Book Review: Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

Nightshade (Nightshade #1) 
by Andrea Cremer
Release Date: October 19th, 2010
Publisher: Philomel
Format: ebook,  452 pages
ISBN: 978-0-3992-5482-6
Get a Copy: 
         Barnes and Nobles
         Amazon

Goodreads Summary: 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?

Cindy's Review: I saw a book review of this on one of my friend's blog and decided to read this. I can't say, it's a bad book, but I didn't even get to finish the last fifty pages even if I wanted to.

The Cover: 
I think I first saw this on the recommendation shelf at Goodreads. I didn't really bother looking at it, because I was looking for another book at that time. Let me guess. I think the flower in the front are called nightshades, since that's the title. 

The Characters: 
Three main characters in this book. The one telling the story, Calla Tor. She is a guardian, in other words, a werewolf, since she can change into a wolf or a human. Guardians are basically warriors who carries out orders from the keepers and protects whatever they are supposed to protect. Calla Tor is the alpha female, which means she would later become a pack leader and lead a new pack. Calla is supposed to marry the most popular boy at school, the boy she likes, Ren Laroche.

Ren Laroche is the most popular boy at school. A cute, handsome, bad boy. Someone every girls fall for. And he is destined to become Calla Tor's alpha male. That means Calla Tor would later marry him. What more could Calla want. Right? But no.

Some guy named Shay has to butt in and Calla has to fall for him. Like nooo!  You just ruined everything! I think Shay is a smart-aleck guy who is too chatty for his own good. I like his name though. But he is quite annoying. 

The Plot:
Calla's life is basically all planned out for her. She would marry Ren Laroche and help lead a new pack of young guardians and continue on with her life. But an unexpected guy named Shay popped up the the packs were told to take care of him. Calla had saved his life earlier in the woods and somehow, she started to like him, even with her obvious attraction to Ren. 

This is where I get so mad. Ren is so perfect. He's her boyfriend out of all the other pretty girls in the high school. Like really. Why did she have to suddenly go and like Shay? Ugh. I wanna know who she ends up with though. 

Book Comparisons: 
This book reminds me very much of Matched by Allie Condie. Ren is like Xander. Calla is like Cassia, except maybe Calla has a higher level of authority and that's why she shouldn't have done what she should. Shay is like Ky who just butted in on everything. Gahhh. I hope the ending of this series didn't end like the Matched series did. 

The Ending:
Of course, they wouldn't tell us who Calla ended with. Just yet. And I couldn't even read the last 50 pages of the book because my Nook was acting up. It took like 5 minutes just to turn one page. And later I found out it turns out it isn't the Nook problem since nothing happens with other books, it's just this one. Ugh.

The Bad:
Ugh. Shay. Why him? But I guess there would be no story without him. It would just be a happily ever after.

The Good:
Okay. Right now, I'm listening to this really sad song. Totally fits what I think about the ending of this book. Except the concept of the song doesn't lol. Anyways, the good. Uh. Admiring Ren. LOL. ;) And I like how Ren and Calla are pack leaders. It just seems like they are so cool and everything looks at them for directions. 

Rate: (1-10): 8.5

Happy Reading~