Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Wicked Wolfsbane



* Read this ARC via Banned Book Tours
* Release Date - July 26, 2011

This book gets a well done 4 gnomes and a gnome hat out of 5 gnomes for continuing this intriguing story and telling the reader more of the history of what's going on.  Things were looking dire at the end of the last book and this shows the aftermath of some of the decisions that were made.

Calla is one majorly conflicted character because her world as she knew it was pretty much revealed to be a lie.  The question is though whether the people she is with now are any better for her and the pack's needs.  One thing she knows is that she doesn't like to be controlled and being an Alpha means that she should be the one in charge.  Gaining trust will not been easy when the people who used to be your sworn enemies might just be the only hope for salvation.  

Getting to see how the Searchers function versus the Keepers is really insightful because I know I never would have pictured their mode of transportation.  The differences between them and how they view the world makes you see how these two factions formed.  Much of the difference comes from the Searchers respecting nature and how the world naturally works.  I especially like how magic is explained in this world and what you have to do to use it.

There are also many new characters introduced to the story but I didn't like them as well as the characters from the first book.  You can see why they will be important and why they interact like they do but they just aren't as likable as I wanted them to be.  I get the feeling that it may turn out something like The Hunger Games with Calla stuck between two forces and not knowing if what she is doing is best for her and everyone she loves.

Then there's the part that Shay plays in this story.  He is really part of a lot of worlds now and just has to absorb everything that has happened to him.  Him and Calla are kind of in the same boat because the environments that they both grew up in were not really what they seemed to be and there are no easy answers to how they should move forward.  I wish more had been explained about Shay and his role in the war that seems to be inevitable.  The reader will know that he's important but I know I want to know even more history and the whys of what he has to do.  If you can't tell, I do like Shay's character and want to know even more about him.  

I don't want to get too much into the whole love triangle thing but I will say that I'm leaning more for Shay and Calla to end up together instead of her and Ren.  After Nightshade I said that she could feasibly pick either character.  Complications abound though it looks like Calla has even more tough choices in store for the future.  Certain events happen in this book that make me feel strongly that she should definitely be with Shay and not Ren.

The overarching theme of this book seems to be making the hard decisions and the consequences of where certain choices can lead you.  Many character's choices will break your heart and leave you wondering if they can even have a happily ever after type ending.  This story see-saws between the reader probably thinking yeah everything is going to be okay and a WHAT JUST HAPPENED kind of feeling.  The end of this book is suspenseful but not as suspenseful in an oh my gosh is everyone about to die kind of way like Nightshade was.

I can't wait to see how this series ends because I have a bad feeling that there is a lot more carnage in the future.  This book is a definite must read and will leave you drooling/salivating/yearning for the next book, Bloodrose which isn't released until February 21, 2012 (a Tuesday, which I am seriously considering taking the day off so I can finish this awesome series).  

4 comments:

  1. Thanks for the review! I can't wait for this one and to see what kind of dire decisions Calla has to make.

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  2. @Amber, thanks for checking out my review and trust me Calla has some really hard decisions to make about the future and there are lots of surprises in this book.

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  3. Thank you for reading and providing an insightful review!

    Jen

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  4. @I Read Banned Books, Thanks to you for having the book tour, glad you liked the review. :)

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