Review: Wolfsbane

Nightshade trilogy (Book 2)
By Andrea Cremer
Available now from Penguin Philomel (HC) and Speak (PB)
Read my review of NIGHTSHADE

Part of the Breathless Reads tour

NIGHTSHADE is full of questions, but WOLFSBANE begins with an avalanche of answers. There are a few bursts of action in the first half of WOLFSBANE, but for the most part it is exposition heavy. Calla and Shay are now in the custody of the Haldis group of Searchers. They include the leader Monroe, angry Ethan, sleazy Connor, newbie Ariadne, and a few others. (Connor, I think, isn't supposed to be sleazy per se, but I interpret him that way because he takes his flirting too far. This is mostly redeemed by Calla refusing to put up with his advances.)

But once the action gets going, WOLFSBANE moves quickly. Almost all of the characters that I learned to love in NIGHTSHADE were put in danger by the events of the climax. Calla must mount a rescue. Which is where Shay becomes annoying.

As Calla and the Searchers plan, Shay constantly tries to undermine her. Now, he could just help them devise a safer plan. But he tries to insist Calla shouldn't go at all since it's dangerous. But as Shay himself points out, she's not a child and can make her own decisions. And the Nightshade wolves truly need help. If Shay stays with Calla he'll be their alpha, so it would be nice if he cared more for their safety.

I thought WOLFSBANE was an excellent sequel to NIGHTSHADE.  The first half of the book might be talky, but I loved knowing more about the world too much to mind.  I thought most of the new characters were fun additions and rejoiced when familiar faces came back into play.  I thought the love triangle was well-played too.  Ren might not be onscreen for most of WOLFSBANE, but Andrea Cremer made him feel like a legitimate threat to Shay and Calla getting together.  (Even if only because Calla wants to fully break things off with her former fiance before sleeping with Shay.)

Once more, things end in a precarious position, ready for BLOODROSE to pick up the action right where it leaves off.