Book Notes: 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?"


Okay, I read this book a few weeks ago and I'm still a little unsure about it. Did I like it? Yes, but I also had a few issues with it. However, I won't be a pessimistic Preet and we'll start with the positive. I really loved the pacing of the book. Though fast, it kept me from getting bored and I didn't feel like I was missing much because of it. Finally! We have a strong female character who is fairly badass and thinks for herself. Calla was a nice change from the girls in a lot of YA books who generally kind of annoy me. However, though she was awesome, I did have a few *shakes my fist* moments with her but we'll get to that in a minute. 


I'm a total side characters fan in books and I really liked all the side characters in this story. They seemed to have more of a backstory than the main characters for me. I enjoyed how there were a lot of secondary stories hinted to that I hope are developed more in future books. Throughout the book, I kept wanting to hug Calla's brother because he was so adorable. I also thought the mixing of other creatures within the story really worked for the book. 


The guys, oh the guys! After finishing the story I was pretty torn on who I liked better. Ren is one yummy beast with his confidence and overall take charge attitude. Shay gives me more of that warm fuzzy feeling with his nerdy comic loving nature. They both bring out different sides of Calla and it's difficult to pick one since I loved what they brought to the table. However, man are they really into their sexy time. Like seriously, can you all not see Calla without somehow needing to feel each other up? This brings me to our main lady, Calla.


Calla, I wanted to love, but by the end of the story she lost my vote. Yes, we've heard of all the love triangles and how some girl is torn, but I was hoping this book would change that a little. She was such a strong character! However, throw a guy giving her the eye and she doesn't seem to know what to do with herself. For such a confident alpha female, she seemed kind of ditzy when it came to guys. Throwing away everything you've learned growing up because of a guy doesn't seem to go with the flow of someone with her background. I just think there would be more of an inner struggle. Also, I know they're teenagers, but you'd think if Calla is hanging with two guys and being kinda risque with both of them, she'd have the sense to be a bit more discreet about it. 


Though I had my issues with this book, I think Cremer created a pretty impressive world to get lost in. I do think some areas could be a bit more developed, especially with the main characters however, in no way was it so lacking that it took away from the story. I definitely think this series is worth checking out!