Bloodrose (Nightshade Universe, #6) (Nightshade, #3)

by Andrea Cremer

Calla Tor, the alpha member of her shapeshifting wolf pack, must decide if her illicit love for the human Shay is worth the ultimate sacrifice.

• ISBN10: 0399256121
• ISBN13: 9780399256127
• Publish Date: 3 January 2012 (first published 1 January 2012)
• Publish Status: Remaindered
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Philomel Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 407
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

Bloodrose is easily the best of the trilogy. I firmly liked it, with some reservations. It picks up immediately where Wolfsbane ended, with Calla going back for Ren. Getting him to go with her is easier than I thought it was going to be, but that allowed the plot to get rolling. The Searchers and Shay need to get the rest of the swords so they finish this war once and for all. It's dangerous and exciting! Then it's time for battle against the Keepers.

I did really enjoy most of Bloodrose, but I'll start with what I didn't. The first was that it got repetitive toward the middle. Shay needs three more pieces to complete the cross, and each voyage had the same formula. They come up with a plan, arrive, but then something doesn't go according to plan. They find the piece, and something scary and unbeatable attacks, but they magically defeat it. Adne has to open an emergency portal, and someone gets gravely injured, but is instantly healed once they're home. It was fun the first time, but I didn't want to read the same scenario three times. The locations were definitely interesting though.

Another thing that bothered me about Bloodrose was the location of the war. The Rift where they need to trap Bosque is...at Bosque's house! That is pretty stupid. Sure, it makes defending the place easier for him, but it also puts him right there! Come on! He might as well have just jumped in himself!

My favorite part of Bloodrose was the twist at the end. I didn't see it coming, and I thought it was a really good one. The author really took a risk with that, since it's a kind of bittersweet conclusion rather than a happy ending. I was afraid there would be some kind of cop-out to make it the happily ever after, but there wasn't. I found it very fitting to the story. Although, speaking of cop-outs, I did find one of the deaths to be too convenient rather than sad.

In the end, I really liked Bloodrose. The series isn't making it on any of my favorites list, but this ending was still really good.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[notajammiedodger]

As a person that takes super good care of all of her books, this was the first book that I have ever come across that I actually wanted to throw across my room. So I'm not quite sure how I felt about this book. I really didn't like the way that it ended, but it does make sense.

I am really not happy with how the love triangle ended in this series. I just really feel as though she killed off Ren so that Calla wouldn't have to choose between the too. It was a just a chickens way out of the ending

[Amber]

Ugh.

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Note: I have no idea how to rate this book so I'm just going to leave that out.

The plot started off really well and at a fast pace. I really enjoyed the first half of the book, as it had a lot of action and there were enough interesting scenes to keep me interested. Shay had to find the rest of the pieces of the Elemental Cross, and a small team went with him each time. During the second half of the book, it started to go downhill. The ending was absolutely appalling and I despised it. The way Andrea Cremer dealt with the love triangle felt like a cop out and I wasn't pleased with it.

Calla, our protagonist, was a complete idiot in this book. She has Ren and Shay fighting over her, and at one point she tells them that she's not making a decision until after the war is over. Fair enough. But then she complains CONSTANTLY about the two of them as they argue and get defensive over her. They're two alpha males who are after her attention, so I'm not sure what she was expecting. Calla is also a giant hypocrite. She thought about her 'difficult' decision at the worst times, and I was almost shouting at my Kindle to tell her to worry about stopping yourself from falling down a deep crevice rather than which guy you prefer.

Shay was also a moron. Like in Wolfsbane, he was immature, bratty and he tried to control Calla. I didn't like him in Wolfsbane and I despised him in this book. He was one of the reasons behind the undermining of Calla's character. She is supposed to be a strong alpha female, and yet this guy is trying to control her life and tell her what she should be thinking.

I love Ren, though. He has gone through so much character development in this series - more than Calla, in my opinion. He's protective of Calla, yet he doesn't try to dominate her in the way Shay does. Ren takes her feelings into account.

Like I said, I have no idea how to rate this book. It started off as 'Enjoyable' but then the second half of the book was 'Troll'-worthy. I really don't know.

[Linda]

4.5 stars

Wow, so many amazing fights, and so many sacrifices that made me cry! In the end they did save the world, but at what cost?

Many of my friends here hated this last book, especially the end, I thought it really made sense though, and it seems like the best, and happiest ending Calla and her friends could get. And at least Calla understood that something was up, and was able to ask the right questions so that they all knew what was going to happen before it did.

Some things that happened were a little predictable, others were very surprising. I loved the search for the elemental cross, and what they had to fight to get the next part. When Calla was captured, I was sitting with my heart in my throat, especially because of who was talking to her when she woke up.

At the very end, both the fight and the description of Bosque's transformation were well done, the transformation was really icky, but it kind of made sense.

I still have tears in my eyes, so many things happened in the last few chapters, and I wish there was more to come.