Black Dagger Brotherhood review
SUPER JUNIOR’S BLACK SUIT MV IS AN AWESOME COMEBACK I’M SO PROUD OF THEM YOU SHOULD GO WATCH IT NOW *shamelessly promoting it*
Anyways, my first LJ post in a very long time (oh my goodness has it really been over two years?), and of all the things it could be about XD I had planned last year to do a review of the Administration series by Manna Francis since I liked it enough to actually buy the books, but clearly that didn’t happen. And I had planned to do a review of the entire DC animated universe except I can’t find the motivation to finish up Batman Beyond. So… *waves hand at this post*
As for how I ended up here, I had finished the Dresden Files (loved them!) and wanted something urban fantasy. And since I wasn’t into any particular fandom (in order to find fanfiction), and I actually wanted a hetero pairing as opposed to BL, I started looking up erotic novels for beginners. Happily the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward seemed to fit both, and a bonus that there was a BL pairing!
Mind you, the books aren’t necessarily good (it was honestly difficult going through the first 3~4 books until I got used to it), but I ended up really getting into the universe and so just kept going :D Guilty pleasure and all that jazz. One of the things that I like about the series is that there are a ton of characters and so surely you can find at least one character or pairing to enjoy (and skim through everything else).
So without further ado, a review of the individual books, and then additional comments overall at the end \o/
WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS EVERYWHERE.
Disclaimer: These are just my personal opinions and I do not own anything.
Also disclaimer: I definitely have forgotten various plot points or mixed up when certain plot points took place or misspelled some names.
Updated 03/05/18 with a review on Blood Fury!
Book 1: Dark Lover
(Wrath AKA the king with long hair and sunglasses & Beth AKA the queen)
In general for multi-pairing series, I pretty much never like the main couple and so did not have high expectations for this. Was not disappointed XD This was an extremely difficult book to get through because I honestly did not like the characters (they get better) or the vernacular (does not get better but you get used to it). What makes me a bit sad in retrospect is that this is overall the most interaction that Butch and Beth have in the entire series even though they knew each other before their transitions. My favorite scene in this book is when the BDB kneel and stab their daggers into the floor to honor Beth.
Book 2: Lover Eternal
(Rhage AKA the best looking one with the beast & Mary AKA the girl next door counselor)
This couple (of course all of them are couples, but since I’m used to using “pairing” because of shipping, so I might use that word interchangeably) was okay I suppose, mainly because Mary is so nice. A good thing too because Rhage was a complete @$$hole to her during their first meeting (which seems to be the standard, but Rhage’s scene especially stood out for me). The ending wasn’t very satisfying since I personally don’t think Mary’s existing infertility is an equivalent exchange for her life, but at least that makes a happy ending.
Book 3: Lover Awakened
(Zsadist AKA the scary one with the facial scar & Bella AKA the first to be a mom)
My least favorite couple (don't hate them but I like them the least). Seems like a typical bad boy with a good girl scenario. Don’t care for their relationship because there was just so much miscommunication (which all the couples have but I remember this the most). Also I don’t care for Bella. I think as far as female characters go, I rank them by their usefulness, and Bella doesn’t exactly…do anything? The only noteworthy thing about her IMO is that she was the first of the females to pop out a kid (RIP Wellsie). The whole eyelids sewn shut thing was quite disturbing though >.<
Book 4: Lover Revealed
(Butch AKA the cop & Marissa AKA the most classy/beautiful of the ladies)
This was the first book that I actually started to enjoy (mostly skimmed through the first three). I rather liked this couple from when they first met since Marissa could be with someone who actually treats her decently. Though seriously, Butch? You’ve been stalking her for how long, and from only one instance of being “rejected”, you decide that she’s not good enough to pursue anymore? *shakes head* And while I’m glad that Marissa became more assertive at the end, it’s awfully sudden since she’s never showed any business skills before. But hands down my favorite scene in this book was V’s embrace during Butch’s initiation ceremony *swoons*
Book 5: Lover Unbound
(Vishous AKA the one with the goatee & Jane AKA the surgeon)
And because I absolutely adored V’s unrequited love for Butch, I was very worried coming into this book. Thankfully Jane is awesome \o/ Super useful too~ Though is it just me or does V have too many abilities? He’s the most intelligent, he’s their tech guy, he crafts their daggers, he’s got his hand, and he can see the future. I mean, yeah he’s part deity, but come on, save some powers for the other guys. Also, since he’s supposedly the most objective, shouldn’t he be more understanding towards his mom? Giving her birds was sweet (and thank god she didn’t bring Jane back to life. The dead are supposed to stay dead) but my biggest issue is how in the later books he just goes back to being super horrible to her.
Book 6: Lover Enshrined
(Phury AKA the one with the hair & Cormina AKA the other blond Chosen)
I liked Phury up until this book. His appeal for me was that he seemed genuinely normal, and apparently he now has a drug problem along with some personality problems. And becoming the Primale before neglecting all the duties, and then just up and dismantling the entire system (though still remaining as the pimp of the Chosen)? What the heck. Yeah, change is good, but I really don’t feel like he thought that through (namely the repercussions). Also I find it difficult to accept that Cormina suddenly became an expert architect just from playing with toothpicks and peas. And this is pretty much the last we see of Phury and Cormina in terms of importance.
Book 6.5: Father Mine (Zsadist & Bella novella) / An Insider’s Guide
I couldn’t find the Insider’s Guide at the library even though it claimed to be on shelf, so I spent an entire afternoon going through it at the Barnes & Noble bookstore XD It was… long and not all that interesting. There was some backstory about V saving Lassiter who had saved Wrath along with some interviews and behind the scenes stuff. What I do remember is V and Butch cuddling in bed (according to my gratuitous interpretation) during V’s “interview”, and Zsadist shopping for gifts at Target (which doesn’t make sense to me because he has money. Target products aren’t terrible, but it’s not exactly high quality present material either unless you’re purposely trying to be cheap). Oh and I feel a bit guilty about Butch stealing V’s heart since apparently V was Rhage’s friend first.
Book 7: Lover Avenged
(Rehvenge AKA the Sympath with a mohawk & Ehlena AKA the nurse)
I am in support of the idea that the more you love a character, the more you torture them. Which means that J.R. Ward must really like Rehvenge XD *pats his Mohawk* The TrezxRehv bromance was very strong and very sweet. As far as this book goes, I’m fine with Rehv and Ehlena separately (so happy that Rehv is done being overbearing towards Bella, who I keep forgetting is his sister), but while I’m fine with them as a couple too, for some reason I just don’t feel the romantic chemistry between them? It’s like they’re together just for the sake of this book having a romantic couple. I do like that Ehlena is curvy rather than stick skinny.
Book 8: Lover Mine
(John Matthew AKA the mute one & Xhex AKA the Sympath bouncer/security)
This couple is not bad, with the bad@$$ girl with the down-to-earth boy. However, I personally was disappointed with how Xhex’s character ended up portrayed, specifically because she was supposed to be bad@SS. She got kidnapped for starters (though major kudos for breaking free on her own), then she keeps getting injured (which I’m pretty sure if it happened to one of the guys, they would be been back up immediately, and I had wanted it to be the same for her), and then John Matthew pretty much beat up the bad guy for her, before graciously allowing her to give the killing blow. And also how I think in the next book, she pretty much gave up the BDB life and went back to club security just because he didn’t like her out there fighting.
Book 9: Lover Unleashed
(Payne AKA awesome & Manny AKA the less important surgeon but I like him)
I actually really really like this couple. The mutual respect that they have for each other since day one is just the most heartwarming thing ever. I was quite confused by Payne’s personality. From previous books it seemed like she was a loose cannon that would become a bad guy against the BDB, but turns out she’s actually quite nice and considerate (besides towards her mom). But as with Xhex, I am disappointed with how Payne ended up. I absolutely adore Payne, but she got taken so easily by the Bastards, basically she can only keep up with Wrath because he is blind, she’s not officially part of the Brotherhood (or was it that she doesn’t want to be?), and we pretty much never get to hear of her fighting prowess again :( Manny should get more screentime too. One of my favorite scenes in this book is when Manny was trying to take off V’s boot, V kept insisting that it was a “sh!tkicker”, and Manny’s just like “yeah, whatever” XD And another favorite scene is Manny and Butch trying to look up security footage, emphasis on trying XD
Book 10: Lover Reborn
(Tohrment AKA Team Dad & Autumn AKA the one after Wellsie and yes I went there)
J.R. Ward must really like Tohr too because man, his life sucks ^^; I’ve been wondering whether he would get his own happy ending since he seemed to be the only one suffering. Though as with Phury, I admit I liked Tohr up until this book. Because then he turned into a complete jerk. And there wasn’t anything particularly special about Autumn, though Lassiter’s realization about her at the end caught me by surprise too (and wow, Tohr’s life REALLY sucked during those few minutes). Speaking of which, most people are just so unnecessarily mean to Lassiter even though he’s easy to make fun of.
Book 11: Lover At Last
(Qhuinn AKA the one with different colored eyes & Blay AKA the redhead)
This book was aptly named, though unfortunately I don’t mean it in a good way. I partially kept reading through all 10.5 previous books in order to finally get to the BL pairing. But with all the miscommunication that kept happening between them in the previous books, by the time it got here, I just kinda lost interest? Still great that they ended up together, and I like that they are reversible sometimes. Though while I’m proud that Qhuinn got inducted into the Brotherhood (he doesn’t get an actual BDB name?), what about Blay and John Matthew (especially Blay since John Matthew already has a backup name)? And I can’t remember if it was specifically in this book, but it seems like Wrath’s sole purpose recently is just to show up and do a slow clap....
Book 12: The King (Wrath & Beth)
While I still don’t care for this couple, I think it’s really nice that they get a book to themselves again. Since there are so many characters in this series, I had been wondering if they would only be able to appear primarily in one book before being cast aside as cameos (Wrath’s gig with showing up and doing a slow clap definitely did not help with this impression). As far as I can remember, Wrath became blind and got a dog, and then Beth suddenly had a baby. Must be nice though not to have to deal with months of being pregnant. Oh, but my respect for Beth definitely shot up in this book, because her human marriage solution was actually pure genius *nods, impressed* Also glad that she and John Matthew got to spend some sibling time together.
Book 13: The Shadows
(Trez and iAm, AKA as titled and unfortunately no incest)
Since Wrath and Beth got another book, thought it’d be Rhage and Mary next, but this is a good detour too. I was wondering if Selena would end up with someone since she was one of the very few Chosen who was mentioned by name, and more than once. Good for her. Or not, I was rather shocked that she actually got killed off O.o I still don’t quite get why Rhage was so affected (it’s like it was just to make him important again) but at least Trez seems at peace… for now. As for iAm, he randomly ended up with a love interest, like it was an afterthought of a reward for being a good brother or something.
Spin-off book: Blood Kiss: Black Dagger Legacy
(Paradise AKA the blond female newbie & Craeg AKA the vampire redneck)
Oh, so by spin-off, it’s the same universe, just focused on a new generation. Which was a bit weird at first because I still thought of John Matthew / Qhuinn / Blay as the new gen. Oh well. Found it difficult to believe that Paradise was the last one standing at the trials since she barely just started working out what seems to be a couple months before. She and Craeg are okay together I guess. For me the best part was getting more of Butch and Marissa <3 I loved seeing them grow that much closer as a couple, plus we get some callbacks to Butch’s cop days even if his detective skills were absolutely useless in this book (in all books, actually…).
Book 14: The Beast (Rhage & Mary)
Ah, it’s Rhage and Mary’s turn again (though does that mean Butch and Marissa won’t get an entire second book?). Here, I think it was just that they adopted the girl. I actually thought that there were parents out there who seriously would name their kid Bitty (I mean, there are a lot of funny names in this universe, but Bitty just seems kinda sad). Quite relieved to find out it was just a nickname. I personally found it very cliché that Rhage suddenly became great with kids and that Bitty immediately warmed up to him. Eh. But cheers to the new happy family.
Spin-off book: Blood Vow: Black Dagger Legacy
(Axe AKA the Goth newbie & Elise AKA the psychology student)
I can’t say I cared about Axe and Elise, though props to Elise for being possibly the only character who actually listens and tries to understand her love interest instead of immediately jumping into the miscommunications. I do find it weird that Trez and iAm had to move out in order to give Rhage and company that third floor suite. In the series the characters are always going on about how huge the place is, and new characters keep moving in, so was there seriously no other suite left? But my absolute favorite part of this book (and quite possibly the most excited I got during this entire series) was Saxton’s reaction upon seeing Ruhn for the first time :D :D :D And while the thought is nice, what the heck is Ruhn supposed to do with a truck, does he even know how to drive?
Book 15: The Chosen
(Xcor AKA the “ugly” Bastard & Layla AKA THE Chosen)
WTF. I had been happily following along with Xcor and Layla’s star crossed romance, but I don’t know, I just really didn’t like this book. The birthing scene at the beginning was rather traumatic. Qhuinn (and Tohr for a while) got some MAJOR character derailment, which seems to be only for the sake of creating drama in this book. Blay told him something like “I don’t know who you are anymore”, and I agree. And then I’m sure that fighting back to back makes for great camaraderie, but the forgiveness part was waaaaay too fast/convenient (for both Tohr and the Bastards) and the ending was way too rushed. Also, are the Bastards moving in as well (I forgot already)? Are poor Trez and iAm gonna have to relocate again?
Spin-off book: Blood Fury: Black Dagger Legacy (to be published next year)
(Peyton AKA the upper-class newbie & Novo AKA the bad@$$ female newbie)
Since the BDB are like the elite of the elite, I like that we’ve been getting more “lower-class” characters. Though Black Dagger Legacy might be a bit too into it? It seems like all the couples so far are one rich kid with one not-rich kid. For these two, Novo’s not bad so I look forward to her backstory, while Peyton has been meh so hopefully he gets character development. But the part that I can’t wait the most for? Saxton & Ruhn. Saxton!!!!! Precious baby >.< I adore him SO much, and I wish him all the best for his happy ending. After he suffers some more from unrequited love that is <3 It’s a shame that he doesn’t get his own book, but this is for the better since there’s not enough material for him, and I wouldn’t want his story to be dragged on.
ETA 03/05/18: Was able to borrow it from the library and read it while curled up on the couch at home ^.^ This volume wasn't horrible though it wasn't particularly great either. Peyton and Novo... eh *shrugs* It sure explained away his love for Paradise rather easily. And I thought the female he was about to be married off to would be more important. And maybe I just completely missed it but this book possibly spoiled Wrath and Beth's second child in passing? Also wondering if the old lady's granddaughter will end up with the Boone(?) kid since everyone ends up together. Oh but Qhuinn's brother finally showed up again :) As for Saxton and Ruhn, the first half was wonderful, second half kinda lackluster. I was hoping for more conflict between them but grateful that idiotic miscommunication was not a major issue. I'm rather disappointed with Ruhn's lack of fighting prowress though since his past got hyped up so much and yet he got taken down by a few humans (not even Lessers) :\ And I would've been more impressed had Saxton actually hunted down said humans himself. But cringeworthy cheesy ending where the two couples sit together aside, an okay book.
Book 16: The Thief (to be published next year)
(Assail AKA the aristocratic cokehead & Sola AKA the titular human
As with Rehv and Ehlena, I just have not been able to feel any romantic chemistry between Assail and Sola from previous books, so I’m not particularly excited about this. I wonder if there’s going to be a pun about her stealing his heart… Sola’s escape from her kidnappers was quite bad@$$ though. But I do want to see what happened to that slave Assail rescued, more of Throe (because oh wow the AssailxThroe during Assail’s undercover mission was super hot and made me want Assail as a dominant uke), more of Sola’s grandma and Assail’s cousins (so adorable~), and more of Manny (since he was the one initially helping with Assail’s detox, and I think it would be very cute if they became friends).
Other stuff
Among the many WTF moments in The Chosen, I was also thinking WTF is going on with V. He too seems to have suffered character derailment. Is there some reason why he can’t just, oh I don’t know, TALK to Jane about his issues? You’d think that he’d have learned his lesson about the need for proper communication by now. Though the previous time he went through character derailment (which I also didn’t understand because I thought his dad/mom issues were already resolved and that he and Jane were actively getting kinky), it resulted in a BDSM session with Butch, so crossing my fingers for a repeat of that ending.
Another V-related thing that made me sad was that he seems to now want kids. I really liked V & Jane because they were the intelligent couple that was mutually able to focus on their own thing/career and didn’t need any overly romantic gestures or traditional marriage stuff. Which resonated with me because I personally don’t like kids and do not want to have any. But now it seems like the message in the series is that you can’t be fully happy as a couple unless you have sex all the time, get married or have a marriage-ish ceremony, and have a few midgets *shrugs*
Anyways, for the plot points that I’m still waiting to be addressed in the series.
-Darius. He’s like the granddaddy of the BDB. But since he got killed off so fast, we haven’t been able to see him being awesome, or know anything really about his past, or gotten more into how he got reincarnated or something in John Matthew. ETA: nevermind, I forgot we did get to see how, but the BDB still don't know yet.
-Qhuinn's brother. ETA: speaking of relations, I feel like Qhuinn's brother needs his own closure too. For romance, I originally thought he and Saxton might hook up since they were the only single characters at the time, but now it looks like the brother is going to be the single single charater.
-Muhrder. Are we going to get the details on his past with Xhex and getting kicked out of the BDB, or not gonna touch that if he’s happy playing a ghostly Cupid?
-Humans. The general public seems to becoming more aware of the BDB, and I hope that this is something that can be dealt with properly since it’s a pretty big deal, and not rushed through with everyone suddenly becoming best buddies for some lame reason
-The Omega. He hasn’t really done anything for a very long time? Especially since he seems to leave everything to the lessers. I would like to have a more nefarious plot from him where he’s a bit more involved
-Butch and Manny’s dad. Yeah, that guy. And I’d also like to see Butch and Manny bonding too, slowly as half-siblings, though maybe more over human matters (going to church?). ETA: oh right, that guy was the father to the human female reporter too
-The detectives. Speaking of Butch, his old partner and also his replacement. The old partner seems like he could be friends with Xhex, and the replacement I had thought was going to be a half-vampire or something but for sure his past needs more explaining
I always find it funny when series include current events and such from real life. Like for the Detective Conan manga, it was quite a surprise to see Conan using an iPhone and selfie stick. Or when characters from other series blatantly discuss an actual recent movie or book series. I don’t remember all of the instances from Black Dagger Brotherhood (though I recall that there were several), just one part where I think it was V who was dissing Apple’s decision to remove the headphone jack from the new iPhones XD I want to say there were digs at Justin Bieber and Twilight as well but I could just be making that up.
Regarding the sex scenes. I did originally start this series for the erotica, but I kind of ended up skimming through most of the sex scenes? ^^; Because honestly most of it is the same after a while. The only moments that stood out for me were Butch and Marissa’s first time (since it was actually kinda painful for her, and that seemed more realistic), and this one scene where apparently Selena has big enough boobs (*slightly jealous as a completely flat-chested girl*) that she could lick her own nipples.
As for non-canon pairings, I’m a big fan of ButchxV, which is a shame because the series seems to be more VxButch. Oh well. But along with ButchxV, I think it would also be great if JanexMarissa happened:D I want some yuri in this series! Like maybe Butch and V are cuddling after a healing session and fall asleep in one bed, so Jane and Marissa just take the other bed and hijinks ensue~ And then have Butch and Jane hanging out (bonding over human stuff and talking sh!t about V lol) and V and Marissa hanging out too (and gushing over Butch. But the scene in I believe Blood Kiss where she strokes his cheek and he kisses her palm was just the cutest thing ever <3).
Last but not least some other media. When Googling “Black Dagger Brotherhood”, one of the result options that usually shows up is “Black Dagger Brotherhood movie”, so I was excited upon thinking it was an actual thing (either already out or already green-lit). Sadly that was just wishful thinking, but I guess it would be difficult to put a series like this onscreen. As for fancasts, I like the tumblr posts below overall. Thrilled to see Matt Bomer as Darius except since Darius is dead, Matt Bomer wouldn’t show up often enough to let me bask in his pretty face (he is my ideal type for male celebrities <3 <3 <3). I have also seen some pictures of Jason Momoa for Wrath, and I approve of that too (don’t know if the personality is correct but he is so hot as Aquaman~).
But yeah, that's about it! Thank you for reading through this (or skimming to the end ha ha ha), and I wish everyone a good rest of your week :)
Anyways, my first LJ post in a very long time (oh my goodness has it really been over two years?), and of all the things it could be about XD I had planned last year to do a review of the Administration series by Manna Francis since I liked it enough to actually buy the books, but clearly that didn’t happen. And I had planned to do a review of the entire DC animated universe except I can’t find the motivation to finish up Batman Beyond. So… *waves hand at this post*
As for how I ended up here, I had finished the Dresden Files (loved them!) and wanted something urban fantasy. And since I wasn’t into any particular fandom (in order to find fanfiction), and I actually wanted a hetero pairing as opposed to BL, I started looking up erotic novels for beginners. Happily the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward seemed to fit both, and a bonus that there was a BL pairing!
Mind you, the books aren’t necessarily good (it was honestly difficult going through the first 3~4 books until I got used to it), but I ended up really getting into the universe and so just kept going :D Guilty pleasure and all that jazz. One of the things that I like about the series is that there are a ton of characters and so surely you can find at least one character or pairing to enjoy (and skim through everything else).
So without further ado, a review of the individual books, and then additional comments overall at the end \o/
WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS EVERYWHERE.
Disclaimer: These are just my personal opinions and I do not own anything.
Also disclaimer: I definitely have forgotten various plot points or mixed up when certain plot points took place or misspelled some names.
Updated 03/05/18 with a review on Blood Fury!
Book 1: Dark Lover
(Wrath AKA the king with long hair and sunglasses & Beth AKA the queen)
In general for multi-pairing series, I pretty much never like the main couple and so did not have high expectations for this. Was not disappointed XD This was an extremely difficult book to get through because I honestly did not like the characters (they get better) or the vernacular (does not get better but you get used to it). What makes me a bit sad in retrospect is that this is overall the most interaction that Butch and Beth have in the entire series even though they knew each other before their transitions. My favorite scene in this book is when the BDB kneel and stab their daggers into the floor to honor Beth.
Book 2: Lover Eternal
(Rhage AKA the best looking one with the beast & Mary AKA the girl next door counselor)
This couple (of course all of them are couples, but since I’m used to using “pairing” because of shipping, so I might use that word interchangeably) was okay I suppose, mainly because Mary is so nice. A good thing too because Rhage was a complete @$$hole to her during their first meeting (which seems to be the standard, but Rhage’s scene especially stood out for me). The ending wasn’t very satisfying since I personally don’t think Mary’s existing infertility is an equivalent exchange for her life, but at least that makes a happy ending.
Book 3: Lover Awakened
(Zsadist AKA the scary one with the facial scar & Bella AKA the first to be a mom)
My least favorite couple (don't hate them but I like them the least). Seems like a typical bad boy with a good girl scenario. Don’t care for their relationship because there was just so much miscommunication (which all the couples have but I remember this the most). Also I don’t care for Bella. I think as far as female characters go, I rank them by their usefulness, and Bella doesn’t exactly…do anything? The only noteworthy thing about her IMO is that she was the first of the females to pop out a kid (RIP Wellsie). The whole eyelids sewn shut thing was quite disturbing though >.<
Book 4: Lover Revealed
(Butch AKA the cop & Marissa AKA the most classy/beautiful of the ladies)
This was the first book that I actually started to enjoy (mostly skimmed through the first three). I rather liked this couple from when they first met since Marissa could be with someone who actually treats her decently. Though seriously, Butch? You’ve been stalking her for how long, and from only one instance of being “rejected”, you decide that she’s not good enough to pursue anymore? *shakes head* And while I’m glad that Marissa became more assertive at the end, it’s awfully sudden since she’s never showed any business skills before. But hands down my favorite scene in this book was V’s embrace during Butch’s initiation ceremony *swoons*
Book 5: Lover Unbound
(Vishous AKA the one with the goatee & Jane AKA the surgeon)
And because I absolutely adored V’s unrequited love for Butch, I was very worried coming into this book. Thankfully Jane is awesome \o/ Super useful too~ Though is it just me or does V have too many abilities? He’s the most intelligent, he’s their tech guy, he crafts their daggers, he’s got his hand, and he can see the future. I mean, yeah he’s part deity, but come on, save some powers for the other guys. Also, since he’s supposedly the most objective, shouldn’t he be more understanding towards his mom? Giving her birds was sweet (and thank god she didn’t bring Jane back to life. The dead are supposed to stay dead) but my biggest issue is how in the later books he just goes back to being super horrible to her.
Book 6: Lover Enshrined
(Phury AKA the one with the hair & Cormina AKA the other blond Chosen)
I liked Phury up until this book. His appeal for me was that he seemed genuinely normal, and apparently he now has a drug problem along with some personality problems. And becoming the Primale before neglecting all the duties, and then just up and dismantling the entire system (though still remaining as the pimp of the Chosen)? What the heck. Yeah, change is good, but I really don’t feel like he thought that through (namely the repercussions). Also I find it difficult to accept that Cormina suddenly became an expert architect just from playing with toothpicks and peas. And this is pretty much the last we see of Phury and Cormina in terms of importance.
Book 6.5: Father Mine (Zsadist & Bella novella) / An Insider’s Guide
I couldn’t find the Insider’s Guide at the library even though it claimed to be on shelf, so I spent an entire afternoon going through it at the Barnes & Noble bookstore XD It was… long and not all that interesting. There was some backstory about V saving Lassiter who had saved Wrath along with some interviews and behind the scenes stuff. What I do remember is V and Butch cuddling in bed (according to my gratuitous interpretation) during V’s “interview”, and Zsadist shopping for gifts at Target (which doesn’t make sense to me because he has money. Target products aren’t terrible, but it’s not exactly high quality present material either unless you’re purposely trying to be cheap). Oh and I feel a bit guilty about Butch stealing V’s heart since apparently V was Rhage’s friend first.
Book 7: Lover Avenged
(Rehvenge AKA the Sympath with a mohawk & Ehlena AKA the nurse)
I am in support of the idea that the more you love a character, the more you torture them. Which means that J.R. Ward must really like Rehvenge XD *pats his Mohawk* The TrezxRehv bromance was very strong and very sweet. As far as this book goes, I’m fine with Rehv and Ehlena separately (so happy that Rehv is done being overbearing towards Bella, who I keep forgetting is his sister), but while I’m fine with them as a couple too, for some reason I just don’t feel the romantic chemistry between them? It’s like they’re together just for the sake of this book having a romantic couple. I do like that Ehlena is curvy rather than stick skinny.
Book 8: Lover Mine
(John Matthew AKA the mute one & Xhex AKA the Sympath bouncer/security)
This couple is not bad, with the bad@$$ girl with the down-to-earth boy. However, I personally was disappointed with how Xhex’s character ended up portrayed, specifically because she was supposed to be bad@SS. She got kidnapped for starters (though major kudos for breaking free on her own), then she keeps getting injured (which I’m pretty sure if it happened to one of the guys, they would be been back up immediately, and I had wanted it to be the same for her), and then John Matthew pretty much beat up the bad guy for her, before graciously allowing her to give the killing blow. And also how I think in the next book, she pretty much gave up the BDB life and went back to club security just because he didn’t like her out there fighting.
Book 9: Lover Unleashed
(Payne AKA awesome & Manny AKA the less important surgeon but I like him)
I actually really really like this couple. The mutual respect that they have for each other since day one is just the most heartwarming thing ever. I was quite confused by Payne’s personality. From previous books it seemed like she was a loose cannon that would become a bad guy against the BDB, but turns out she’s actually quite nice and considerate (besides towards her mom). But as with Xhex, I am disappointed with how Payne ended up. I absolutely adore Payne, but she got taken so easily by the Bastards, basically she can only keep up with Wrath because he is blind, she’s not officially part of the Brotherhood (or was it that she doesn’t want to be?), and we pretty much never get to hear of her fighting prowess again :( Manny should get more screentime too. One of my favorite scenes in this book is when Manny was trying to take off V’s boot, V kept insisting that it was a “sh!tkicker”, and Manny’s just like “yeah, whatever” XD And another favorite scene is Manny and Butch trying to look up security footage, emphasis on trying XD
Book 10: Lover Reborn
(Tohrment AKA Team Dad & Autumn AKA the one after Wellsie and yes I went there)
J.R. Ward must really like Tohr too because man, his life sucks ^^; I’ve been wondering whether he would get his own happy ending since he seemed to be the only one suffering. Though as with Phury, I admit I liked Tohr up until this book. Because then he turned into a complete jerk. And there wasn’t anything particularly special about Autumn, though Lassiter’s realization about her at the end caught me by surprise too (and wow, Tohr’s life REALLY sucked during those few minutes). Speaking of which, most people are just so unnecessarily mean to Lassiter even though he’s easy to make fun of.
Book 11: Lover At Last
(Qhuinn AKA the one with different colored eyes & Blay AKA the redhead)
This book was aptly named, though unfortunately I don’t mean it in a good way. I partially kept reading through all 10.5 previous books in order to finally get to the BL pairing. But with all the miscommunication that kept happening between them in the previous books, by the time it got here, I just kinda lost interest? Still great that they ended up together, and I like that they are reversible sometimes. Though while I’m proud that Qhuinn got inducted into the Brotherhood (he doesn’t get an actual BDB name?), what about Blay and John Matthew (especially Blay since John Matthew already has a backup name)? And I can’t remember if it was specifically in this book, but it seems like Wrath’s sole purpose recently is just to show up and do a slow clap....
Book 12: The King (Wrath & Beth)
While I still don’t care for this couple, I think it’s really nice that they get a book to themselves again. Since there are so many characters in this series, I had been wondering if they would only be able to appear primarily in one book before being cast aside as cameos (Wrath’s gig with showing up and doing a slow clap definitely did not help with this impression). As far as I can remember, Wrath became blind and got a dog, and then Beth suddenly had a baby. Must be nice though not to have to deal with months of being pregnant. Oh, but my respect for Beth definitely shot up in this book, because her human marriage solution was actually pure genius *nods, impressed* Also glad that she and John Matthew got to spend some sibling time together.
Book 13: The Shadows
(Trez and iAm, AKA as titled and unfortunately no incest)
Since Wrath and Beth got another book, thought it’d be Rhage and Mary next, but this is a good detour too. I was wondering if Selena would end up with someone since she was one of the very few Chosen who was mentioned by name, and more than once. Good for her. Or not, I was rather shocked that she actually got killed off O.o I still don’t quite get why Rhage was so affected (it’s like it was just to make him important again) but at least Trez seems at peace… for now. As for iAm, he randomly ended up with a love interest, like it was an afterthought of a reward for being a good brother or something.
Spin-off book: Blood Kiss: Black Dagger Legacy
(Paradise AKA the blond female newbie & Craeg AKA the vampire redneck)
Oh, so by spin-off, it’s the same universe, just focused on a new generation. Which was a bit weird at first because I still thought of John Matthew / Qhuinn / Blay as the new gen. Oh well. Found it difficult to believe that Paradise was the last one standing at the trials since she barely just started working out what seems to be a couple months before. She and Craeg are okay together I guess. For me the best part was getting more of Butch and Marissa <3 I loved seeing them grow that much closer as a couple, plus we get some callbacks to Butch’s cop days even if his detective skills were absolutely useless in this book (in all books, actually…).
Book 14: The Beast (Rhage & Mary)
Ah, it’s Rhage and Mary’s turn again (though does that mean Butch and Marissa won’t get an entire second book?). Here, I think it was just that they adopted the girl. I actually thought that there were parents out there who seriously would name their kid Bitty (I mean, there are a lot of funny names in this universe, but Bitty just seems kinda sad). Quite relieved to find out it was just a nickname. I personally found it very cliché that Rhage suddenly became great with kids and that Bitty immediately warmed up to him. Eh. But cheers to the new happy family.
Spin-off book: Blood Vow: Black Dagger Legacy
(Axe AKA the Goth newbie & Elise AKA the psychology student)
I can’t say I cared about Axe and Elise, though props to Elise for being possibly the only character who actually listens and tries to understand her love interest instead of immediately jumping into the miscommunications. I do find it weird that Trez and iAm had to move out in order to give Rhage and company that third floor suite. In the series the characters are always going on about how huge the place is, and new characters keep moving in, so was there seriously no other suite left? But my absolute favorite part of this book (and quite possibly the most excited I got during this entire series) was Saxton’s reaction upon seeing Ruhn for the first time :D :D :D And while the thought is nice, what the heck is Ruhn supposed to do with a truck, does he even know how to drive?
Book 15: The Chosen
(Xcor AKA the “ugly” Bastard & Layla AKA THE Chosen)
WTF. I had been happily following along with Xcor and Layla’s star crossed romance, but I don’t know, I just really didn’t like this book. The birthing scene at the beginning was rather traumatic. Qhuinn (and Tohr for a while) got some MAJOR character derailment, which seems to be only for the sake of creating drama in this book. Blay told him something like “I don’t know who you are anymore”, and I agree. And then I’m sure that fighting back to back makes for great camaraderie, but the forgiveness part was waaaaay too fast/convenient (for both Tohr and the Bastards) and the ending was way too rushed. Also, are the Bastards moving in as well (I forgot already)? Are poor Trez and iAm gonna have to relocate again?
Spin-off book: Blood Fury: Black Dagger Legacy (to be published next year)
(Peyton AKA the upper-class newbie & Novo AKA the bad@$$ female newbie)
Since the BDB are like the elite of the elite, I like that we’ve been getting more “lower-class” characters. Though Black Dagger Legacy might be a bit too into it? It seems like all the couples so far are one rich kid with one not-rich kid. For these two, Novo’s not bad so I look forward to her backstory, while Peyton has been meh so hopefully he gets character development. But the part that I can’t wait the most for? Saxton & Ruhn. Saxton!!!!! Precious baby >.< I adore him SO much, and I wish him all the best for his happy ending. After he suffers some more from unrequited love that is <3 It’s a shame that he doesn’t get his own book, but this is for the better since there’s not enough material for him, and I wouldn’t want his story to be dragged on.
ETA 03/05/18: Was able to borrow it from the library and read it while curled up on the couch at home ^.^ This volume wasn't horrible though it wasn't particularly great either. Peyton and Novo... eh *shrugs* It sure explained away his love for Paradise rather easily. And I thought the female he was about to be married off to would be more important. And maybe I just completely missed it but this book possibly spoiled Wrath and Beth's second child in passing? Also wondering if the old lady's granddaughter will end up with the Boone(?) kid since everyone ends up together. Oh but Qhuinn's brother finally showed up again :) As for Saxton and Ruhn, the first half was wonderful, second half kinda lackluster. I was hoping for more conflict between them but grateful that idiotic miscommunication was not a major issue. I'm rather disappointed with Ruhn's lack of fighting prowress though since his past got hyped up so much and yet he got taken down by a few humans (not even Lessers) :\ And I would've been more impressed had Saxton actually hunted down said humans himself. But cringeworthy cheesy ending where the two couples sit together aside, an okay book.
Book 16: The Thief (to be published next year)
(Assail AKA the aristocratic cokehead & Sola AKA the titular human
As with Rehv and Ehlena, I just have not been able to feel any romantic chemistry between Assail and Sola from previous books, so I’m not particularly excited about this. I wonder if there’s going to be a pun about her stealing his heart… Sola’s escape from her kidnappers was quite bad@$$ though. But I do want to see what happened to that slave Assail rescued, more of Throe (because oh wow the AssailxThroe during Assail’s undercover mission was super hot and made me want Assail as a dominant uke), more of Sola’s grandma and Assail’s cousins (so adorable~), and more of Manny (since he was the one initially helping with Assail’s detox, and I think it would be very cute if they became friends).
Other stuff
Among the many WTF moments in The Chosen, I was also thinking WTF is going on with V. He too seems to have suffered character derailment. Is there some reason why he can’t just, oh I don’t know, TALK to Jane about his issues? You’d think that he’d have learned his lesson about the need for proper communication by now. Though the previous time he went through character derailment (which I also didn’t understand because I thought his dad/mom issues were already resolved and that he and Jane were actively getting kinky), it resulted in a BDSM session with Butch, so crossing my fingers for a repeat of that ending.
Another V-related thing that made me sad was that he seems to now want kids. I really liked V & Jane because they were the intelligent couple that was mutually able to focus on their own thing/career and didn’t need any overly romantic gestures or traditional marriage stuff. Which resonated with me because I personally don’t like kids and do not want to have any. But now it seems like the message in the series is that you can’t be fully happy as a couple unless you have sex all the time, get married or have a marriage-ish ceremony, and have a few midgets *shrugs*
Anyways, for the plot points that I’m still waiting to be addressed in the series.
-Darius. He’s like the granddaddy of the BDB. But since he got killed off so fast, we haven’t been able to see him being awesome, or know anything really about his past, or gotten more into how he got reincarnated or something in John Matthew. ETA: nevermind, I forgot we did get to see how, but the BDB still don't know yet.
-Qhuinn's brother. ETA: speaking of relations, I feel like Qhuinn's brother needs his own closure too. For romance, I originally thought he and Saxton might hook up since they were the only single characters at the time, but now it looks like the brother is going to be the single single charater.
-Muhrder. Are we going to get the details on his past with Xhex and getting kicked out of the BDB, or not gonna touch that if he’s happy playing a ghostly Cupid?
-Humans. The general public seems to becoming more aware of the BDB, and I hope that this is something that can be dealt with properly since it’s a pretty big deal, and not rushed through with everyone suddenly becoming best buddies for some lame reason
-The Omega. He hasn’t really done anything for a very long time? Especially since he seems to leave everything to the lessers. I would like to have a more nefarious plot from him where he’s a bit more involved
-Butch and Manny’s dad. Yeah, that guy. And I’d also like to see Butch and Manny bonding too, slowly as half-siblings, though maybe more over human matters (going to church?). ETA: oh right, that guy was the father to the human female reporter too
-The detectives. Speaking of Butch, his old partner and also his replacement. The old partner seems like he could be friends with Xhex, and the replacement I had thought was going to be a half-vampire or something but for sure his past needs more explaining
I always find it funny when series include current events and such from real life. Like for the Detective Conan manga, it was quite a surprise to see Conan using an iPhone and selfie stick. Or when characters from other series blatantly discuss an actual recent movie or book series. I don’t remember all of the instances from Black Dagger Brotherhood (though I recall that there were several), just one part where I think it was V who was dissing Apple’s decision to remove the headphone jack from the new iPhones XD I want to say there were digs at Justin Bieber and Twilight as well but I could just be making that up.
Regarding the sex scenes. I did originally start this series for the erotica, but I kind of ended up skimming through most of the sex scenes? ^^; Because honestly most of it is the same after a while. The only moments that stood out for me were Butch and Marissa’s first time (since it was actually kinda painful for her, and that seemed more realistic), and this one scene where apparently Selena has big enough boobs (*slightly jealous as a completely flat-chested girl*) that she could lick her own nipples.
As for non-canon pairings, I’m a big fan of ButchxV, which is a shame because the series seems to be more VxButch. Oh well. But along with ButchxV, I think it would also be great if JanexMarissa happened:D I want some yuri in this series! Like maybe Butch and V are cuddling after a healing session and fall asleep in one bed, so Jane and Marissa just take the other bed and hijinks ensue~ And then have Butch and Jane hanging out (bonding over human stuff and talking sh!t about V lol) and V and Marissa hanging out too (and gushing over Butch. But the scene in I believe Blood Kiss where she strokes his cheek and he kisses her palm was just the cutest thing ever <3).
Last but not least some other media. When Googling “Black Dagger Brotherhood”, one of the result options that usually shows up is “Black Dagger Brotherhood movie”, so I was excited upon thinking it was an actual thing (either already out or already green-lit). Sadly that was just wishful thinking, but I guess it would be difficult to put a series like this onscreen. As for fancasts, I like the tumblr posts below overall. Thrilled to see Matt Bomer as Darius except since Darius is dead, Matt Bomer wouldn’t show up often enough to let me bask in his pretty face (he is my ideal type for male celebrities <3 <3 <3). I have also seen some pictures of Jason Momoa for Wrath, and I approve of that too (don’t know if the personality is correct but he is so hot as Aquaman~).
But yeah, that's about it! Thank you for reading through this (or skimming to the end ha ha ha), and I wish everyone a good rest of your week :)