Review: Lover Reborn (Minor Spoilers)

Title: Lovern Reborn
Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 10
Author: J.R. Ward
Publisher: Penguin Group
Length: 593 pages, File Size: 948 KB
Publication Date: March 27, 2012
Reviewed Format: Kindle Edition
My Rating: ★★★★★

WARNING: Some of the spoilers in this review reference to events from previous books, namely Lover Awakened, Lover Mine and Lover Unleashed.

Talk about an emotional roller coaster.

Book 10 in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series tells the story of Tohrment (Tohr). Tohr’s wife, Wellsie, was killed by a lesser while she was pregnant of their first son. Tohr hasn’t being the same vampire since. First he was seeking to end his life, now he is trying to quench his thirst for revenge by mutilating before killing every single lesser possible. However, fate has other plans for this Brother. Queue the lights over to Lassiter, an angel; literary sent from above with one mission –“get this vampire back on track” (Kindle Locations 1229-1230)

Just so you know, the rumors are true; get yourselves a few tissues or something to stop the waterworks, this book is sad. The book is divided according to the seasons; a full year goes by throughout the story, both beginning and ending on winter.

Let me tell you, Tohr has always hold a dear corner in my heart, he is my third favorite of the brothers, Zsadist being #1 and Rehv, even though not a brother per se, being #2. Still, Tohr has always being that father figure and not just for John Mathews, but for everyone at the Brotherhood. Which is why some of his actions in this book made me want to slap the shit out of him; I wanted to reach in and shake him so bad, maybe even slam him against a wall to see if he still had any reasoning capabilities left in him; yeah, it gets that bad. I mean, there is no way I would have been happy if he had just woken up and completely forgotten about Wellsie, but come on, did he had to be that huge jackass? Apparently yes.

The female heroine of the story is just as damaged as Tohr is; with the bonus of being a bit more mature about things (but only a bit). No’One has had to live her own version of hell for the past couple of centuries. Her decision to kill herself soon after giving birth to baby Xhex, whom was product of a rape, has landed her into a life of servitude. Now, she is back to try to create a relationship with the daughter she abandoned at birth. Unfortunately, wanting to fix things won’t necessarily be a smooth business. A fact that Xhex will also come face to face throughout the story; and if she thought that having her mother around was hard wait until she discovers that marriage is not always rosy.

Although Lover Reborn tells primarily the story of Tohr and No’One, the plot is not limited to their interactions. Xhex and John and their marital problems take the spot occasionally as well as remaining on the background. Qhuinn get also quite a bit of “camera time” with his dilemma over Blay and Layla. Speaking of the Chosen, there is a WTF moment that will have some of you re-reading the lines over just to make sure that you read correctly; let me tell you, you did.

Other characters from the brotherhood are mentioned occasionally as well, among them Rhage takes the cake, I mean, Hollywood is downright hilarious on this book; for example:

“Rhage wheeled around, shoved out his butt, and started slapping his moneymaker like it was bread dough. (Kindle Location 925)”

The rest of the brotherhood is seen mostly because some of the characters interact with them. Wrath is one of the few others that gets more time compare to, say, Butch. Who does get considerably more attention is the Band of Bastards, specially their leader Xcor.

Oh Xcor, you are the biggest paradox I’ve read yet. I don’t want to reveal to much of him to you but I have to say that after reading this book I can’t take out of my head the idea that if Xcor had been raised by someone other than the Bloodletter he might have *gasp* been a male of worth? Who knows, the WARDen might throw some interesting twists in the upcoming books.

Lastly, for those who were not so happy with the previous books being so lesser focused you’ll love to know that in Lover Reborn they barely make it into the pages. The few times lessers are mentioned are in a faceless sort of way. Yes, there is a new, unknown, Fore-lesser and yes, he is wreaking havoc, but still, he is in the background – just a distant noise. However, some foundation is being laid here; I might be wrong but I bet lessers will take a more active role again in future books.

The bottom line is I enjoyed this book for all the drama and all the character development it has. It’s a great –albeit slow– read that shines among the BDB collection. Tohr has always been a strong character and this book only accentuates that, even if it’s by showing his weaknesses.

Quotes from Lover Reborn

Tohr talking to himself:

“Females, after all, were not just the fairer sex, but the fairly reasonable one. Which was the only reason the race had survived this long.” (Kindle Locations 907-908)

Tohr remembering Wellsie:

With a shaking hand, he touched the satin of the filled-out bodice, feeling the whalebones set within the fabric, the structure of the dress built to enhance a female’s gentle, curving body. It was not as good as her rib cage. Just as the satin was not as good as her body. And the sleeves weren’t as good as her arms. “I miss you.…” He stroked the indentation of the gown where her waist would have been—should have been. “I miss you so much.” (Kindle Locations 1191-1195)

Tohr reflecting on his actions:

Courtesy of their tempers, both were now dressed in the Captain Asshole costume—which included, for no extra charge, the cape of disgrace, the booties of shame, and keys to the Fuck Up mobile. (Kindle Locations 1924-1925)

No’One talking to Xhex:

The truth was as simple as four words, as complex as an entire language. “You are my daughter.” (Kindle Locations 511-512)

Lassiter talking to No’One:

“My name’s Lassiter, and I’ll tell you all you need to know about me. I’m an angel first and a sinner second, and I’m not here for long. I’ll never hurt you, but I’m prepared to make you pretty goddamn uncomfortable if I have to, to get my job done. I like sunsets and long walks on the beach, but my perfect female no longer exists. Oh, and my favorite hobby is annoying the shit out of people. Guess I’m just bred to want to get a rise out of folks—probably the whole resurrection thing.” (Kindle Locations 848-852)

Lassiter talking to himself:

“Moving on” was more than just fighting the enemy” (Kindle Locations 1233-1234)

John talking to Xhex:

Text me when you want to see me again, he signed. I’m giving you your space, but know this: I will wait forever for you. (Kindle Location 2400)

Wrath talking to the Brotherhood:

When order in the study was finally reestablished, Wrath looked downright nasty. “Next one of you mouthy assholes makes me pound my desk again, I’m throwing you the fuck out.” On that note, he reached down, picked up the cowering ninety-pound retriever, and settled George in his lap. “You’re freaking out my dog and it’s pissing me off.” (Kindle Locations 1536-1539)

Rhage talking to Tohr:

“Fine. Unless you agree to home it, we will rock the dance moves.” To prove the point, the moron linked his palms behind his head and started doing something obscene with his hips. Which was backed up by a series of, “Uh-huh, uh-huh, ohhhh, yeeeeeeeaaaah, who’s your daddy…” (Kindle locations 919-921).

Vishous talking to John Mathews:

Life’s meant to be lived blind—that’s how you don’t take shit for granted. (Kindle Locations 997-998)

Qhuinn reflecting:

You could lose the ones you loved in the blink of an eye—and he was willing to bet, when it happened, you weren’t thinking about all the reasons that could have kept you apart. You thought of all the reasons that kept you together. (Kindle Locations 11172-11173)

Click this link if you'd like to read the teaser quotes that the WARDen was uploading to her Facebook Page while waiting for the book's release day.

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