Book Review: Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
- Paola Santana
- Mar 16
- 3 min read
Updated: May 21
Nightshade tells the story of Calla, an Alpha she-wolf in command of her pack, who is destined to become a mate to Ren, the male Alpha of another pack. Although Ren is incredibly charming and all an Alpha female should want, Calla finds herself falling for Shay–a human with his own unique abilities. And things are about to get worse. Shay’s rebellious and questioning attitude reveals all is not what it seems, and Calla’s world starts to fall apart when hidden truths are uncovered.
BOOK SPECS:
Number of pages: 452
Format: Paperback
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Tropes: Werewolves, Love Triangle, Forbidden Love, Hidden Truth
SHORT REVIEW:
This has been a very interesting read. The prose flows smooth and the plot is interesting, but the main character was a little annoying, I'm not going to lie. I'm still trying to decide if I'm up for the second and third instalments in the series.
HEART RATE:
SMUT SCORE:
FULL REVIEW:
Plot
I love the plot! The storyline is fantastic. I love the fact that at the beginning Calla is presented as having the ideal life: she has everything she needs given to her and she has a purpose. However, as you get deeper into the book, it becomes clear that things are anything but perfect. Conspiracy, intrigue, manipulation... Even though this is YA (Young Adult) fantasy, there are themes here that are definitely very human. Politics and the struggle for power make this book very close to reality in some aspects.
Characters
Unfortunately, I cannot say I feel the same way about the main characters. There is just something that doesn’t quite stick and I can’t put my finger on it.
Calla particularly annoys me. She is meant to be an Alpha leading a pack, but spends most of the book either been filled up by both Ren and Shay, or wanting to be filled up by both Ren and Shay. While it makes for very interesting and hot scenes–which I'm sure goes down well with many of us–the fact that both guys seem to be able to just grab at her whenever they feel like it, with Calla just about managing a very weak ‘no’ only because of circumstance, somewhat annoys me. She doesn’t seem to have any ideas of her own.
At particular moments of the book I was also left a little disappointed. Cremer describes Calla inner chatter for pages, but when something really important happens, such as a fight or an important discovery, the scene is over before you can actually get into it. Calla’s bending or breaking of the rules could mean she gets punished with death by her master, however, you don’t quite feel the weight of that. There is one particular scene–about a transformation–which I think should be terribly important but it is over in half a page.
I love all the other characters, though. Mason and Sabine are particularly interesting. And I have a huge soft spot for Ren. Like the plot itself, he is one of the characters who change your mind halfway through the story: you start by not liking him all that much but by the end you are genuinely heartbroken for the guy.
Smut & Romance Score
There is plenty of hot, and I do mean HOT, make-out scenes in this book, but nobody ever does the deed.
Writing
All in one, this has been a really interesting read. While this is not a small book, the prose flows so easily I just seem to fly through the pages and I was done within a week.
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