Review: Rift by Andrea Cremer

Reading Level: Young Adult
Publisher: Philomel
Source: Conference
First book in Nightshade Prequel series

Chronicling the rise of the Keepers, this is the stunning prequel to Andrea Cremer's internationally bestselling Nightshade trilogy!
Sixteen-year-old Ember Morrow is promised to a group called Conatus after one of their healers saves her mother's life. Once she arrives, Ember finds joy in wielding swords, learning magic, and fighting the encroaching darkness loose in the world. She also finds herself falling in love with her mentor, the dashing, brooding, and powerful Barrow Hess. When the knights realize Eira, one of their leaders, is dabbling in dark magic, Ember and Barrow must choose whether to follow Eira into the nether realm or to pledge their lives to destroying her and her kind.
With action, adventure, magic, and tantalizing sensuality, this book is as fast-paced and breathtaking as the Nightshade novels.

I loved the Nightshade trilogy. Sure the ending broke my heart and it annoyed me at times but I liked how original it was. I was excited to go back in time and learn about the mythology of the Keepers even though I didn't remember much about it from the first series.

 Ember has been promised to the knights of Conatus since birth. That means she can either become a healer, a knight (what she wants to do) or marry (what her father wants her to do). When she has to make her choice to become a knight and the attractive Barrow offers to be her mentor her whole life changes. She is swept up in the world of magic and sword fighting.

At first this was a little hard to get into but once I did I never wanted to stop reading. I stayed up late finishing it. I loved the setting. It was so interesting to learn about and the gorgeous writing style made it even better. The perspective switched from Ember to Eira. It was interesting seeing what was happening somewhere else but sometimes I went crazy because I wanted to see what was happening with Ember.

Ember was a very strong character. She fought for what she wanted and didn't let anyone push her around or change her mind. I enjoyed Barrow very much :). He's still kind of mysterious and I hope we learn more about him in the next one. The chemistry and tension between Ember and Barrow was intense. It was awful waiting for them to get cute but once they did they were super adorable. Alistair annoyed me from the beginning. He was to pushy and it seemed like it was all about what he wanted.

I really loved this book. The characters, the plot, the setting. Everything. This series might have the potential to be better than the Nightshade books for me. It all depends on the sequel Rise which I am already dying to read.
5/5 stars

-Marissa