Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer

Wolfsbane
Author: Andrea Cremer
Publisher: Philomel (a part of Penguin Group)
Release Date: July 26, 2011
Edition: ARC
* Received for review via publisher.

I'm warning you now that there will be minor spoilers in this review; it's literally impossible to review Wolfsbane without giving spoilers for Nightshade. So if you haven't read Nightshade just yet, now is the time to stop reading my review (and probably borrow or buy a copy of Nightshade to read if paranormal is your thing). 

Where do I even begin? Wolfsbane picks up almost exactly where Nightshade left off, with Calla waking up in an unlikely place, the Roving Academy, home to the Searchers. But the truly crazy thing is, they want to form an alliance of sorts with Calla, one that includes the pack and the alpha that she left behind. In Wolfsbane, Calla will have to learn to trust her enemies or face losing her pack and the war.

I know that my summary seems really short, but it's difficult to say much more than that; after all, for the most part, Wolfsbane focuses on Calla learning more about who the Keepers are, how the Searchers work, and getting her pack back. For the record, she's still pretty torn between Shay and Ren for most of the book; also, if you've seen my review of Nightshade, you know that I'm team Ren and well, Wolfsbane didn't contain a ton of Ren and Calla interaction, but when it does happen in Wolfsbane, it's heartbreaking in its own way. Seriously, if you're team Ren, you'll see what I mean.

Asides from that, you'll get more of the lore behind the Searchers and the Keepers; also, I'd have to say that I wouldn't mind being a Weaver. After all, how awesome would it be to be able to make doorways/portals? Speaking of Weavers, you'll get to meet Adne in Wolfsbane, the Weaver for the Haldis team. She's one of my favorite new minor characters, asides from Connor (a serious flirt), and Silas (a Scribe who has an office that's literally covered in books and he's a bit awkward to boot).

As with Nightshade, Wolfsbane is a page-turner; things continue to build until you come to the last page and then you're left hanging. As I'd been warned earlier in the year by one of the lovely ladies at the Penguin booth at ALA Midwinter, I was left wanting Bloodrose immediately after finishing Wolfsbane and the wait until February 21, 2012 is already feeling extremely long. Honestly, if you haven't read Nightshade just yet, I'd definitely suggest doing so. Yes, it's hyped, but rightly so and Wolfsbane is--in my opinion--a flawless continuation of a great trilogy.

Overall Rating: ★★★★★