Nightshade

Nightshade
by Andrea Cremer

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? (description taken from Amazon.com)

This book has officially earned another one of my coveted gold stars!



There's been a lot of paranormal teen romance released lately...and not all of them are created equal. To be honest, when I got this ARC I was stoked, then I got inundated with reviews about it and I started to get worried it wouldn't live up to the hype; that again, the publishers had just pushed, pushed, pushed and it wasn't all I hoped it would be...then I started to read.

OMG. I usually rip through books. I feel like there is never enough time to read. I actually made myself slow down to read Nightshade so that the experience would not end. I took five whole days to read this! Five days!! Then I finished it and immediately wanted to start over again. That has not happened to me in...well, I can't remember the last time...oh wait, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. That's the type of experience this was for me!

Cremer created a world that I longed to experience. As a werewolf fan, hers were perfect. Literally, the best werewolf society for me since Klause's Blood and Chocolate, to which I compare all werewolves! These characters were wolves wearing human clothing. Their instincts, their strategies, their loyalties, their passions...all pack based. It was INCREDIBLE.

Add to that a multilayered world built on the premise of uber-creepy Old Ones (witches) running things with enforcers like succubi and wraiths. Every new creature introduced in this book just blew me away.

Cremer also gave me the best, most realistic and TRUE love triangle I've run into in YA in quite a while. Most, I'm immediately and irrevocably drawn to one guy or the other (I know, I know, it could be girls...but, it's usually guys) and nothing will change my mind because the other character just falls flat for me. Now, that's not to say that I'm not swayed one way here (I am totally Team Ren...*blushes*...I love Ren) but both guys are actually good for Calla and want what they think is best for her. Either choice would be a good one.

It will be so exciting to see what happens in book two, Wolfsbane, coming out next summer, but until then I may actually re-read this book...at least once!

Full disclosure: My friend Jen (i.e. Yabooknerd - awesome girl!!) grabbed this ARC for me at BEA 2010. :)