Hello everyone!
So, two weeks ago (almost at this point) another book by author J. R. Ward dropped, aka, it was released to the general public, and in case you don't know by now, I have a lot of respect and appreciation for the Warden, as she's called online.
Basically, her series of vampire warriors have gotten my attention from the moment a very good friend of mine recommended them and I met with HRH Wrath, son of Wrath.
Since then, there have been fifteen books in the main series and two now in the accompanying series, Black Dagger Legacy, which is a spin-off for the training center and the trainees that are becoming warriors under the main characters' tutelage.
Honestly, if you look at me and my love affair with the Black Dagger Brotherhood even on this blog, you'll notice that I've pretty much read and reviewed a whole lot of the books - read more than reviewed, actually, since I have yet to put the final dot on the lot of them. But I do believe it is safe to say that I have passed the halfway mark, especially with this blog I should thing.
So without further ado, allow me to introduce the newest Warden book, titled The Chosen.
Before I go into anything else, allow me to very briefly recap what's been going on in this world so far: the Brothers have slowly been gaining ground in the war against the Lessening Society, Wrath has abolished the monarchy and been elected King for life by his people, all the brothers are pretty much mated now and so the series is moving into territories of them having children, or thinking about having children.
When we hit number fifteen, The Chosen, we are tying together some loose ends that have been put in place in previous books.
Namely, the Scribe Virgin is now gone, and has ceded her place to someone else - aka Lassiter, the Fallen Angel who, out of all the players in the books, is pretty much the LAST option you'd expect in that lofty position (but I had my guesses because of some posts and hints Ward put online on social media). Especially since he's generally all over the place and seems more interested in watching reality television than doing anything else.
Our next storyline is Layla and Qhuinn who are finally parents to their little twins, Rhamp and Lyric, and pretty much everyone in the compound loves them. But when you toss in the fact that Tohr is involved in this plot, then you have issues.
What happens is that Layla finally blurts out about secretly meeting Xcor, who had in the past made the very big mistake of an assassination attempt on Wrath, but hey, girl fell in love. You can't fault her that. However, Qhuinn goes pretty much apeshit and we get to see the first legal battle for custody of the kids, among other things.
We also see Blay and Qhuinn on the rocks again, for, like, the MILLIONTH time. Haven't we done this before? Like, a couple of books ago? Why the hell does Blay always beat feet when he should dig in and demand a conversation? Yeah, sure, Qhuinn isn't too good at that, but don't you, as the partner, owe him to at least try and put some effort in before you close that door? It does get resolved in the end (with the conversating we wanted in the beginning), but it leaves a bitter taste in your mouth.
Another bitter taste? Vishous and Jane, yet again at odds, or mostly just V at odds with Jane. Which, again, we have done before, in Payne's book. How many more times does V need to go through the ringer? He just keeps going backwards, and I'm pretty sure Jane doesn't analyse everything to that detail, regardless that she's whip-smart.
And come on, the woman is dealing with everything at once, the birth, the aftermath, people going crazy and getting hurt, Assail's detox (oh yeah, that's mentioned - is he going to survive? I seriously hope so!).
You'd think he'd cut her some slack, or, you know, yet again, TALK. Like a rational, intelligent adult.
But NOPE.
Then we come to the plot that should have had central stage, but honestly, the kids and Qhuinn thing totally eclipsed it: Xcor and Layla.
After who knows how many books, we FINALLY get to their conclusion when, instead of killing Xcor (which would be obeying the law, natch), V of all people decides to spare his life and they stick the known traitor to the King into one of the King's own safe houses, Layla included.
Obviously, as soon as Wrath and Xcor reach an accord (okay, that one was cool, leader to leader, and I'm glad Xcor is smart enough to figure out he can't win against Wrath), Layla pretty much jumps Xcor.
But.
I was so strangely immune to that plot, and skimmed through most of their stuff together. Really, it's all about how these two have been pining for AGES, and they know they have to go separate ways soon, too. So I mean, it was just meh.
Didn't help that I honestly thought Layla, for all everyone says she's smart, really didn't have her head wedged on straight. All she could see was her own goal, which was have sex with Xcor, and didn't even consider the idea that MAYBE he COULD HAVE been playing her to get to the King, or, you know, since he's always been a traitor, that he MIGHT still be one.
Oh, nah, he's cool. Lemme just jump in bed with him, kay? Kay.
With how whip-smart she'd been portrayed previously, you'd think her brain power wouldn't just deteriorate. I thought that was the male part of the equation, once they bond and fall in love? Apparently not.
And then of course the fact that Wrath changed his mind about killing Xcor, which obviously doesn't sit with the Brotherhood AT ALL, has reprecussions of Tohr gunning for Xcor anyway. Which, of course, leads to the problem of yet another insane decision: kicking Tohr, who is arguably the most level headed of the Brothers, out of the Brotherhood.
Thank you, Lord, for Saxton, because that guy saved the day and probably displayed more smarts than everyone else put together: if you're planning on meeting your arch enemies AND then fight a big battle, you kind of don't leave one of your best assets at home. DUH.
Let's not even get into Layla and Tohr and that whole confrontation. It's just no. No, thank you.
The book serves us with one huge battle towards the end where the Brothers and the Bastards all join together to fight the Lessers (and we're left with the unsettling image of Lassiter giving away the meeting place to the Lessers to begin with) which ends up with a whole lot of injured and almost-dead people all around.
But the actual ending is when Qhuinn solves the problem of Layla and Xcor when he invites Xcor to live with the lot of them, and the rest of the Bastards follow, and we can all go and sing Kumbaya around a campfire.
Does my review sound a bit bitter, and all over the place?
You'd be right on both counts. The second is because the book itself was all over the place - it felt like Ward was not even remotely in control of what the story was doing. And I mean, yeah, she's said before that her 'Rice Krispies', aka, her muse, tends to have control and if she tries to do things her way everything goes mute.
Let me tell you something.
I can respect that as long as the rules set down in the world actually make sense, and everyone is treated the same (like, how can Trez get Selena back as a reincarnation, but Tohr couldn't get Wellsie? Also, what's with Throe and that ridiculous book? I had that in Karen Marie Moning, I want something more original here!). But in the last books, things have simply gone off the rails, and never more so than in this one.
I might be in the minority, but I was on Qhuinn and Tohr's side in the book. Not, obviously, the shooting a gun part or being a macho idiot part. But the part where they seem to be the only ones who think Xcor, you know, the guy who took a shot at Wrath and nearly killed him, is dangerous and can't be trusted with just the drop of a hat and a kiss to the ring? That part I'm totally on board with.
No, I don't condone a lot of things that happened to Layla, but at the same time, I wanted to shake her, too. She was just stupid. There's no other word for it.
And everyone else seem to have gone through personality transplants!
So yes, I'm bitter. I can't even articulate myself properly. There were so many things wrong with this book that I don't know if I can ever number them all, and I sure as hell know I won't be reading it again any time soon. Plus, how can we just gloss over the fact that Tohr and Xcor are actually brothers?
This one, sadly, was a total miss for me. Can we go back to the way things were in the beginning?
xx
*image not mine
SPOILER: apparently, Boo is the Scribe Virgin. Hence why he's kind of weird for a cat. I'm not too sure how I feel about it yet, but it isn't negative!
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