Bloodrose by Andrea Cremer

Title: Bloodrose
Author: Andrea Cremer
Info: Website | Twitter | Facebook
Release Date: January 3rd, 2012
Publisher: Speak
Pages: 406
Format: Hardcover
Acquired: Bought
Interest: Series
Others in the Series: Nightshade & Wolfsbane
Age Group: Young Adult

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.

I have come to the end...of Calla's story anyways. It seems like not to long ago I just started the first book and was swept away into this world of Guardians and Searchers going up against the powerful Keepers. Maybe because it was a few days ago, but anyways, I feel like I have a book hangover now. 


I can't say that I was too disappointed. I'm glad that Cremer kept up the fast paced and I'm glad that she showed Calla's own little love triangle...though not really a triangle because it was obvious who Calla would end up with anyways. But...I won't lie, I felt like the fighting scene was just...eh. 


Calla is the narrator, I get that, so obviously the only way we would know what would happen is through her eyes. I feel like this book, though, should have been told in third person, because all I got through Calla's narration is that most of the wolves were standing around watching others fight. Yeah, they got their hands dirty, but not as much as I would expect from someone who prides herself in being a warrior. 


Not to mention Shay did his own standing around as well, even though he was the reason this whole thing was coming to blows. I don't know, I just didn't like that at all. 


The story itself, before the final scene, was amazing. I loved how Cremer gave a broader view of the world and showed us more Guardians and what other Keepers around the world did. I also liked that she didn't make it easy on the character's when trying to receive the Elemental Cross. 

And to say that I was stunned by how things turned out would be an understatement. It's clear and maybe understandable, but it still left me with my mouth open. And made me like Sabine a little more. 

I haven't read the first book in the prequel but I could very well see a spin-off sequel series with the other Searchers. Who knows, maybe this world isn't done with yet. 

Fantastic read all around, I truly did enjoy this book. 

 

Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer

Title: Wolfsbane
Author: Andrea Cremer
Info: Website | Twitter | Facebook
Release Date: July 26th, 2011
Publisher: Speak
Pages: 390
Format: Paperback
Acquired: Bought
Interest: Series
Others in the Series: Nightshade
Age Group: Young Adult

When Calla Tor wakes up in the lair of the Searchers, her sworn enemies, she's certain her days are numbered. But then the Searchers make her an offer, one that gives her the chance to destroy her former masters and save the pack and the man she left behind. Is Ren worth the price of her freedom? And will Shay stand by her side no matter what? Now in control of her own destiny, Calla must decide which battles are worth fighting and how many trials true love can endure and still survive

Wow. Honestly, what has taken me so long to start this series! I must be crazy! 

I have always been hearing wonderful reviews about this book series and it is living up to all my expectations. Granted, I'm probably the last person on earth to actually be reading the books, but I am so glad that I have finally started it. Book two to everything I expected and more! 

Now that Calla and Shay have escaped the Keepers, a new dilemma for Calla has occurred now that she is in the hands of the Searchers, the only enemies she has ever known. But, in order to regain her pack (and her sanity!) she has to trust them. There is no one else to turn to. Yet, guilt gnaws at Calla at every turn. Guilt for abandoning her pack, guilt for abandoning Ren, and guilt for whatever has come upon the Nighshades due to Calla's actions. 

This book was as much as an emotional battle as it was a physical one. Calla's emotions are everywhere and all the rapid changes that are occurring in her life, I'm amazed she hasn't made a run for the hills yet. 

I found that this book shed a lot of light into who Shay is and what he could do for the Searchers. As well as explain the true mythology behind the Keepers, which I still find interesting. Both whatever lie Calla had been fed and the truth that the Searchers know. 

Though, I found it really annoying that Calla feelings for Ren seemed to be interfering with her feelings for Shay or at least that's what it seemed like to me. But I guess this is just that part where emotions are running high and everything is just mixed up. 

I hope that the next and last book won't be a complete let down. So far this trilogy has made an impression on me. If you are in the minority that has yet to read this book, I suggests to get started soon. This book is beyond memorable. 

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

Title: Nightshade
Author: Andrea Cremer
Info: Website | Twitter | Facebook
Release Date: June 14th, 2011
Publisher: Speak
Pages: 454
Format: Paperback
Acquired: Bought
Interest: Series
Age Group: Young Adult

Calla is the alpha female of a shape-shifting wolf pack. She is destined to marry Ren Laroche, the pack's alpha male. Together, they would rule their pack together, guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But then, Calla saves a beautiful human boy, who captures her heart. Calla begins to question everything - her fate, her existence, and her world and the orders the Keepers have asked her to follow. She will have to make a choice. But will she follow her heart if it means losing everything, including her own life?

I technically speaking started this book last year, but then I had to put it down because of college life, and then I had to wait another year before I could read it. Until then, I basically bought the entire series and had it collect dust with my other TBR's. 

Well, I have finally read it, and I am confused. Yeah, I liked the way things started and the way things ended. But I was a little confused in the middle. It wasn't the way that Cremer wrote but the character of Calla herself that confused me. 

In the beginning she was a very smart, very in control alpha female, and I could honestly respect her. But when Ren was around and when Shay got into the picture she became a completely different person. With Ren she was submissive and always feeling guilty, and with Shay it was more or less the latter. 

For a long time I couldn't tell if Calla was going to go one way or if she was going to go another. I was frustrated a lot of the times with the way she handled situations or didn't handle situations in any case. She just let things happened to her and most times didn't act the way I had pictured her she would act compared to who she was in the beginning. 

But, I did like the mythology. At first I was confused on what was going on and who was who. I kept questioning "What's a Guardian? What's a Keeper? Wait - their the same? No, their different?" Since there was a lot of passages that kept contracting each other, but finally when Calla sat down and explained it made sense. 

And I enjoyed mostly that it wasn't big information dumb. What Cremer gave reader's was what Calla knew, which proved to be very little. I did like the way that information was coming down slowly and really making it's way to the readers. 

I also liked the change and development between the pack members. Calla could honestly tell when she was losing control of her pack and when she was losing herself in the union between Ren. And I liked how she could tell that Ren was losing himself in this.

And the double standard! Ren is a male alpha so it's okay that he's off with as many women as he wants, but Calla must be a lady, never letting a man touch her, ever. That irritated me so much and I just kept waiting for it to bother Calla too, I mean, even I see how stupid that is. 

Finally, the ending. Calla was finally back to the same Calla reader's saw in the beginning. I was a little angry because it seemed to take the character's forever to figure out something that was very obvious to begin with, well, in my opinion. But, things took a turn against what I was expecting that's for sure. 

This book definitely took the series into a good start and I'm liking it a lot. This book was beautifully written, with amazing character developments. I like how Calla was doing her best to keep hold of the world she knew but at the same time growing and seeing the flaws in them. 

It was a whirlwind of excitement and I can't wait to read the next book and see what happens with Calla and Shay. 

Dreamland by Sarah Dessen

Title: Dreamland
Author: Sarah Dessen
Info: Website | Twitter | Facebook
Release Date: May 11th, 2004
Publisher: Speak
Pages: 250
Format: Paperback
Acquired: Borrowed originally; bought later
Age Group: Young Adult

Rogerson Biscoe, with his green eyes and dark curly hair, is absolutely seductive. Before long, sixteen-year-old Caitlin finds herself under his spell. And when he starts to abuse her, she finds she's in too deep to get herself out...

This had been my very first Sarah Dessen book that I read and I finished it on one bus ride from St. Louis to Green Bay. This was also the first book I read about a young girl who was getting abused by her boyfriend, and this book made an impression me since I just saw an old Lifetime movie about a young girl who is killed by her abusive boyfriend. So, it all ended up connecting somehow.

I honestly loved this book or I wouldn't have devoured it. In fact, I loved it so much that when I saw this version pop up on Barnes and Noble, along with other cover redesigns I had to get it with five other books by Dessen.

This book was true and raw in places I never new it was possible. This book is different from what I expected because I never realized just how the mind of an abused woman works and the way she tries to justify. I mean, sure I've heard about it during Heath class when they were telling us about abusive relationships, but being in Caitlin's mind was different.

She was a girl who needed someone and Rogerson saw his opportunity to sweep in and take her away.

And his methods of getting her to use drugs and making her as dependent as possible to him was very realistic, if not down right scary how close it was to hitting the truth.

I kept waiting for Caitlin to wake up, but I saw her struggles as she refused to surface. And sadly her family life wasn't better; while her dad wasn't abusive, I could see why Caitlin would want to hold on to Rogerson and never let him go. That was something she had control over, until she lost it.

Very emotional and a roller coaster ride I didn't want to get off from. My first taste of Dessen was of one that I would remember for a long time, and while I'm not an addicted fan just yet, I see where fans fall hard for her. She is a creative author who takes a real life situation and forces her readers into the shoes of the character to feel what they feel, and does not let them go until the last page is reached.

XVI by Julia Karr

Title: XVI
Author: Julia Karr
Release Date: January 6, 2011
Publisher: Speak
Pages: 272
Format: Paperback
Acquired: Bought
Interest: Series
Age Group: Young Adult
Challenge: 2011 Debut Author
Rating: 4 Stars

Nina Oberon's life is pretty normal: she hangs out with her best friend, Sandy, and their crew, goes to school, plays with her little sister, Dee. But Nina is 15. And like all girls she'll receive a Governing Council-ordered tattoo on her 16th birthday. XVI. Those three letters will be branded on her wrist, announcing to all the world-even the most predatory of men-that she is ready for sex. Considered easy prey by some, portrayed by the Media as sluts who ask for attacks, becoming a "sex-teen" is Nina's worst fear. That is, until right before her birthday, when Nina's mom is brutally attacked. With her dying breaths, she reveals to Nina a shocking truth about her past-one that destroys everything Nina thought she knew. Now, alone but for her sister, Nina must try to discover who she really is, all the while staying one step ahead of her mother's killer

I have to say, the 2011 line up of books is just amazing. XVI I specifically pick because I am a feminist through and through, and anything that deals with objecting women is something I would want to read.

I just have to say, that the world Nina lives in I would most likely just end up shooting myself before turning into a walking sex toy for any man, so you can imagine that the character Sandy just drove me up the wall. And the worst part is that girl's are portrayed in this way even today. Sure, if a girl get's gang raped she can easily go to court and most likely win if it's how it happened, but the way females dress today and the way they act, and even the TV shows just show the worst portrayal of women and those who are politicians or in some shape or form independent are seen as stupid, incompetent, or just not accepted my society.

This novel hit home in many places, especially since if I did live in this world then I don't think I could live having people think I "asked for it" because I'm a woman. It was just something that no female should go through, and Sandy just didn't understand. I felt bad in the end, but I was almost glad for the way things ended for her. It was wrong of me to think of that, but if the things that Nina and her friends described is the fate of women and Sandy was in no shape to fight against the system then I guess things ended for her the best way they could, because at least now no harm can come to her.

But if I did live in this world, I would have to find the courage to fight, even in this one.

Why did I give this book a four? I really wish they had described how things got to where they were in this book. I wish we got some more background information on how the government practically telling men to just rape women. I like how most of the character's developed, I liked how Nina grew, but I wish that at the very least Nina got to see her father.

I did like the pace of the book. Everything didn't just happen at once and things were spread out. I also liked the way the world was well developed in many cases. At lot of Nina's fear and doubts were well founded and I liked how she stayed consistent the entire novel.

I would definitely recommend this book. I think that Nina made some good friends and that the sequel TRUTH will hopefully give some insight to the history and that the entire rebel movement will go into full effect, because in this novel I felt like they were adding fuel to a car, and now this car needs to take off. I will be keeping an out for the next book and can't wait to read.

Realistic is really the only word to describe it because it's practically happening today. Sad, but still hopeful. I can see this book as a movie too. And it's also original, very original.