Rift

Author: Andrea Cremer

Goodreads Rating: 4.33

My Rating: 4.5 Stars

Pages: 431

Reviewed By: Nicole

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.

This book took me about a day to read. It was really easy to get pulled into Ember's world, and this strange society of Conatus. I sort of felt bad for Ember as she tried to fight to be who she wanted to be, wanting to be a warrior in Scotland and be a woman any time before the modern day was not easy. I loved that this book also tickled my history taste buds because it took place during the 1400s.

I really liked getting to know Barrow and and what Conatus was about. The concept of women being a part of theorganization was so forward thinking and great, I even loved that there were two women who sat on the head council as far as helping to make decisions. Granted it was a fictitious society, but I loved that they were that forward thinking, it was 100's of years before a woman could dream of such rights.

I loved the training and the way Ember got her weapons and seemed to earn her stripes working with Conatus. I also liked that Barrow tried not to favor her when he so clearly did. I loved the banter in the development of their relationship as both of them tried to deny their mutual attraction. 

One thing that I was really glad about this book was the lack of a developed love triangle. This seems to happen in more books than not, and I'm so glad that although there was a sort of attempt at it by Alistair, but that got nipped in the bud. I'm really eager to see where that unfortunate situation is going to work itself out in the next book.

I'm really excited to read Rise, the next book in the series out in January. I'm also excited to see how its all going to relate when I finally do get to read the Nightshade series.