Post by Charlynn on Feb 13, 2011 20:17:03 GMT -5
Lover Eternal
Lover Eternal is the second book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward. In this novel, another member of the brotherhood falls in love. Rhage, a vampire with dangerous, Hollywood good looks and an equally dangerous curse, meets a shy, quiet woman who is merely grateful to be alive... for now. Already a cancer survivor already once, Mary realizes that her disease is back just when she meets the most temptingly attractive man, a man she feels is way out of her league. Plagued with fears that she will be a burden to him, she pushes him away, just as he has to battle to keep his beast at bay whenever he's near her.
To round out the storyline, there's also Bella – Mary's friend who is also a vampire – and John, a sickly young man who can't speak and is having strange, recurring dreams. While Bella is drawn to Zsadist, the most tortured and haunted of the warrior vampires, John is discovered to be a vampire who hasn't turned yet, a vampire who, in a few years time, will be extremely powerful.
Just as Dark Lover was Wrath's story, Lover Eternal is Rhage's. The focus is intensely centered upon him and his relationship with Mary, with the other storylines tossed in for variety and to help guide the overall plot forward into the next book. However, Lover Eternal did not succeed in capturing my attention as easily and as well as its predecessor. In fact, for a book that is only 441 pages long, it took me an exorbitant amount of time to finish reading it. Upon reflection, it wasn't so much that I was bored with Rhage. In fact, I found the concept of his inner beast – a dragon which would break free from the constraints of Rhage's form whenever he lost control – rather interesting and compelling. No, what I wasn't sold on was the character of Mary, and that's where the story lagged for me.
As previously stated, Mary had cancer – a very aggressive, debilitating case of it. Barely, she had managed to survive it the first time, but her body had been ravaged, and it was highly unlikely that she would pull through a second time. In fact, eventually it was revealed that she couldn't even handle the chemo treatments that she would need in order to fight the disease. Knowing how sick she was, though, it made me wonder why Ward would pair Rhage with her... if she was only going to kill her off at the end of the book, especially in light of how the series is set up – one warrior vampire's story (and eventual romance) per book. Because that – Mary dying – is what would have been realistic. In the back of my mind, however, I worried that, instead of dying, Mary would somehow receive a miracle and would be granted a permanent reprieve, making the entire cancer battle a waste of my time. Either way, though, I knew that I was going to be disappointed with the conclusion of the book.
I wasn't wrong.
Now, I'm not going to spoil the very ending, because, even though it wasn't my favorite book ever, Lover Eternal is certainly readable. I can definitely say that I'm excited for book three in the series, though I won't be reading it right away. Plus, I've been assured that I'm not the only one who didn't like this second novel in the series as well as some of the other Black Dagger Brotherhood books. Bottom line? Read it if you want to read the entire series. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry about it.
And that, my friends – this sense of apathy – is what happens when an author names a main character Mary. It just... yeah, it shouldn't be done. Talk about a maddeningly boring omen for a book.
Lover Eternal is the second book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward. In this novel, another member of the brotherhood falls in love. Rhage, a vampire with dangerous, Hollywood good looks and an equally dangerous curse, meets a shy, quiet woman who is merely grateful to be alive... for now. Already a cancer survivor already once, Mary realizes that her disease is back just when she meets the most temptingly attractive man, a man she feels is way out of her league. Plagued with fears that she will be a burden to him, she pushes him away, just as he has to battle to keep his beast at bay whenever he's near her.
To round out the storyline, there's also Bella – Mary's friend who is also a vampire – and John, a sickly young man who can't speak and is having strange, recurring dreams. While Bella is drawn to Zsadist, the most tortured and haunted of the warrior vampires, John is discovered to be a vampire who hasn't turned yet, a vampire who, in a few years time, will be extremely powerful.
Just as Dark Lover was Wrath's story, Lover Eternal is Rhage's. The focus is intensely centered upon him and his relationship with Mary, with the other storylines tossed in for variety and to help guide the overall plot forward into the next book. However, Lover Eternal did not succeed in capturing my attention as easily and as well as its predecessor. In fact, for a book that is only 441 pages long, it took me an exorbitant amount of time to finish reading it. Upon reflection, it wasn't so much that I was bored with Rhage. In fact, I found the concept of his inner beast – a dragon which would break free from the constraints of Rhage's form whenever he lost control – rather interesting and compelling. No, what I wasn't sold on was the character of Mary, and that's where the story lagged for me.
As previously stated, Mary had cancer – a very aggressive, debilitating case of it. Barely, she had managed to survive it the first time, but her body had been ravaged, and it was highly unlikely that she would pull through a second time. In fact, eventually it was revealed that she couldn't even handle the chemo treatments that she would need in order to fight the disease. Knowing how sick she was, though, it made me wonder why Ward would pair Rhage with her... if she was only going to kill her off at the end of the book, especially in light of how the series is set up – one warrior vampire's story (and eventual romance) per book. Because that – Mary dying – is what would have been realistic. In the back of my mind, however, I worried that, instead of dying, Mary would somehow receive a miracle and would be granted a permanent reprieve, making the entire cancer battle a waste of my time. Either way, though, I knew that I was going to be disappointed with the conclusion of the book.
I wasn't wrong.
Now, I'm not going to spoil the very ending, because, even though it wasn't my favorite book ever, Lover Eternal is certainly readable. I can definitely say that I'm excited for book three in the series, though I won't be reading it right away. Plus, I've been assured that I'm not the only one who didn't like this second novel in the series as well as some of the other Black Dagger Brotherhood books. Bottom line? Read it if you want to read the entire series. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry about it.
And that, my friends – this sense of apathy – is what happens when an author names a main character Mary. It just... yeah, it shouldn't be done. Talk about a maddeningly boring omen for a book.