Bloodrose - Review

Bloodrose by Andrea Cremer

Available now.

www.atombooks.net 

What's it about?

Is true love worth the ultimate sacrifice?

Calla has always welcomed war. But now that the final battle is upon her, there’s more at stake than fighting. There’s saving Ren, even if it incurs Shay’s wrath. There’s keeping Ansel safe, even if he’s been branded a traitor. There’s proving herself as the pack’s alpha, facing unnamable horrors, and ridding the world of the Keepers’ magic once and for all. And then there’s deciding what to do when the war ends. If Calla makes it out alive, that is.

Previous books in the series (Links to my reviews)
Nightshade
Wolfsbane
My review

I really enjoyed the first two books in this series and had eagerly been awaiting the third and final instalment, I was really excited when I received a copy for review, so I really have no idea or excuse why I waited for so long to read it. Maybe I just didn't want the series to end and say goodbye to the characters, either way I really wish I hadn't! In book one we meet a lot of characters, in book two we meet a lot more characters so by book three, after having left it for so long, I struggled for a while to remember who was who, which made difficult reading for me as I was trying to get into the book and figure out who everyone was at the same time, but that's my really my own fault.
I did enjoy Bloodrose, though not as much as the previous books, honestly some of the time Callas indecision annoyed me - *Previous books spoiler warning* - I thought in Wolfsbane her choice was pretty much set, but then we go back to a lot of pointless indecision between Ren and Shay again in this book when, personally, I thought her choice had already been made and was obvious.
I also have to say I wasn't thrilled with the ending, in fact one thing that happened just felt like a cheap way to not have to deal with what would happen next, the rest made sense though I had mixed feelings about it, I was happy and sad for the characters at the same time, if that even makes sense! As you can see, I'm trying to not say too much so I don't give it away and you can make your own mind up.
Generally speaking I did like the book and it hasn't put me off the spin-off series or anything else the author writes in the future, I just think this particular series may have had a stronger start than it did finish.

My thoughts on the cover
Red is always a striking colour and I really like it for this cover, it of course matches the others which is always good and I like it's simplicity, its a nice cover :)

Favourite quotes

'"Do you think being the Scion matters to me if I lose you? Because it doesn't. None of this matters. You're the reason I need to win this war. I'm fighting for you. Not for the searchers. Not for anyone else. It's all for you."'

'"I know what you wanted, Shay," I said, lifting his fingers to my mouth and gently kissing them. "And that's why I love you."'

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Nightshade review

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer.


What's it about?
She can control her pack, but not her heart ...'I wanted him to kiss me?wished he could smell the desire that I knew was pouring off me. You can't, Calla. This boy isn't the one for you.' Calla Tor has always known her destiny: graduation, marriage and then a life leading her pack. But when she defies her masters' laws to save a human boy, she must choose. Is one boy worth losing everything?


My review:
4/5
I have to say for the first 100 pages I was pretty frustrated with this book because that's how long it took until things started to get explained, whilst I could see the reason for why the author waited this long it made the start of the book somewhat confusing. After this, however, I found it difficult to put down and even stayed up late to finish.
The story is a great one and not one I felt like I'd 'read before', and it's beautifully written, with a few funny one liners that had me giggling.
As for the characters, there wasn't one I disliked reading, even the bad guys. Calla, our leading lady, is fierce and strong, if a little naive, it isn't until charming and funny Shay comes along and pushes her does she start question her world and taking risks to find answers.
I found it harder to get a grip on Ren, Callas other male suitor, when he's first introduced it's as quite a womaniser, so when five minutes later he's promising monogamy, well, it's hard to believe, there was a lot of points that he was very pushy and dominant and others when he was the opposite which made it hard to figure him out.
Though I enjoyed the book a lot, I do have very minor complaints, such as the two packs coming together and going from rivals to friends seemingly overnight without any kind of transitional period and there were some points where I had to kind of guess at what was happening because it wasn't actually said, but I can't really give examples without spoilers.
There were also a couple of scenes that felt 'choppy' because there were so many characters in them all with short bursts of dialogue and direction.
But like I said, minor complaints - overall I really enjoyed the book and immediately preordered Wolfsbane, book 2, which is out in July.