Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

"Just because you're a warrior doesn't mean you can't be enticing." 


In the enticing and addictive world of Andrea Cremer's Nightshade, you have an equal mix of werewolves (Guardians) and witches (Keepers). An eternal battle has been going on since the beginning of time, at least since the beginning of time as the Guardians can remember it. You see, they are the soldiers in this war. Enlisted to keep sacred sites all over the world protected from anyone who might stumble upon them, especially Searchers, who at one time before the war had been a part of the Keepers. These sacred sites are supposed to be kept SECRET, you see.
This is the world that Calla Tor was born into, the world that she is an important part of. She lives in a mountain town called Vail. Two packs of Guardians, the Banes and the Nightshades, coexist in town. Calla is the alpha of her generation and destined to mate with the alpha of the Banes, Ren. Together they will rule a new pack that has the duty to watch over the cave Haldis. Enter Shay. While on a patrol of the Nightshade's half of the mountain, Calla stumbles upon a young man being attacked by a bear. What else could she do but save him? Besides blood loss and head trauma can easily explain why young Shay watched as a blond girl shifted into a snow white wolf. Werewolves don't exist right?
But Shay isn't just any human... He is the nephew of a Keeper and has a weird unexplainable tattoo on the back of his neck that he cannot see. And now he and Calla have fallen in love... It’s not just the third side of love triangle that Shay offers. Shay has a mysterious background. Even though his “uncle” is a Keeper, Shay knew nothing of the supernatural world — or his uncle’s true nature — until he met Calla. Searchers are trying to kidnap him. All of this, combined with Shay’s insistence that the Keeper hierarchy must be wrong because how could they force Calla to mate with Ren (not that he has an ulterior motive in that, oh no), lead Calla and Shay to investigate and try to discover the truth. 


Nightshade was a good book, a really good book. But though it was good, the plot was amazing and it was a new idea, the characterization was a little bit... flat to say the least. Calla's motivations for saving Shay are simplistic. And it turns from being about Calla growing up and realizing her duty to becoming a rebel and discovering this whole little conspiracy... Yeah the book is kickass but... in order to be the best it can be it needs to have better characters. Ren is a womanizer, Shay is a skeptic, Calla is your usual protagonist chick, and then you have the pack... Unusual bunch of characters but they are too flat. 


I would still suggest this book though. Definitely go out and buy it.