What if a woman follows a different path? What if she follows her heart instead of what she is told? Will she be persecuted? Or will she live happily ever after? Those are the questions that will be answered as this trilogy plays out.Ĭremer, a professor of early modern history at Macalester College, a small liberal arts school in Minnesota, writes a fast-paced narrative that weaves the philosophies of world-class thinkers such as Thomas Hobbes together with hard science and the ever-popular teen themes of superstition and witchcraft. And the dichotomies of female history help to flesh out a story that revolves around the double standard of an alpha male who can gad about with as many women as he’d like and an alpha female who must remain pure until her wedding night.
These words inspire the pubescent wolf-girl, who is powerful but also repressed. If there is a strong sexual current to “Nightshade,” there are equally virulent intellectual and feminist strains, which make sense for a protagonist inspired by the lines of a Margaret Atwood poem: But Cremer knows her audience - ages 14 and up - and draws the line with well-turned phrases involving various body parts, mostly above the waist. It’s certainly enough to inspire readers to crank the air conditioning or fan themselves. Cremer’s writing in these frequent, steamy scenes would be worthy of a publishing contract with Harlequin. An intelligent reimagining of the past played out in the present with shape-shifting werewolves residing in Vail, Colo., “Nightshade” is a book for well-read hopeless romantics who like their heroines conflicted, their love interests smoldering and their passions triangulated and torrid, yet unfulfilled.Ĭalla’s first and second kisses take place on the same day, albeit with two very different suitors - each of whom spends the rest of the book getting Calla hot and bothered without unbuttoning her shirt or pushing up the hem of her skirt too far. A fantastical mash-up of religious warriors and witch hunts, of feminist will and societal oppression, “Nightshade” is historical fiction - with a modern, pop culture twist. Will it be the ripped-ab intellectual Shay or the smoldering playboy Ren? Readers of the wolves-and-witches series starter, “Nightshade,” are likely to be torn, just like the book’s heroine, Calla.Īnd just like Bella in Stephenie Meyer’s mega-selling “Twilight” saga.Īlthough “Nightshade” is likely to be devoured by Twi-hards, there’s a lot more to enjoy about this new series debut from young adult author Andrea Cremer than weak-kneed romanticism and its similarities to the vampires-and-werewolves blockbuster. Members of Team Jacob and Team Edward have a new love triangle with which they can take sides.
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