Cremer, Andrea: Nightshade
Nightshade (2010)
Written by: Andrea Cremer
Genre: YA/Paranormal Romance
Pages: 452 (ARC)
Disclaimer: free from publisher via LibraryThing
Release Date: October 19, 2010
When I talked on Monday about Why Must YA Have Romance?, I was really referring to two different kinds of romances. There's the subplot kind, which is more the romantic relationship, and it isn't the focal point of the book in question, not by a long shot. But then there's the plot-focused Romance, spelled with the capital "R" in deference to the actual genre and the rules that follow, let alone any formulas. Point being, there's Romance and then there's romance. See the difference?
I mentioned I'd read four YA novels recently, and of the four, all but Andrea Cremer's Nightshade were of the romantic subplot variety. But Nightshade is Romance. YA Paranormal Romance, to be specific. I was a little iffy about requesting this book from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers Program, but the cover was pretty, I knew it'd be a fast read, and yay for werewolves!
The premise: ganked from BN.com: 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?
Review style: You know the painkillers are wearing off when you start taking notes on post-its and sticking said notes in the book. Lots of discussion about what this debut author has done right, what I wish she'd done better, and why I'd satisfied regardless. Minor, kind of vague spoilers, yes, so skip to "My Rating" if you want to stay safe. Everyone else, onward!
I might've been on pain pills, but I reached for my sticky notes within the first few pages of this book. Immediately, Cremer drops the reader in medias res , right in the middle of the action, and leaves the reader to find her own footing. This isn't actually a bad thing. It's certainly the opposite of the slow starts that everyone seems to be dreading lately, and it gets the story moving.
The problem is that we're lacking details, so my brain starts filling in what I'm used to seeing when it comes to werewolves. Namely, that when someone changes form from werewolf back to human, they're naked.
Butt naked!
So when our heroine shifts out of her wolf form to heal our injured hiker, I'm assuming she's naked. So that first encounter between Calla and Shay feels a LOT more sexually charged and sensual than it really is. Calla desires him, wants to give in to desire right there on the mountain top, and every physical interaction that takes place between them (looks, touch) reminds me that she MUST be naked, cause she's a werewolf. Right?
Well, we learn later in the book (much later) that it's not shifting so much as it's juggling realities in a way, so a werewolf (no, wait, GUARDIAN) inhabits two forms at once and they choose which form to present to the public at any given time. So when they shift out of wolf form, the clothes come with.
That's great. But here's what the lesson I hope the author takes away from my interpretation of the first chapter: you don't have to info-dump, but a few telling details after Calla shifted (she rolled up her sleeve, etc) would force me into the proper visuals instead of relying on my own repository of werewolf lore.
That's my biggest criticism of the book: the author is too stingy with revealing her world. She's show-show-show and then starts explaining it WAY late into the book, but I was getting REALLY antsy after page sixty passed and I didn't know for sure what Keepers or Guardians or Banes or Nightshades were exactly, let alone keeping the names straight of all the packs and which relationships I should be attuned to versus not. It was pretty frustrating.The only thing that kept me reading was the fast pace of the prose and the fact I was interested in the world-building. I wanted to find out if the wait was worth it.
And maybe the book suffers from imitative fallacy: like Calla being forced to stay pure until marriage, the reader must wait for the answers, despite desires otherwise.
Now there's part of the world-building that made me batty. These Guardians are very strict in their rule system, and said rules are enforced by the Keepers. It's all very traditional in terms of old-fashioned and a total double-standard. Ren and Calla are betrothed, have been since they were kids. Their marriage will create a new pack out of two previously dueling packs, so this is a BIG DEAL. Great.
But Ren's allowed to be as loose as he wants. Calla's supposed to stay pure.
And they fill those roles absolutely. And that's one thing I questioned. Perhaps the author is using Calla's strict-rule-following nature to shape her character and make her more apt to break the rules later, but it would've been nice if Calla wasn't such a rule follower. I'm not saying she had to sleep with half the school, but maybe she had a steady boyfriend, or maybe she got caught with Ren, or something (before the book started that is).
And speaking of "or something," I also kind of wish Ren's character was handled differently. By the end, it's pretty interesting and you honestly feel bad for him, which makes the love triangle of this book a little more viable. But I wish it'd been more viable from the start. Ren's got on his side the betrothal, the fact he's hot, the fact his kisses make Calla melt, but against him is the fact that even though he was betrothed to her, like, FOREVER, he still got to fool around, so he comes off as a skeeze. Sure, now that their union is right around the corner, he's given up his wily ways and is ready to devote himself to Calla, but you know what I wish?
I wish they'd been a couple all along. I wish that Calla was REALLY happy with her role and looking forward to the union until that fateful day she meets Shay and decides to rescue him.
That would've made this book a LOT more interesting, in terms of love triangles. Make Ren an equal fit as Shay, make the decision harder than it already is. Because right now, it boils down to duty versus love. Ren's the duty, Shay's the love. But what if she'd truly loved both?
We never learn why she decided to rescue Shay at the start. That's because we're dropped in after the decision, and Calla can never articulate her reasons to herself or others. Okay, fine, and I can see why Shay eventually becomes the love interest to beat, but that said, what moved her to start? The desire to break the rules and this pretty boy came along at the right time? Save him, heal him, turn him later, and then fall in love with him? I wish we'd gotten more as to what went into her thought process to save him in the first place, but alas, we don't. We have to take it as it is, and like I said, Shay's not bad, but I wish there'd been more tension on Calla's part, a more tangible reason she's attracted to him from the start.
Shay's storyline is interesting. Once Cremer starts giving us answers, it's a lot of fun to uncover this stuff and learn what's out there. The ending certain packed a punch of doubt, making the reader wonder if Calla really made the right decision all along, but that's what the sequel's for, right? Right! Surprisingly, this didn't bother me too much. Then again, maybe that's the pain medication talking.
But another thing that bugged me world-building-wise was the fact that once the packs are combined, Calla essentially loses all authority as Alpha. Because she's female, she's inferior to the Alpha male, despite being Alpha female. She has a hard time with this, and it's part of her shaping process, but it still bugged the snot out of me that the unfairness was there to begin with. I hope Cremer explores this more as she digs into Guardian history and shows how the Keepers have been manipulating them all along. Because Ren really isn't a bad guy, but some of the other Alphas we meet in the story are just plain skeezy. Then there's the Keepers, who never really come off as good. Even Logan, who seems to score a lot of points with his new pack, suddenly gets evil-gay-guy vibes because he's into one of the werewolves of the pack, a werewolf who's already in a gay relationship. That makes me sad for a host of reasons, but yay for gay werewolves. You can NEVER have enough gay werewolves.
Erm, Guardians.
Admittedly, things are sometimes a little too over dramatic, or things are a little too easy, like the speed in which Shay's able to turn and his ability to give into his wolfish instincts right away to kill game and eat it raw. Certainly, something inside should fight at first, right?
But the point of this book is the focus on romance, so clearly (and I'm not being sarcastic), certain pesky details don't need to get in the way of moving the main plot point forward. And the main plot is Calla's choice between love and duty, between breaking the rules and following tradition. Her choice ends in a cliff-hanger, and I'm quite curious to see where this all leads.
My Rating
Buy the Paperback: Yeah, I know. This comes out in HARDCOVER in October. But it's worth waiting for the paperback or a cheaper copy. Not because it's a bad book either. It's a fun, fast read with some fascinating world-building and a romance that has you wondering. What hampers the book is the author's inability to reveal much of anything at all for a good portion of the beginning (an author who takes the rule "Show don't tell" a little too literally) and then ends the book with quite the cliffhanger. In truth, I don't mind the cliffhanger ending. I'm actually interested, on the whole, to read the next installment. But despite the VERY gorgeous cover, I'm not inclined to buy the hardcover when it comes out, because this is also one of those books that you read, enjoy, and move on from. Still, I enjoyed this debut from Cremer, and when the sequel's available (next year?) I might see if I can't snag a free copy. This book opens with a bang and keeps you turning the pages, and hosts a cast with many likable people, though at times, it's difficult to keep everyone straight. Still, a fun book, and I'm glad I was able to score a free copy via LibraryThing.
Cover Commentary: It's quite beautiful and eye-catching. I love the purple shades coloring everything, the glitter beneath the model's eye (more fairy-esque than werewolf-esque, but I'll roll with it), and the bloody flower held out to the reader. Again, the overall effect speaks more of fairies than werewolves (and reminds me a bit of Melissa Marr's covers), but it's so pretty I really don't care. If I saw this in the store, I'd be hard-pressed to NOT pick it up.
Next up: Song of Scarabaeus by Sara Creasy