Thursday, May 17, 2012

Black Dagger Brotherhood Series by J R Ward

J R Ward is my hero! This series is soooo good that even though I read the first book a few years ago, I have to give you guys a review and let you in on the wonder that is this series. If you haven't read them, you've missed out on years of literary gold, however, I now envy you since you have 10 brilliant books to add to your to-read list. 


This series follows a group of vampires - yes vampires, I know, so overrated these days but trust me, these guys are not your sparkly, poncy vamps - who are fighting to protect their race from the soulless enemy, called Lessers, who threaten them. The brotherhood is originally made up of six warriors Wrath, Rhage, Tohrment, Zsadist, Phury and Vishous. The names may seem over the top but start reading and you'll understand just how well they suit the characters. Each character has their own book, a story of their fight for love along with a whole lotta other kick-ass war fighting stuff going on. More characters come into it along the way and become major players too, gaining their own books in the process, such as Butch, John, Rehvenge and Payne.


The first books is Wrath's, who is the leader of the Black Dagger Brotherhood as well as the unwilling king of the vampire race. He is huge, intimidating and down right lethal, he is also going blind. We start his story off by being hurtled into the thick of things, with Wrath being asked to look after his brother's illegitimate daughter, Beth, as she heads towards her transitioning age. To say he is reluctant is an understatement but when Darius is murdered, he can't help but check to make sure the woman is safe. Cue heavy love story that makes a cold sweat bead on my brow and my knees go weak . It is intoxicating and exciting and you can't help but love the characters you are being presented with.


After Wrath's book the order is Rhage, Zsadist, Butch, Vishous, Phury, Rehvenge, Payne and finally our latest installment, Tohrment. Each book brings with it the next level of fantastic paranormal fiction. It gets better and better and thankfully we still have more books to come with some amazing characters that we now know so well. 


J R Ward's style of writing is the best I've experienced for this type of novel, which is one of the reasons this is my all time favourite series. These books are chock-a-block with swearing, sex, laughs and violence, if none of those are your thing then I can't promise that you'll like the books but I would still tell you to just give it a go. There are no unnecessary words in these novels, nothing that you read and think 'what was the point in that being there'. The characters each have their own individual personalities that are actually different rather than variations of the same thing which I see in so many books these days. They have their own personal quirks in the way they behave or the way they speak, Vishious' use of the word 'true' being one of them.


Ward makes it impossible not to love these characters, after a few years and ten books I feel as if I know each and every one of them personally. She has an talent for making these centuries old warrior vampires seem like every day, decent guys that you wish were real - after all, who can resist a strong, hot alpha male with weakness that they need to get passed! Sometimes I forget that these men and women are superhuman (they're not undead, which is a refreshing change) because they act so normal, none of this unredeemable, evil soul nonsense that seems to overtake plots these days. Every second, minute and hour I spend reading these books, nothing else exists for me which I know is not healthy but I can't help it. It is like getting on a roller coaster and not wanting to get off: I feel happy for these characters, excited for them, worried for them and more often than not, I actually cry for them ( maybe another thing that should worry me?) but the book, or ten, that can do this is one I want on my bookshelf for the rest of my life, just so I have somewhere else to go when the real world gets to stressy.


If you've never read a paranormal romance fiction novel in your life, even if you have never been interested in them, read this series. Please, please, please give it a go, because I will take every opportunity I get to recommend it. I've pushed it on friends, who now love me and hate me for it - the obsession makes life hard when you have to wait a year for the next book. The one thing I will say is that it is probably for the over 16s, since there is a lot of details ( if you get what I mean ; p ). I hope this review sparks an interest to read and if you do please let me know what you think of them. If you've already read them, I'd still love to hear your opinion no matter what...although I'll be secretly praying that you share mine.


Books 4 Brains Rating:





Coming soon: The Fallen by Thomas E. Sniegoski

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