Blurb from Goodreads:Fans asked for it, and now they've got it!
Andrea Cremer is continuing the story she began in in her internationally bestselling trilogy: Nightshade, Wolfsbane and Bloodrose.
Bosque Mar haunts the dreams of both Adne and Logan, trying to escape for the Nether, where Calla, Shay and the other Guardians trapped him in the final battle in the War of All Against All...
Will he turn Adne to the dark side? Will Logan reclaim his birthright? And will darkness take over our world?
Title: Snakeroot (Nightshade Legacy #1)
Author: Andrea Cremer
Publisher: Philomel
Publication Date: December 10, 2013
The Cover Contessa's Review:
I'm a huge Nightshade fan. And, while I hated the way Bloodrose ended, I mean it really just ruined me for a while, I understood it was how it had to go. Then all of a sudden I read the Aftermath novella and realize that perhaps my broken heart would get a chance to mend. And THEN I heard this book is coming out and for sure I need to know if my heart is going to be happy. So, I jumped in and read it.
So, as with the other covers, I'm not a huge fan of this one. But the covers have never really been what has drawn me to Cermer's books. The stories stand on their own. So, while it would be nice to have a pretty cover, or at least a prettier cover than this one, it didn't deter me from pre-ordering this!
I can honestly say that I didn't really know what to expect with this book. I didn't even read the blurb, which is so super short it doesn't give you much insight anyway. What I did expect was to see some of the characters from the Nightshade trilogy in this book, and Cremer did not disappoint on that level. If you have not read any of the Nightshade books or novellas, STOP HERE, there WILL BE spoilers from those books.
Why did I pick up this book? Well, like every reader who had their heart torn out from Bloodrose, I had hope upon hope that Cremer would someone right my life by bringing Ren back. I can truly say that my heart shattered into pieces when he died in Bloodrose. So when I saw that glimpse of him in Aftermath, I knew Cremer could not disappoint her readers.
For the most part, this book is about Adne and Logan and their stories of what happens after the Guardians have trapped Bosque Mar in the Nether.
Just as she was in the other books, Adne is a kick butt character. She is VERY independent, to the point of always striking out on her own, despite the fact that it might get her in trouble at times. She's truly strong and can really take care of herself. But she is connected to the evil that lurks around her people and she's not sure why or how it keeps getting at her.
Logan, oh Logan. He's a hard one to read. He wants power for sure, but he's such a wimp in the way he goes about things. He wants everyone to do his dirty work for him, what else is new, right? I didn't like him in Nightshade and this book did not make me feel much different. For most of this book I wanted to throttle him. He is completely selfish in his actions and it made me want to throw the book.
And of course we get a glimpse of Ren in this book. But he's not the Ren we knew. He's not a corporeal being, which disappointed me despite the fact that I was excited to have him back. And, while Cremer tried to infuse that Ren we knew in the trilogy into this book, I just was not feeling him as being the same. Yes, I imagine he is somewhat changed being this ghost of a being. But I still wanted him to be Ren, and he really didn't give me the same feelings.
The book is fast paced. It took me no time to read it. So lovers of the Nightshade trilogy will still get that feeling of wanting to turn the pages. But this story just did not grip me as much as the other. This one was more boring to me, even a bit predictable in parts. I did love that Cremer chose to write this in third person, so you get multiple points of views as opposed to the one point of view we got from Calla in the trilogy. It did give so much more to the story. And I'm finding that more and more authors are leaning towards this way of writing so the reader can really be totally omniscient and know everything that is going on.
I'm annoyed that the book ended kind of on a climax, I am getting quite sick of cliffhanger type endings. Had it not been that way, I would still have marked the next book to read because I love Cremer's writing and her character development. Overall I think that ending the Nightshade trilogy at Bloodrose would have been just fine. I almost feel this book is a bit of a cop out for Cremer; her wanting to bring back those readers who were totally mad at her at the end of Bloodrose by enticing them with this hope of what they might get. And enjoyable enough read, but I don't think I'll rush to read the next book.
Andrea Cremer is the author of the internationally bestselling Nightshade series. She spent her childhood daydreaming and roaming the forests and lakeshores of Northern Wisconsin. Andrea has always loved writing and has never stopped writing, but she only recently plunged into the deep end of the pool that is professional writing. Before she wrote her first novel, Andrea was a history professor at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. In her books, she strives to bring together her two passions: history and fantasy. Andrea now lives in New York and writes full time.
To contact Andrea, please visit, andreacremer.com
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