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Book Review of The King (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Bk 12)

The King (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Bk 12)
miz-firefly avatar reviewed on + 112 more book reviews


I'm a little angry at myself for finishing this book. I haven't read a Brotherhood book since "Lover Mine"

The King seduced me back. And completely failed to pay off.
Annnnnnnnd now I remember why I quit reading these books. They are too friggin big. Then there is the relationship - messed up for no good reason. The problem - don't know what it is yet, but it sure eats up a lot of pages. The subplot, another subplot, and an-other subplot. Lets add another subplot. Are there enough subplots yet? No!

So this isn't an utter bitch-fest I'll say some nice stuff first.

What Worked For Me:

The Brothers - (when they were there) were everything I loved about them. Brash, rowdy, and always at each other's back.

The writing - Ward can put words together like very few can. She is constantly coming up with descriptions that stop me cold, so unique, so creative.

The dialogue - Always in your face, and never dull.
From pg 341 "Let me make myself perfectly clear. You touch iAm and I will find you. Your last breath will be mine and your heart will still be warm when I take it out of your chest and eat it raw."

"You know, it's a wonder we don't get along better."

The names - iAm, sEx? Where does she get these? I thought Kenyon held the corner on Awesome names. Looks like she gets to share that title with Ward now.

Chapter 51 and parts of 67 made up for a lot my disappointment

What Didn't Work For Me:

Practically everything else - starting with the plot

The Main conflict
Beth wants a child and Wrath goes all Alpha-Neanderthal. Hell NO. End of Discussion.
Beth responds by channeling her inner Gothic Romance Heroine

The Secondary conflict
The Band of Bastards. (HAH! Buncha' blithering Blow-Hards more like!) stage the Lamest Coup Ever. And are shut down just as lamely

The book may be called "The King, but there was precious little Wrath to be seen or heard from. There was No ass-kicking. No lessening Society. Aside from V the important characters are all but absent. What actual drama there was takes place with the secondary characters, and did very little to advance the plot.

The subplot-apaloza drove me nuts. I now know way more about iAm, Trez & whats-her-name, Saxon, Assail & Sola. (who the hell IS Assail anyway?!) than I care to. Altho iAm gets points for naming the cat goddamm. AAAAAND despite going out of her way to drop more fishhooks about John Matthew she still hasn't spilled the beans. I know in my heart she isn't going to drop that nugget till the last book. Probably not till the bitter end of the story.

So, as much as I love the Brothers I'm done with this series. If I ever say I'm going to try again someone shot me.