It was a really long wait from the time I finished the ARC of Wolfsbane until the release of Bloodrose, but it was well worth it.
The final installment in this series presents the guardians and searchers with the task of collecting the remaining three pieces of the elemental cross in order to rid the world of the keepers and their magic. Of course, each piece is in a remote location and is protected by magic and enhanced creatures.
In order to bring the love triangle back into the mix, Calla and one of the searchers rescue Ren and convince him to join their side of the fight. The tension between Ren and Shay is high throughout the book. I was on the edge of my seat until the very end just waiting to see if my team would win.
The book was full of action and we were able to connect with several of the characters on a more personal level. More relationships develop throughout the book and in some cases finally come to fruition after years in the making. As Andrea already told us, war does not come without loss. There are numerous losses on both sides. Some were absolutely shocking to me, but in the end I was very happy with how this series came to a close.
After looking back through my GoodReads account...I realized this is one of the few series in which I gave ALL of the books 5 stars. This truly is an exceptional series. Fortunately for us, with the end of the Nightshade series comes the beginning of Andrea's next series. Rift will be the first installment in a Nightshade prequel series that is scheduled to be released on August 7th. Since I am fortunate enough to be the one selecting the BookNerds read along in August, you can probably guess what it will be.
Mary's Review
I am going to dive right in with what I did not like about the book. I know that the BookNerds really enjoyed this book. On the other hand, I did not. First, it bounced around too much for me. Not just with the love triangle between Calla, Ren and Shay. I thought that there was too much going on in the different areas that they went too and all the different missions. I understand that there had to be to keep up with the storyline but I did not enjoy it.
Second, was Ren. I know and understood what Anderea was doing when she was writing Ren's storyline but I still do not have to like it. With certain parts of Ren's storyline I was just thinking in my head "Really!? Where is this going?"
Third, I did not like the ending of the book. Again, I understand why Andrea wrote the storyline the way that she did, but I do not have to like it.
Now with all of that out of the way I can tell you what I did like. I loved the Sabine storyline! I thought what she did for Ansel was very thoughtful and caring! I really liked that. I also love Connor and his comic humor throughout the book.
Here is the surprise of the day...... Even though I am TEAM REN I did enjoy seeing Calla and Shay's love blossom a bit. I felt that Andrea wrote their relationship well and you could really feel the struggle that Calla went through with Ren and Shay.
I love the fact that Calla's Dad came to the rescue for her too and that he killed Emile. I loved the ending with the wolves and Ren. That was very moving and i am sure that was hard for Andrea to write.
Overall, I like the series but it is not one of favorites. However, one thing is for sure ..... I am always going to be TEAM REN!
Flo's Review
Oh, Andrea Cremer! The emotion you put me through!! What an intense ending for this great trilogy. The first great thing about Bloodrose was that chapter one had an amazing Team Ren scene -- and the greatness continued from there! The tension between Ren and Shay was pretty thick throughout this book. The love triangle was definitely most defined in this one. At times their bickering was a little annoying, but overall it was great to see that both guys genuinely loved Calla. I also enjoyed a scene where Calla goes to Ansel and Brynn to talk about her feelings and she's struggling the whole time -- hilarious! Actually, there was a lot of funny dialogue in this book that kept me chuckling throughout the seriousness of the situation. Another funny scene was the one involving the Water part of the elemental cross...let's just say, wolves and water don't mix! I really enjoying seeing all the challenges they had to face to get the remaining pieces of the cross. Of the three books, Nightshade is my favorite, but I'd definitely put Bloodrose at second.
Teri's Review
WHAT. A. ENDING. Andrea Cremer had me from the beginning on this book, and I was glad because I had been a bit disappointed in the last one.Don't get me wrong, it was still good, but so many times Middle Books seem like filler to get us to the great ending waiting in the 3rd book. Seriously tho, I could not put Bloodrose down, and I begged my fellow Booknerds to hurry and read so I could vent to them! Talk about action...this book defiantly had it, you could barely take a breathe from one page to the next. And the ending.... Well, Okay..it wasn't REALLY to my liking, but it had to end and I thought Cremer did well at ending it.
Us Booknerds are "Team" people..we each have our teams we love, and they are not always the same ones. This series was hard for me. Usually I know right off which Team I will be joining. Nope, not this one. I spent my time as I read confused, Ren or Shay..Ren or Shay. Finally in the middle of Bloodrose, I knew without a doubt where I belonged and then BOOM the rug is pulled out from under me in the worst way ( I am refraining from telling you my allegiance due to spoilers for you who have not read yet) I will say this..if there was a Team for Mason ..or Connor I would def. hop on board. I loved these two. They provided me with laughs when I needed them without it being forced into the story.
This book was beautiful...it ended perfectly, tho there was a bit of a Twist in the ending and I didn't see it coming. Yet, its hard also for me to say I loved the ending...to me it was just Bittersweet.
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