A review by erinarkin20
Captive by Andrea Cremer, A.D. Robertson
4.0
3.5 - 4 stars
Captive was a definite departure from the YA world of Nightshade. It is labeled as “The forbidden side of nightshade” and I have to say, it’s not wrong. Captive delivers a great mix of the Nightshade world and provides a bit of background on the Keepers, Searchers and Bosque Mar but throws in a bit of the steamy stuff that pulls it out of the YA genre.
Sarah is a Searcher (descendant of Cian) and the book dives right into her story. There isn't a lot of background provided on her but we quickly find out she is well respected in her world as a Striker. Because of this, she is asked to go on a mission to find out what is hidden behind the walls of a castle in Ireland. I liked Sarah – she is smart and goes after what she wants. At the same time, I found her initial wishy washiness (yes..this is now a word) toward Jeremy a bit annoying. I do wish we had gotten a bit more background on Sarah. She didn't seem as developed as Tristan’s character was and I kind of wanted to know more about her.
Tristan…let’s just say he definitely won me over. He has been put on this island and kept separate from other Keepers by Bosque Mar because of who he is. As a direct descendant of Eira, Bosque Mar has him set to play a very important role in continuing the Keeper line as well as avoid his impact on a potential prophecy. Tristan is resigned to do what is expected of him when we first meet him but as he continues to learn more about Sarah and who she is, he realizes he wants more than what he has been given. I loved the mix of strength and vulnerability he had when interacting with Sarah in the beginning.
Now – there is a definite departure from the YA genre that the other novels stand in. There is sex…lots of it. As a matter of fact, I believe Sarah and Tristan pretty much hook up within 2 days of her being at the castle and are in love within 3 days….yes, in love. To be honest, I didn't really mind it – Everything else in this book went fairly quickly so it wasn't unexpected.
I don’t know that I would recommend this book to anyone who hasn't read the Nightshade series and prequels. The reason being you only get a brief glimpse of who these characters are and their roles in the war. Also, with the mix of the guardians and Bosque Mar, it could be very confusing without the previous knowledge. If you don’t already know the backstory and history of the Eira/Cian story there will be some definite gaps while reading this book. If you have read the series and are comfortable with the steamy stuff, you will enjoy this one.
One last note - There is a bit of a reveal around the scion story as well – I hadn't connected the dots initially as it has been a little while since I read the last book but it makes sense that these stories come full circle and I am curious to see where this goes if it ends up being a series.
Captive was a definite departure from the YA world of Nightshade. It is labeled as “The forbidden side of nightshade” and I have to say, it’s not wrong. Captive delivers a great mix of the Nightshade world and provides a bit of background on the Keepers, Searchers and Bosque Mar but throws in a bit of the steamy stuff that pulls it out of the YA genre.
Sarah is a Searcher (descendant of Cian) and the book dives right into her story. There isn't a lot of background provided on her but we quickly find out she is well respected in her world as a Striker. Because of this, she is asked to go on a mission to find out what is hidden behind the walls of a castle in Ireland. I liked Sarah – she is smart and goes after what she wants. At the same time, I found her initial wishy washiness (yes..this is now a word) toward Jeremy a bit annoying. I do wish we had gotten a bit more background on Sarah. She didn't seem as developed as Tristan’s character was and I kind of wanted to know more about her.
Tristan…let’s just say he definitely won me over. He has been put on this island and kept separate from other Keepers by Bosque Mar because of who he is. As a direct descendant of Eira, Bosque Mar has him set to play a very important role in continuing the Keeper line as well as avoid his impact on a potential prophecy. Tristan is resigned to do what is expected of him when we first meet him but as he continues to learn more about Sarah and who she is, he realizes he wants more than what he has been given. I loved the mix of strength and vulnerability he had when interacting with Sarah in the beginning.
Now – there is a definite departure from the YA genre that the other novels stand in. There is sex…lots of it. As a matter of fact, I believe Sarah and Tristan pretty much hook up within 2 days of her being at the castle and are in love within 3 days….yes, in love. To be honest, I didn't really mind it – Everything else in this book went fairly quickly so it wasn't unexpected.
I don’t know that I would recommend this book to anyone who hasn't read the Nightshade series and prequels. The reason being you only get a brief glimpse of who these characters are and their roles in the war. Also, with the mix of the guardians and Bosque Mar, it could be very confusing without the previous knowledge. If you don’t already know the backstory and history of the Eira/Cian story there will be some definite gaps while reading this book. If you have read the series and are comfortable with the steamy stuff, you will enjoy this one.
One last note - There is a bit of a reveal around the scion story as well – I hadn't connected the dots initially as it has been a little while since I read the last book but it makes sense that these stories come full circle and I am curious to see where this goes if it ends up being a series.