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A review by ttmusic
Bloodrose by Andrea Cremer
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.