Reviews

Lover Arisen by J.R. Ward

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jaz_gets_literary's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Devina is still haunting Balthazar in his dreams and so he continues his search for The Book to stop her. All the while he’s falling in love with a human but he doesn’t want to get to close to her so Devina won’t get hip to it. But she does and she’ll do anything to break them apart since she wants Balthazar all to herself. It doesn’t she know that a mated male will do anything to protect his Shellan. Devina finally gets her chance at true love but I’m doing so she unleashes the one thing the Brotherhood thought they wouldn’t ever have to deal with again.

I do like that with these last few books that we are seeing a different side to the Band of Bastards. I do feel like Balthazar and Erika’s storyline was a bit rushed or not the main focus. Maybe it’s just me but I was more into what would happen between Nate, Lassiter, and Rahvyn. I know that Lassiter’s book was just released and it will more than likely dive more into that but I found myself wanted to hear more about them in this book than the other couple.

Know one other than Jim Frangione should ever narrate this series. I don’t even physically read them anymore after I listened to him narrate one of the books a couple of years ago. His tone and diction between characters makes these stories even better in my opinion. I can’t wait to read the next book in this series.

Content Warnings

traceyanderson's review against another edition

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dark hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

literarytraveler's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

crysta_lyn's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

aya_neela's review

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2.0

*All of this will contain Spoilers*

Where to begin….

I’ve been slowly working my way through the BDB for a few years. The way I have decided to approach all of Ward’s work is with an open mind.

But as the years go on and more books are released I’ve come to a very sad conclusion: the author just doesn’t seem to love or respect her characters.

The intent is not to be melodramatic. It is in the text and in the content that she produces.

But before I get into why I was let down with the latest installment of the BDB I do want to highlight some of the things that I did enjoy.

The relationship between Erika and Balz in my opinion, was well developed for what little time was given to them on the page. I enjoyed their banter and the detail of them finishing eachother’s sentences off or bouncing off one another’s pop culture references was great. It just felt like they fit together.

Erika was a sympathetic character. I am not happy with her back story and I’ll get into that later, but I do appreciate the small social commentary on how True Crime content is presented in spite of how the victims might feel about it.

Balz was a cool male lead. Though graphic and disturbing the scene in which he basically tells Davina to go fuck herself by showing he would rather slit his own throat than be with her was satisfying especially since it affected her. Again what’s been going on with him, not cool, more on that later.

Rahvyn quickly became a character that I liked from the previous book. Being in her head was great too because although she was abused in the past (again more on that LATER) she was also shown to be insanely powerful and capable of righteous cruelty.

Lassiter has always been an intriguing character and seeing a more melancholic side to him was a bit heartbreaking. Not to mention the decision Ward made about having him be a virgin with romantic ideals only to force him into a situation where he would have to sacrifice that part of himself in the most senseless of ways. Once more with feeling - WE’LL GET TO THAT LATER!

Nate was such a sweet character. He reminded me a lot of a younger John Matthew and for him to be on the unrequited side of love hurt me. I am also curious on how he will navigate his immortality. Oh and look at that, a character that was not sexually assaulted, how lovely.

I liked where this book left us and am waiting for book 21 to be released next month.

One of the other things I’ve loved (besides the characters) was the world building aspect of this series. It’s felt grand in a sexy urban fantasy kind of way. There are vampires, ghosts, undead, angels, demons and gods that have to function within the parameters of the world Ward has created. Care was put to the lore and rules set up within the BDB universe.

Even her use of language and dialogue is great and more often than not I will laugh with these characters or find myself in a puddle of tears with them.

I’ve always heard it said that writers should make the lives of their creations an absolute hell so the victories they accomplish are all the more sweet. As a reader I could not agree more.

I don’t like it, but I understand the why.

That said there is a way of going about tormenting these characters that can be respectful while still delivering devastating blows to them.

And now for my rant.

Sexual assault is and always will be vile.

Rapists will always be repulsive. Graphic portrayal of it and intense hyper fixation on it will always make me question the true intent of the author.

And I have come to question Ward’s fixation and intent regarding it.

At one point I thought that maybe it was a way for the author to represent how characters that were victims of rape could thrive, overcome, and continue to manage the fear and anxiety that comes with surviving.

In fact I truly believe that was the intention at first.

But 20 something books later it’s become clear that SA has simply become a shorthand for Ward. You want to feel pain for a character, experience the assault from their perspective. Or you can watch as the assault is taking place. Or be informed that it even took place.

You want a real mindscrew? How about experiencing the delight the assailant feels after they’ve taken what they wanted from the victim.

Here is this lovely gem:

“One of my favorite things about fucking you is the way your body betrays your mind and your heart. It’s a beautiful sacrifice of principals, especially when you come inside of me.”

~Devina

…okay and this is a character Ward is grooming to get a happily ever after.

With LASH? Seriously? Why?! Why is he even back?!

Unless this is a beautiful set up for both characters to be so epically and emotionally annihilated I want no part of their “love” story.

I still remember reading Lash’s chapters and there is not enough brain bleach to clean my mind of the mental images the sicko left me with especially regarding Xhex.

Of the five characters I talked about earlier, four have been victims of violent sexual assault. (And that’s not even counting another character that was in speaking role, Vishous, who was both victim and unwilling assailant.)

The list is frighteningly bigger when you include the ENTIRE rest of the cast.

Ward has control of this world and the conflicts within it as well as the personal struggles of each character.

So I fail to understand why she insists in permeating her more recent work with sexual violence other than to elicit a quick response from the audience or something more base like shock value. The detail she goes into at times is unnecessary to the point of making me wonder if the aim is meant to be fetishistic.

It’s disturbing and sadly I don’t see her taking the time to search for alternative and more creative ways to portray trauma in her characters.

This impacted my enjoyment of the novel. I felt uncomfortable, angry, sad and devastated. While art is meant to illicit a strong response and I do respect Ward for delivering on that, I can’t help but feel disappointment for her lack of creativity.

For all I disliked the previous book, at least the FMC was not a victim of SA but a character that had experienced a psychotic break.

I wish to see the conclusion of Lassiter and Rahvyn’s story. I hope Devina experiences the absolute worse form of loss and hope that of Rahvyn delivers the most epic of bitch slaps the demon deserves.

Lassiter will be the last book I read in this series and is my wish that I not be treated to more of THIS kind of nonsense.

Content Warnings

kaziteega's review against another edition

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adventurous dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

whatcha_listening_to's review against another edition

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4.0

Oh man this series is awesome and frustrating!

I want all good things for everyone but really the Omega did that.... And of course, if I say I will be giving away too much.

Balthazar and his lady luck have a wild ride because of Devina! Oh man we thought the Lessers were bad this B * t *h tops that.
I mean I should have guessed with the demon title and all, but I just forgot or something.

Lassiter is more serious than I think he has ever been.
And Nate oh man what a ride. That really is all I can say without giving this one away.

I am very glad I listened to the last one before this because it made things so much clearer.

Again, Jim is and will always be BDB for me.

alexisliner's review

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4.0

Another crazy world building installment for the BDB series. I still love the first 12 or so books the most but I've been so excited by the moves Ward has been making with the last few. She's laid out quite a few plot lines very quickly and while it can be a little frustrating to not get all the information all at once, I trust she's working up to something huge in Lassiter's book next year. And I'm more than willing to sit and wait to find out what that something is.

My only issue is that I really wanted to see more of the brothers and other fighters themselves. Aside from Vishous, all the other appearances we got from them felt like tiny little cameos in comparison to what we've gotten in the past. I understand it's kind of the nature of the series though, because we can't follow every single character every single time. We've got to share the love (and the page time) with everybody. I just love the early cast so much, I always feel a little let down when I don't get to see them in new installments. But that's what re-reads are for and I know they'll be back eventually.

That being said, I was really pleasantly surprised by how much I liked Balthazar and Erika as a couple, and also how much I liked Nate. I stay worried about that poor guy. Fingers crossed he gets his happy ending down the line. And holy sh*t

Spoiler

Lash and Devina! I knew it was coming but still. Really afraid/excited to see how that's gonna go. One thing I desperately need is some more information on how the Brotherhood took his sudden reappearance, particularly JM, Xhex and Qhuinn. Their history is deep and I don't like the idea of that all being brushed over. Just some sort of acknowledgement would be great. I'll cross my fingers for that too.

Definitely much more enjoyable than the last installment (Lover Unveiled), which also had great world building, but the characters were harder to connect with.

Overall I really liked this book, and I think long standing fans of the series will too. It can be frustrating to watch the series and characters change and evolve, but it's almost always worth it in the long run. Now begins the long wait for Lassiter.

cluckieduck's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Ay yi yi, what has this series turned into?!?

Many will agree that there's been an obvious dip in quality from the OG group of 6, but I've enjoyed a number of the in-between books with the ever-expanding cast of characters and, yes, I did enjoy a handful of snippets from this latest one but it's just becoming too much - too many pop culture references, too many POVs (seriously, there were 9 here), too much exposition (and non-pertinent stuff - where was the backstory on Balthazar? We learn absolutely nothing about him), too many CW:

rape scenes

rather than love scenes.

I'm really only sticking this out for Lassiter's book, because he's been done dirty at this point and deserves a character resuscitation from what he's been made into.

Disappointingly, it's just a whole lot of nothing.

Content Warnings

jackiepreston's review against another edition

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adventurous dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Content Warnings

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