Lover Avenged is extremely difficult to review. It’s a book of parts: some good, some bad. I’m going to try to break it down into the individual plot threads, then look at the book as a whole. As this is the seventh volume in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, series spoilers abound. Read at your peril!
Lover Avenged is tentatively classified as Rhevenge’s book, although there’s a lot going on beyond his storyline. The book opens in the aftermath of the decimation of the glymera at the hands of Lash, former vampire, now resurrected as the son of the Omega and leader of the Lessers. Rehvenge is suffering under his addiction to dopamine and antivenom, the former to suppress his sympath side, and the latter to neutralize the poison he is subjected to by his blackmailer. Ehlena – a nurse at Havers’s clinic – is struggling to make ends meet and care for her schizophrenic father. Wrath is frustrated by his inability to fight with the Brotherhood. Xhex and John Matthew are fighting their mutual lust. Tohr is trying to overcome his grief and learn to live again. Lassiter is.
As I said, there’s a lot going on.
I’m listing the various plot threads in order of preference and providing a brief summary of my feelings on each.
Rhevenge & Ehlena: Rhev’s story was the most interesting part of LA, and ultimately the most satisfying. I wondered how Ward would manage to redeem a self-confessed drug lord and pimp. She had a rather clever solution to this dilemma: he didn’t receive total absolution. Far from it. While he achieved personal happiness with Ehlena as his mate, it was at great cost. At the close of the book, his life has taken an unexpected and wholly unwelcome turn.
The Sympath Colony: I loved the Sympaths. I only wish we could have exiled John Matthew there to be tortured by scorpions. Sadly, I suspect he’ll be back with his own book.
Xhex & John Matthew: I used to hate Xhex and liked J.M. Lover Avenged caused me to reverse my opinion. We got to see a new, more vulnerable side to Xhex. J.M., on the other hand, behaved like a sulky brat for the entire book. Xhex deserves much better than him, although I suspect Ward intends for them to end up together.
Lash & the Lessers: I’m probably one of the few readers who actually likes Lash and the Lessers. Lash is twisted and evil. I would have preferred more scenes featuring him and the baby powder crew. This was the first book in which Lash is their leader and I wanted more time devoted to him establishing power.
Wrath & Beth: I wanted to bitch-slap Wrath into oblivion. First, he goes charging about risking his life – and the security of his people – trying to prove his manhood. Then he goes blind. Finally, he gets a dog called George.
Tohr: Boring. Guy needs to stop wallowing and get off his ass. It would also be nice if he would remember to mourn his wife’s cousin, Sarelle, as everyone in the BDB world (including Ward) seems to have forgotten her.
Lassiter: Even worse. The description of his flowing tresses reminds me of Cruella De Vil. Or a skunk.
One element which I absolutely loathed was all the product-placement. I’m hoping Ward and/or her publisher are getting financial remuneration for this because it was beyond ridiculous. Once I’d counted 20 brand names in the first 150 pages, I had to let it go or I would never have finished the book.
Although I have a list of criticisms, the parts that worked were excellent. I was looking forward to Rhev’s story and Ward more than delivered.
That said, I’m not sure if I’ll continue with this series beyond Lover Avenged. Rhev was my favourite character and his tale has been told, more or less. Much depends on what Ward has planned for the eighth volume. I sincerely hope she has an end in sight for the Brothers as it shouldn’t go on much longer.
If you’re a fan of the BDB series, you’ll probably enjoy this book. If you’ve been underwhelmed by the last couple of offerings, you might want to pass. Grade: B-
{ 7 comments }
I think I’m immune to product placement now (or it could be that I don’t actually recognise most of the products). One thing that got me was the over-the-top slangification of words. Like ‘za for pizza.
My understanding is that there are 3 more books in this current series. I’m hoping Ward quits (this series arc) while she’s breaking even because I don’t know how much longer I can keep buying her hardcovers.
Wrath has a dog named George? Ugh.
That’s a very good point about Sarelle! You’d think JM, Tohr and the others would still be grieving over her death as well as Wellsie’s.
I don’t know how you all can read this series but to each his own. I couldn’t get past the first book in the series. Saw this book at BN and couldn’t imagine reading the tiny font on the page and it’s over 500 pages, too. This book sounds like a hot mess.
@Kat: I’m assuming John Matthew will get his own book. Probably also Qhuinn and Tohr. Yeah, the faux street slang is really silly.
@Christine: Given that J.M. had a thing for Sarelle, I would have thought he at least would remember her!
@Keishon: I suspect I’m done with the series. The parts J.R. Ward does well are brilliant, but the rest is a mess. My favourite heroes were Zadist and Rhev. Their tales are now told and there’s no one left who particularly interests me.
@Kat: I just clicked on your link and saw that the brilliant BDB cheat sheets came from your blog! I read them before starting ‘Lover Avenged’.
@Sarah Decadence is our resident BDB guru. She gives us remedial classes before each new book comes out. And we hassle her when we can’t remember stuff from previous books. It helps a lot!
For anyone interested, the Black Dagger Brotherhood cheat sheets are available at the Book Thingo blog: http://bookthingo.com.au/