Review Detail
4.7 15When I first saw this book in Goodreads giveaways, I just had to have it (I was going mostly off of the cover but who could blame me?). I had no money to buy it myself so I was entering every single giveaway I could find for this book. I must have entered about a dozen all together; I didn't win a single one. Finally, Christmas arrived!
As much as I wanted the book, I shamefully waited three months before actually picking it up, and then when I began reading I worried that I was in for a great disappointment. The first 1/3 of the book started out so slowly and I wasn't nearly as into it as I thought I'd be. Plus, I didn't like Shay that much. I didn't hate him, but for someone who I knew would end up the winner in this love triangle, I wish I could have been more attracted to him. As it was, I am most definitely Team Ren. While I hate the fact that he was pretty much a manwhore up until the month before his planned wedding with Calla, I could see that he truly loved her and that he would be faithful to and respectful of her once they got together. It's really going to break my heart when he gets thrown aside (which I know he will).
<i>Nightshade</i> became much more interesting in plot once Calla and Shay started to do some investigating into the past history of the Keepers. Cremer knows her world really well. It's so detailed (though I really could have done without the patriarchical society part of it-the way the male leaders treated the women grated on me a lot). I became very invested in the story and caught up in the game. Then, just a little over halfway through, I was really thrown for a loop.
*Major Spoilers*
I cannot believe that Shay was changed into a wolf so soon. I expected it would happen eventually, but I didn't think it would come about until the last book, during the climatic point in the Witches' War. I wonder if Cremer has some significant reason for changing him this early on. Oh, and while I have the spoiler tag going, let me just say that I guessed Shay would be the sacrifice during the ritual pretty quickly, so I unfortunately missed out on that shock when Calla discovered him in the woods. Really great twist, though. I look forward to learning more about Shay's role in all of this and his so-called destiny.
*End Spoilers*
I'm excited about the second book of the trilogy. It's just too bad that they changed the cover styles, but I'll get over it.