Saturday, June 15, 2013

"Dark Lover" by J.R. Ward

Genre: Adult Paranormal Romance
Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood #1
Publication: September 6, 2005 by Signet Eclipse
Format: Paperback 393 Pages
Cover Rating: 2/5 Stars

From Goodreads: In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing more than Wrath, the leader of The Black Dagger Brotherhood.

The only purebred vampire left on earth, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But, when one of his most trusted fighters is killed-leaving his half-breed daughter unaware of his existence or her fate-Wrath must usher her into the world of the undead-a world of sensuality beyond her wildest dreams.

My Thoughts: Sadly, I have found that I am not going to be joining The Black Dagger Brotherhood fandom. But before I delve into what I didn't like about this book, let's focus on what I DID enjoy about it first:

Dark Lover quickly sucked me into the story of Wrath and Beth. The plot was pretty original for a vampire novel. I liked the idea of this whole underground Vampire society that didn't even feed off of humans or in general have anything to do with them. I also enjoyed the Lessers (once humans, turned soulless) and their role. And the novel itself was fast paced, and had a lot of good action- of both kinds ;)

Here was my major issue, though: CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT! I had a seriously hard time beveling that bad ass warrior vampires would use the same vocabulary as Alicia Silverstone in Clueless (Ex: "I'm outtie!") Did I just hear the 90's calling? They want they're lingo back. Sadly, I wish I was joking- I'm not- and this was just one example of many. Overall, they just felt... cheesy. I found myself saying "Really? You're really going write them that way?" Honestly, it just ruined the whole thing for me. Maybe it's just my personal  pet peeve, but the whole thing just threw me out of the story instantly.

Would I recommend this book to someone else? Only if they asked for a vampire romance specifically... and that would be after listing a whole slew of others before it. Then again, I hear if you can push through the first couple of novels, the story really picks up, but I won't be wasting my time because it just wasn't for me.

My Rating: 

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3 comments

  1. I wasn't a fan, either, Sonnie! The Brotherhood was just so absurd that it kind of made me hate them all. Sad you didn't enjoy it, but I'm kind of happy to have someone else around who didin't like it :P

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    1. Oh Thank goodness you didn't like it either! lol I was like "I'm the only GReep who didn't enjoy it!" But YES! The Brotherhood was just ridiculous! I just think these vicious vampire warriors would be a little more badass than what they were lol.

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  2. Wow, Sonnie, I am really surprised that you didn't like it. I haven't read it yet, but I have had it on my tbr pile for years after hearing so many people gushing about how great it was. I can't believe they really talk like that. Lol. After slogging through the crap that was Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton I am wary of vampire PR anyway. Thanks for posting this-now I know not to waste my time.

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