Release Date: January 3rd, 2012
Genre:  Romance, Fantasy
Publisher: Philomel
Pages: 406
Rating:
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Series: Nightshade #3 (Review of #1, #2)
Summary (Spoilers, highlight to view):

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.

Blurb: I don't think this series could have ended any better, even if it means some people are unhappy.

Review: Ah, the end of a series. Always so hard to read, and I imagine hard to write. Especially when  you've created a pretty killer love triangle. I'm team Ren, by the way. I think Shay is a whiny baby.

Speaking of whiny babies, let's talk about the things I DIDN'T like first. There's really only one: Calla. It really bothered me how unfaithful she was, to EITHER guy. She's always thinking about having sex with one of them, and then feeling bad about it, and then lusting after the other. It drove me BONKERS. And Shay was still a whiny baby.

Also, I feel like ther was A LOT crammed into this book. Calla and Shay are looking for things (very horcrux-like actually) and it takes them, what? maybe 3 days to find all of them? A chapter for each? I would have MUCH rather had another book in this series that took a little longer to work this part out, rather than cramming it all into this book.

But what makes this book AWESOME is the different relationships and the ending. There's a whole lot of love happening in this book-- platonic, romantic, and familial-- and it was all pretty awesome. And the ending... hm. To be honest, I had to give myself time to think about whether I loved or hated the ending. I decided on love (though hate is just under the surface). She ended it in such a way that really made me think. And I liked that. I can't say much for fear of spoilers, but let's just say that I think almost everyone (in the book at least) ends up where they should be.

So even though I didn't like Calla, she was balanced by her other characters. And Shay actually did become a little less whiny. All of the negatives in this book were far outweighed by the positives. Sometimes there's a danger of getting invested in a series and then loving it UNTIL the last book, and then you feel like you've wasted your time. Not so with this series. It started out awesome, and it ends awesome. Not perfect, but still pretty awesome.

Did I mention awesome?



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