Review: Lover Awakened by JR Ward
Yes, I know what time it is and that I should be asleep. But I have had one of those days that required a bit of crack to end things on a positive note.
Title: Lover Awakened
Author: JR Ward
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Reason for Reading: Ward laces her books with some form of literary crack.
Grade: B+
Synopsis: The Black Dagger Brotherhood is an elite group of vampire warriors whose job it is to protect themselves from evil, sociopathic slayers called the Lessers. The most feared of the brothers is Zsadist, who was once a slave. Z has shut out all emotions except pain and hatred, but when Bella, a young vampire from an aristocratic family is kidnapped and Z rescues her, they both find that they need to heal. Interspersed through this story are the stories of the other members of the brotherhood, a Lesser who's obsessed with Bella, and, my favorites, Harry Potter (i.e. a young vampire named John Matthew) and Rehvenge, Bella's brother.
A warning: It's late. You really probably don't want to read this if you haven't read the book, as there will be spoilers and just general fangirly rambliness.
I really liked this book for the most part. Like I said in an earlier post, some of the camp factor is absent, (except for the names, which continue to be the cheesiest thing that ever cheesed.) But Ward is capable of making me care about these people.
Where to start? Zsadist... Yes, I see why he's a fan favorite. I loved him here. He's been through so much and I wanted to see him happy.
I also liked Bella. I liked that she had an important role to play in the climax of the book, and that gave her some closure I thought she needed.
I also love the John Matthew storyline. I very much want to see where it goes from here, and I even liked the fact that he's beginning to come into his own.
Lastly regarding characters, I have to mention Rehvenge. It was nice to meet a tough civillian who wasn't part of the Brotherhood, especially one who is definitely morally ambiguous. Rehvenge fascinates me, and I hope he has a book. Because I think he might be my favorite male vampire in the series so far. I loved his loyalty to his family, and his struggles to hide a rather big secret, and the fact that he did all sorts of amoral things just to keep his family safe.
Oh, and while I'm squeeing, there was no deus ex machina from the Scribe Virgin. Thank Cthulhu!
I also loved that Ward didn't hesitate to kill off characters. I'm glad she did, as it made the fights between the Brotherhood and the Lessers seem more relevant, although the death did break my heart at the time.
So what can't I squee about?
Well, first of all, Zsadist's brother, Phury, irritated the hell out of me. I really wanted him to get the hell off his damn cross already. I really liked that at the end Zsadist calls him on it, too, but from what I've heard about future books, I have the feeling Phury's whininess isn't abating.
Also, a common complaint I've read is that there's too much going on here. I agree, and yet again, Ward leaves a significant plot thread dangling near the end. Of course I will be reading the next book to see if she fixes it, and at least the manipulation wasn't as bad, but it is still really cheap.
Oh, and yeah, I can't talk about this book without talking about the Butch/Vishous... thingy. I don't understand WTF was going on there. It's like she threw in some bones (heh) to appease the slash fangirls without really explaining what they had to do with anything. Bad form, JR. Very bad form.
Overall, I liked this very much. Not quite a keeper, but still, B+ isn't that bad of a grade.
Title: Lover Awakened
Author: JR Ward
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Reason for Reading: Ward laces her books with some form of literary crack.
Grade: B+
Synopsis: The Black Dagger Brotherhood is an elite group of vampire warriors whose job it is to protect themselves from evil, sociopathic slayers called the Lessers. The most feared of the brothers is Zsadist, who was once a slave. Z has shut out all emotions except pain and hatred, but when Bella, a young vampire from an aristocratic family is kidnapped and Z rescues her, they both find that they need to heal. Interspersed through this story are the stories of the other members of the brotherhood, a Lesser who's obsessed with Bella, and, my favorites, Harry Potter (i.e. a young vampire named John Matthew) and Rehvenge, Bella's brother.
A warning: It's late. You really probably don't want to read this if you haven't read the book, as there will be spoilers and just general fangirly rambliness.
I really liked this book for the most part. Like I said in an earlier post, some of the camp factor is absent, (except for the names, which continue to be the cheesiest thing that ever cheesed.) But Ward is capable of making me care about these people.
Where to start? Zsadist... Yes, I see why he's a fan favorite. I loved him here. He's been through so much and I wanted to see him happy.
I also liked Bella. I liked that she had an important role to play in the climax of the book, and that gave her some closure I thought she needed.
I also love the John Matthew storyline. I very much want to see where it goes from here, and I even liked the fact that he's beginning to come into his own.
Lastly regarding characters, I have to mention Rehvenge. It was nice to meet a tough civillian who wasn't part of the Brotherhood, especially one who is definitely morally ambiguous. Rehvenge fascinates me, and I hope he has a book. Because I think he might be my favorite male vampire in the series so far. I loved his loyalty to his family, and his struggles to hide a rather big secret, and the fact that he did all sorts of amoral things just to keep his family safe.
Oh, and while I'm squeeing, there was no deus ex machina from the Scribe Virgin. Thank Cthulhu!
I also loved that Ward didn't hesitate to kill off characters. I'm glad she did, as it made the fights between the Brotherhood and the Lessers seem more relevant, although the death did break my heart at the time.
So what can't I squee about?
Well, first of all, Zsadist's brother, Phury, irritated the hell out of me. I really wanted him to get the hell off his damn cross already. I really liked that at the end Zsadist calls him on it, too, but from what I've heard about future books, I have the feeling Phury's whininess isn't abating.
Also, a common complaint I've read is that there's too much going on here. I agree, and yet again, Ward leaves a significant plot thread dangling near the end. Of course I will be reading the next book to see if she fixes it, and at least the manipulation wasn't as bad, but it is still really cheap.
Oh, and yeah, I can't talk about this book without talking about the Butch/Vishous... thingy. I don't understand WTF was going on there. It's like she threw in some bones (heh) to appease the slash fangirls without really explaining what they had to do with anything. Bad form, JR. Very bad form.
Overall, I liked this very much. Not quite a keeper, but still, B+ isn't that bad of a grade.