 Title: Bloodrose
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How do you wrap-up an epic trilogy? Why with a legendary finale of course! Every character gets some face time, Calla finally chooses her alpha mate and the Guardians kick some serious Keeper butt! The conclusion to the Nightshade series was rather shocking but after mulling it over for a bit I’ve decided that it was a picture perfect ending for the wolves. I’ve been team Shay from the beginning and he absolutely owned his role as the scion. That being said, Ren stole my heart in Bloodrose and I’ve decided to jump off of Doran’s ship. It was a close race but young Laroche took my breath away.
There was so much that need to get done in these 400+ pages in order for Cremer to be able to wrap-up this trilogy to my satisfaction. I’m happy to report that she nailed it! A good chunk of this book is spent acquiring the pieces of the elemental cross and I found that these parts had a very Zelda-like quality to them. For you non-gamers out there, let me explain. It was as though every piece of the weapon was hidden in a dungeon-type level and the good guys had to either fight their way past various bad guys or solve puzzles to pass each stage. Finally, everything culminates in the ultimate final battle with the “boss” bad guy. I loved the way that it was all laid out and how everything came together in the end. The only thing that was missing was Link! Please excuse my nerdy video game humour.
The love triangle angle was handled beautifully. I thought both boys were given a fair chance to prove themselves with Calla and I’m happy that the unfortunate events that occur near the end didn’t impact her final decision. What I mean by this is that no one won by default. Thank goodness because that would have really pissed me off and felt like a complete cop-out! I’m really glad that Cremer avoided that shortcut and gave the characters the ending that they deserved. Speaking of the conclusion, it was definitely unexpected but ultimately well-done. I found it particularly sweet from a werewolf fiction fan girl point of view. I can understand why some readers were disappointed though.
Bloodrose is an epic ending to the stellar Nightshade trilogy. I’m sad to see the story end but take some comfort in the fact that there’s still a novella coming out this summer. Unfortunately, when it comes to love triangles it’s darn near impossible for everyone to get their happy ending (unless the author is a lil’ kinky but this is YA so not happening) and the same is true here. How you feel about the finale is largely dependent on which team you’re on which I don’t think is really fair to Andrea Cremer. In my opinion, you should judge a book by the quality of the writing not by whether your fictional crush is the victor. Grow up people! I for one LOVED Bloodrose and for me, it was an all around 5 star read.
About the Blogger
I review Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance books with a focus all things werewolf. Based out of Ottawa, Canada
Owner, designer and main blogger behind Rabid Reads. Avid book reader, snowboard bunny, video gamer and Supernatural fan. I love all things paranormal, werewolves especially. Oh, and I’m Canadian, eh!
See, I also think the writing is excellent, throughout the whole series. However, I absolutely HATED the ending, but not because of WHO Calla ended up with. It was the manner of the ending, I didn’t feel that it meshed with the rest of the series, I was unsatisfied and it just didn’t sit well with me. With every book, you have the people who love it and hate it, especially when the book is controversial. Yes, the book is well written, but i just can’t get over that ending… Book Savvy Babe
I was enraptured with book one, happy with book two and am holding off on book three until can check out at library. Have a feeling I am going to be one of those who are like Heather not quite happy but also feel that as much as loved Nightshade and Wolfsbane will be able to enjoy Bloodrose in the same spirit as it was written. Anyway will be glad to read it and see for myself some day.???
Well I LOVED book 1 but I haven’t moved up yet to book 2. I am in love with Ren and from what I am hearing I might not be too happy. So I think I will live in denial and I might never finish the series.lol.
@Book Savvy Babe That seems to be the overall consensus. The ending is controversial but I liked it.
@jackie b central texas To be continued I guess!
@Amber I @ Awesomesauce Hehe you’re such a wuss! 😛
I absolutely love the first book, but the second fell short for me. Bloodrose didn’t get back up to my Nightshade level, but it was up from Wolfsbane because of the ending. And Calla didn’t end up with who I wanted her to, but I was still satisfied with the ending. I do have to pick on you a bit! I disagree that Calla chose…the universe kind of chose for her! 😉
Thanks for the great review!
@aLmYbNeNr Yeah, I suppose it did in a way. Depends on how you look at it I guess!
Adding this trilogy to my TBL, it sounds really good.
After Lover Reborn I don’t have much on my most anticipated column, time to find new series.
@Lupdilup F.Y.I. It’s YA so the action is PG13. Not quite as hot as your usual reads. 😛