrea laid down the clues through the book. You just have to look for them. But I sense that some readers might think it's too "neat", but it's fits with all the characters...
When I did finish the book, I was mixed on how I felt. I wasn't sure if I was going to be emotional because I was leaving a world and characters behind that I enjoyed and loved (and the last few chapters were emotional), or if I want to grab something sharp (a pencil or a basilik fang) and stab the book, cursing her to hell as I wasn't ready to leave this world (and we're not. The UK publisher, Atom, has confirmed that they are going to publish the prequels, Rift & Rise in the future).
So, yeah. I love this book. I love this trilogy. I love this author and I want her book children. And now, I'm off to mourn this trilogy and annoy Atom by asking/demand information on Rift. I want it now! I'm not 100% ready to leave this world behind. Not just yet…
stella94's review against another edition
4.0
I was quite disappointed by the ending, especially considering my favourite character died! However, I did enjoy the series