Thursday, March 8, 2012

Bloodrose by Andrea Cremer

Bloodrose by Andrea Cremer is the last book in The Nightshade Trilogy published by Philomel Publishing a Penquin Imprint was published on January 3, 2012 and has 406 pages.


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.
[Goodreads]


THE FAERYS VIEW

This is one book that I’ve really been looking forward to but Andrea Cremer’s Bloodrose was both unsatisfying and strangely satisfying at the same time. The majority of unsatisfying outweighs satisfying by quite a bit. To say I was disappointed in it is a bit of an understatement; in fact I think I’m still in shock having just finished it about an hour ago. I’ve been reading the ARC but I doubt that much changed in the finished copy aside from some editing errors.

Bloodrose could have been an EPIC finish to a popular and much loved series about werewolves that were created by evil beings (Guardians) in order to control the world and the people that have sacrificed their lives to bring those evil beings to an end and bring the balance of the world back to where it should be (Searchers). Now, there is so much more to it than that and I’m going to assume if you’re reading this that you’ve read the series and have an understanding of the world that Andrea’s created.
I’m not going to re-hash the book as I’m sure that’s been done already. Since I’m an optimistic person I’m going to start with some of the things that I liked about Bloodrose:
  •  The locations that Andrea created were fantastic
  •  The humor of the pack remained; I really grew to like some of the searchers
  •  Exciting battles were fought that were easy to follow
  •  Andrea’s unique character portrayals remained
Andrea did an amazing job with each of the wolf’s character portrayals, at one point I was surprised by an intense sacrifice by one of the wolves who gave up something intrinsic and dear. The wolf’s motivations were somewhat self-serving but primarily altruistic and it was so bitter-sweet! Another thing that I really enjoyed was the exotic locales; Andrea’s description of each place was lush with images that I could see in my mind’s eye, which is truly something I value in any book: BOOK! TAKE ME AWAY! And Andrea did not disappoint. Each battle fought was unique and easy to follow with byplays of the wolves and the searchers, each doing their own thing.

On to the things that I really disliked about Bloodrose:

• Andrea took away Calla’s free choice which I saw as a cop out
• Calla became a non-alpha in Bloodrose by her own actions yet surprisingly her pack still treated her as Alpha despite the fact that she had her nose up Shay’s behind while Shay had his nose up a certain searchers behind.
• It was so hard for me to see the once Kick Ass, Break the rules when they were bogus and Strong Willed True Alpha Calla take a back seat to so many others and go against her natural instincts. Actually, it wasn’t just hard; it was pure torture for me.

With all that being said there’s still more but I know there are still a lot of people who haven’t read Bloodrose yet. Anyone who has read Bloodrose knows that Calla is extremely confused over where her true feelings lie; she has a hot, steamy scene with Ren-God, Ren is one of the best guys I’ve ever had the literary pleasure to meet. Then Calla has some scenes with Shay but there’s always lingering doubt in her mind except for one little sentence in the book which I felt was made in the heat of the moment. I feel like Andrea wussed out of making Calla stand up and be the Alpha she is and make a choice on her own. The ending was wrapped up a little to neatly for my liking; it felt rushed, it felt like the easy way out and it felt like what Andrea thought her fans wanted and definitely what she wanted to happen. Hey, it’s her book but it doesn’t mean that I have to like it and I didn’t!


Because of the reasons I stated, I didn't enjoy the last book in The Nightshade Trilogy as much as I would have liked and my anticipation of the book was out of this world which made it even more of a buzz kill but... Andrea still did a fantastic job with the portrayal of the characters; I felt very close to the main characters and many of the secondary characters-the often playful dialogue was fun and reminiscent of the first two books in the trilogy. I can't say enough about Andrea's vivid rendering of the exotic locales that were visited in the book; I felt every palm frond and smelled the ocean along with the sulfuric odor of the volcanic caves. Andrea Cremer is and will remain one of my favorite authors; it will just take me awhile to get over Bloodrose!

THE FAERY SAYS, SADLY, MY WINGS DROOPED NEARLY TO THE GROUND!


Thank you to ATWT and the publisher for allowing me to view this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

10 comments:

  1. NOOOoooo! I don't know if I'll dive into this one. I mean I want that cliffie in the last book to be solved, but Calla not becoming alpha? Oh that is a big no no for me. Huge deal. I have to admit, I'm probably one of the few people who never did like Shay, but I loved Ren. Might be the only reason I pick up this last book. Oh this is so disappointing. :(

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  2. Oh nO! I am so sorry this one fell short for you and your poor wings dropped. I hate when that happens

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  3. Oh my! So sorry this one was a dud. Bummer. I know you've been enjoying these books. Hurry up, pick up another book. We need your wings flying high again! ;)

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  4. Ah! That sucks! I actually loved this book...it's just the VERY end that I was like, "seriously? Is that really a happily ever after?!?!" But I loved it. Great review.

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  5. I was heartbroken after reading BLOODROSE... still havent decided if I'm going to do a review.... I don't know how to say the negatives without being mean :( i dont want people to hate me... *lowers head in shame*

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  6. I have seen mixed reviews on this, not because the book wasn't good, but because people though the ending was disappointing or didn't like where the story went.

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  7. Great Honest review and yes i had some mixed thoughts on this book too. I didn't want to write it because I was so frustrated with it and agree with your negatives too.

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  8. I haven't read this series, but seeing that the last novel didn't deliver, I may not start. Too bad. You'd think the novels got better as the series go, but I've heard several novels don't make the grade at the end.

    Heather

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  9. AWWWWWW OH NOOOO!!! :(
    I felt for the poor faery whose wings drooped.
    It is always quite disappointing to have a let-down in the finale of an otherwise strong trilogy (though I have not read this series).

    I think your review was really honest and well-written, however, and the positive-versus-negative lists were great evidence to your feelings towards the read. It's too bad you found it so disappointing.

    Have you read the Prophecy of the Sisters trilogy? If the faery is thirsting for a truly epic trilogy, then Vivian here highly recommends this one.

    Vivian @ Vivaciously, Vivian

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  10. I really enjoy reading your review; however, this was my favorite book out of the series! There were some things in the books that made me question 'WHY?' she would do that, but I also realized that some of them must be done. I think a lot of people may be disappointed in the ending because of their preferences for a male alpha and that is completely understandable. All in all, I am happy with how things ended. I hate that you feel badly about it because when you love a book and hate how it ends (Strange Angels), well you know it's a crappy feeling. Thanks for the review!

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