Most helpful customer reviews
|
|
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wow!, Dec 22 2005
By A Customer
Move over Sherrilyn Kenyon, Dark Hunter series author. J.R. Ward has written an addictive debut novel in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series.I am a recent convert to the 'paranormal romance' genre, and have read many. This novel comes close to being the best I have read. Don't be put off by the glossary at the front of the book, I actually appreciated the gesture of the author to include it as a start to her series. Not only are the main characters filled out nicely, but glimpses at the secondary characters leave the reader wanting more. I want Zsadist's book.
|
|
|
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
DARK LOVER Is Simply Awesome, May 6 2009
This is a beautifully done romance. Wrath is a sexy, tormented, to die for hero and Beth is simply perfect as his Queen. JR Ward has created a fantastic paranormal world with this series which I like to think of as Twilight for adults and I can guarantee you'll enjoy your time spent with the Black Dagger Brotherhood. DARK LOVER is ultimately addicting, sexy, erotic, funny and brash with an entertaining yet menacing cast of seriously alpha-male secondary characters who will all leave you wanting more.
Wrath is the only purebred vampire left on the planet he is also a King who refuses to lead his people. Almost blind and with a mean temper he prefers to be alone avenging the murder of his parents as he fights an endless battle against the `Lessers.' (The antagonists here are a truly evil group of sickly sweet smelling undead who will stop at nothing to eliminate the vampire race.) Wrath's only true companions are the members of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. A dangerous gang of eclectic characters each with their own set of issues (and each getting their own upcoming book as well) The Brothers have sworn their loyalties to the King and fight alongside him to protect the vampire race from the `Lessoning Society' awaiting the day when Wrath will ascend to the throne.
As we begin the Brother Darius asks Wrath to help his half human daughter through the `change' an unstoppable transition that will turn her from human to Vampire. This is a very dangerous time and Darius's hope is that the blind King's almost pure blood will guarantee her survival. Wrath initially declines because he doesn't like humans but when Darius is killed Wrath has no choice but to honour his Brothers last wishes.
Beth hasn't been feeling like herself lately and having been raised in foster care is completely unaware of her vampire heritage. Her job as a reporter for a local newspaper sees her unknowingly reporting on her own fathers murder. Along the way we are introduced to Butch, a burnt out cop who's in love with Beth. One night Beth awakens to find a gorgeous but heavily armed man dressed in head to toe leather standing in her apartment. She is of course frightened but can't deny the instant attraction even though he appears to have fangs. Beth and Wrath's initial encounter is hot and the sparks never stop flying as Wrath takes on the position of her protector guiding her through `the change.' When Butch witnesses the two of them together he's horrified because Wrath has been fingered as the prime suspect in a string of unsolved murders. The killings have in fact been committed by the `Lessers' and in trying to keep Wrath away from Beth, Butch will only succeed in bringing the evil closer to home.
You may be initially put off by the author's odd choice of names for the Brothers. I know I definitely had trouble keeping track of who's who. Their names are weird and there are a lot of them to keep track of, each with their own set of gifts and issues but stick with it. The language (doggen, lesser, shellan etc) was also a bit of an issue at first but thankfully JR has included a glossary of terms which by the end of the book I found I no longer needed.
If you're a fan of paranormal romance then I can't recommend this enough
and if this is a re-read for you too I discovered that the forthcoming John Mathew's identity is positively verified in a little scene with the Scribe Virgin near the end.
|
|
|
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Vampires and cheese, Sep 20 2008
I had a really hard time taking this book seriously, because it is made of velveeta, there is so much cheese going on. Allow me to introduce you to the members of the Brotherhood. Aside from Wrath, we have Rhage, Tohrment, Vishous, Phury, Zsadist... and Darius. Guess which one is dead by the end of chapter two.
Once you get past the unfortunate nhames, the prose is full of lines that made me go back and read it again, just to make sure it really said what I thought it did. And it always did. Things like "If sex were food, Rhage would have been morbidly obese." "The guy was like lint in food: an irritation that made you want to spit." "He wanted to give her what females liked: a little TLC." Needless to say, I spent a lot of time laughing while I was reading this book, and I don't think I was supposed to.
The Bhrothers spent so very much time convincing themselves and each other they were bad bad very bad men, it ultimately left me unconvinced. You know how Eminem gets himself all tattooed and then uses gangster colloquisms, curses and insults people, trying so hard to look cool and edgy and mostly comes across as insecure and grasping for attention through cheap shock tactics? Yeah. That pretty much sums up the Bhrotherhood. Their attempts at gangster speak are just awkward enough to add to the overall cheese factor of the book, because you know it totally needed more of that, you feel me? True.
Ok, all of that aside, I can see why this book series has a devout following. It's fast-paced, it's sexy, and Ward has done some really creative things with vampire lore and worldbuilding. I like the idea of vampires and humans being completely different species, and once you get over being able to tell the lessers apart from normal humans because they smell like baby powder and are impotent, the idea of people giving up their souls for a greater chance to commit violence has some serious potential. It's just that you have to wade through a whole lot of bizarre to get to the good points. If you have an absurd sense of humour and enjoy watching campy movies, you might enjoy Dark Lover. Alternately, if the names of the Bhrotherhood don't make you think "say what?" you may get along nicely with this series. If you're looking for some seriously gritty, powerful urban fantasy, though, you might want to give this one a miss.
|
|
|
Most recent customer reviews
|
by J. R. Ward
by J. R. Ward
by J.R. Ward
by J.R. Ward
by J.R. Ward
