Nightshade & Wolfsbane New Covers

The blogosphere has been in an absolute tizzy about the news surrounding the covers of Nightshade and Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer - and not all of it is good. 

Originally slated to be the covers for the paperback releases, Penguin is now revamping the whole look of the series based on a good response (from who we can only wonder) to the new covers - hardback edition included. 

Personally, I'm really bummed about this. The original covers of Nightshade are what drew me in to the series. In a veritable sea of paranormal romance and urban fantasy, in both young adult and adult fiction, they were a bright beacon of light. Colorful, whimsical, alluring, original. They stood out on a shelf like you would not believe.

Now? I'm sad to say, they look just like everything else. They don't stand out. There's nothing original. These are not covers befitting an international best seller. For the paperback edition - yeah, fantastic! I can see where they're going. But to change the hardback too? After such a positive response to the first book? It makes me sadface. They look, to be honest, a little on the cheesy side. Like the kind of series that are all over the place, but that no one really reads.

Regardless of the covers, though, it is all about what's inside that counts. Andrea Cremer is an amazing writer and an amazing person, and I'd buy the book even if they decided to put prancing pigs in tutus on it. 

But I'm going out on a limb here and assuming that the original cover for Nightshade is what drew a lot of people in. And now my covers aren't going to match - and my series OCD is bugging out. But there are a lot of other people that are bummed, and while it may do nothing, it can't hurt: a twitition has been started to ask Penguin to change the hardcover back to the original design. So, if you have a twitter account, and you feel as strongly about this as a few of us do, sign it at:

http://twitition.com/o2xln

Otherwise, I think someone needs to send me a scan of the ARC cover so I can tape it to my copy of Wolfsbane when I get it.

Review: Nightshade

Title: Nightshade
Author: Andrea Cremer
Publisher: Penguin Group
Category: Young Adult
Page Count: 528 
Release Date: October 2010
Series: none
Source: ARC
Challenge: 2011 A-Z Challenge & Breathless Reads Tour Mini Challenge 
Quick Rating: 3/5

Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she’ll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But when she violates her masters’ laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything - including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?

 I really, really wanted to fall in love with this book. I wanted a passionate, epic romance between me and this series, and all I got was…well...a pretty average one night stand. Don’t get me wrong, though, Nightshade had it’s really awesome moments, but as a whole, the book just fell a little flat for me.

I almost felt like this book was a little longer than it should have been, which is weird for me to say, since my usual policy is the longer the better. But I just felt like there was a lot of stuff that could have been removed or just skimmed over, and some details about more important stuff put in. I didn’t feel like there were necessarily any huge plot holes or anything, but I did feel like a few basic holes were left wide open - conversations that should have happened, details that should have been explained, etc. I also felt like it took way, way, way too long to actually get an explanation of anything in their world. Over 100 pages in, and nothing was explained! I don’t always just liked being tossed into a story and left to try and figure things out for myself until the characters feel up to doing some ‘splainin’.

I really liked that the author seemed to have wolf behavior down perfectly! The descriptions of their interactions while in wolf form were wonderful, and felt so real. That being said, I wish that the alpha females of the packs had been given a little more power. I’m no wolf expert, but I would assume the alpha female of one pack wouldn’t let just any other alpha male lay his paws all over her. I wanted more fight, and less subservience out of a certain character *cough*Naomi*cough*. Her character peeved me to no end.

Follow the jump for more!