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A review by liz_ross
Lover Unbound by J.R. Ward
adventurous
dark
funny
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
"Love was worth sacrificing for."
Dark romance book. I amalmost sure I am fine with that. Dangerous and sexy vampires who go out hunting not-so-dead dead humans who hunt them in return. Absolutely love it. Learning about the past of these vampires, finding out they do have a background and that their past is capable of breaking your heart. If it wasn't for the romance, it would be my heaven. Screw that, it is like a heaven for me.
So, you see, I was really excited for this book, because I absolutely love V (he is right behind Wrath and Hollywood, but just because no one can beat those two) and I desperately wanted to know more about him and his past, which was the most mysterious until this book. I was so, so excited.
And I did get my story about his past and damn, what an awful, heartbreaking past. My baby V didn't deserve that. And to learn he had such a terrible past and suffered so much and yet grew up to be such a nice, kind, attentive and patient person... I can't help admiring him for all that and my heart breaks even more because of all that. He is a truly good person and deserves the world. Ward did an excellent job creating him like this.
I love him so, so much and all I wanted was to love this book just as much. So my love for V could match the rate given to the book about him - 5 stars because I can't give a thousand. But everything else about this book was just not enough. V deserved love, perhaps more than any other member of the Brotherhood (I mean, they all deserve love and really need it, but V is just so sweet it hurt to see him alone), and all I wanted was to be able to root for him and his love interest to end up together, to be happy for him and love the relationship.
And Ward took that all away from me because of how she chose to start they relationship. Four, four books before this one and she never needed to kidnap the love interest for the relationship to start. But for some reason, she decided it had to be like that with V. WHY?! What is even the point?! I can accept the BDSM lifestyle; it is a lifestyle and as long as it is consensual people can do whatever they want and makes them happy. But I can not and will not accept a freaking relationship that starts with the woman being kidnapped.
But by all means, I would love to root for them and I know people will always try to find arguments to support their opinion if they disagree with me - which is completly fine, so feel free to tell me your opinion -, so let me just answer right away to two of the most likely arguments for anyone to think of.
1. Mary was also kidnapped. Yes, she was. After her and Rhage had already met and gone out on dates. Oh, and Mary was in danger when Hollywood kidnapped her. But Jane?! She and V had never talked, let alone go on dates and there was nothing dangerous on her life until V decided to kidnap her for absolutely no reason. If he wanted to meet her again, he could have just gone to the freaking hospital!
2. I am only complaining about how the relationship started, so why couldn't I get over that and enjoy its development? Short answer, because of how it started. Saying I didn't like Jane being kidnapped is not like saying I didn't like this one thing V said when they met on a date somewhere. They are two different things. I could have got over the second. I won't get over the first. Making someone stay in a house they had never been in, surrounded by strangers, stuck in a room with a man they had never met isn't like saying the wrong thing on a date; everything about that situation is wrong. Have you ever heard of Stockholm Syndrome? Can you tell me without doubts that Jane never feared for her life living in a house full of man armed with all kinds of weapons? Can you tell me that there's absolutely no way that Jane falling in love with V was the way she subconsciously found to preserve her life? Trust me, I tried to tell me that she never felt fear, that there was no way she fell in love to preserve her life. That's how badly I wanted to accept their relationship and feel happy for them. But no matter how hard I tried, the doubt always came back, because truth is, you can't be sure, because Jane was freaking kidnapped!
To make things worse, this book had definitely much less action than all the previous ones. It was focused on V and Jane' s romance and used by Ward to develop the vampiric world a bit more and to develop Phury - preparing us for the next book, which is about him - and a character that I was always curious about but that I always got so little about - the Scribe Virgin. And trust me, I loved that. I loved every single new piece of information, both about the world and the characters. But I couldn't stand the romance and it hurt so much because I do hate romance most of the time, but for V I would have made an exception if the relationship was something I could root for.
And a book where all I could enjoy was the information isn't really a book I could enjoy. All I wanted was some action, just like happened in all the previous books. Some action to balance the romance. But apparently the Lessening were on vacation, which means I got barely any glimpse of the "dangerous and sexy vampires who go out hunting not-so-dead dead humans who hunt them in return" and almost got bored to death.
I did love that ending, though. It is stunningly beautiful. And a new validation for what I already knew - V is the kindest Brother and deserves the world - and a quite pleasant surprise - I may not like V and Jane's relationship, but I like the characters very much and I couldn't think of a better ending for them that wouldn't be a repetition of Rhage and Mary's.
Before the conclusion, I just have a quick question that doesn't stop haunting me. Is V bi or is he straight and he was just confused?! At first I had no doubts that he was bi, but the way his feelings for Butch were explained left me really confused.
Overall, my heart aches for V and I hate Ward for destroying my chance of rooting for his relationship with Jane. But I don't hate her that much, because the world she created (and I got to know more about) is absolutely divine, her characters are perfectly created - a true masterpiece! - and she really left me wanting to read Phury's book to see what will happen!And hopefully the Lessening will return from their vacation!
Dark romance book. I am
So, you see, I was really excited for this book, because I absolutely love V (he is right behind Wrath and Hollywood, but just because no one can beat those two) and I desperately wanted to know more about him and his past, which was the most mysterious until this book. I was so, so excited.
And I did get my story about his past and damn, what an awful, heartbreaking past. My baby V didn't deserve that. And to learn he had such a terrible past and suffered so much and yet grew up to be such a nice, kind, attentive and patient person... I can't help admiring him for all that and my heart breaks even more because of all that. He is a truly good person and deserves the world. Ward did an excellent job creating him like this.
I love him so, so much and all I wanted was to love this book just as much. So my love for V could match the rate given to the book about him - 5 stars because I can't give a thousand. But everything else about this book was just not enough. V deserved love, perhaps more than any other member of the Brotherhood (I mean, they all deserve love and really need it, but V is just so sweet it hurt to see him alone), and all I wanted was to be able to root for him and his love interest to end up together, to be happy for him and love the relationship.
And Ward took that all away from me because of how she chose to start they relationship. Four, four books before this one and she never needed to kidnap the love interest for the relationship to start. But for some reason, she decided it had to be like that with V. WHY?! What is even the point?! I can accept the BDSM lifestyle; it is a lifestyle and as long as it is consensual people can do whatever they want and makes them happy. But I can not and will not accept a freaking relationship that starts with the woman being kidnapped.
But by all means, I would love to root for them and I know people will always try to find arguments to support their opinion if they disagree with me - which is completly fine, so feel free to tell me your opinion -, so let me just answer right away to two of the most likely arguments for anyone to think of.
1. Mary was also kidnapped. Yes, she was. After her and Rhage had already met and gone out on dates. Oh, and Mary was in danger when Hollywood kidnapped her. But Jane?! She and V had never talked, let alone go on dates and there was nothing dangerous on her life until V decided to kidnap her for absolutely no reason. If he wanted to meet her again, he could have just gone to the freaking hospital!
2. I am only complaining about how the relationship started, so why couldn't I get over that and enjoy its development? Short answer, because of how it started. Saying I didn't like Jane being kidnapped is not like saying I didn't like this one thing V said when they met on a date somewhere. They are two different things. I could have got over the second. I won't get over the first. Making someone stay in a house they had never been in, surrounded by strangers, stuck in a room with a man they had never met isn't like saying the wrong thing on a date; everything about that situation is wrong. Have you ever heard of Stockholm Syndrome? Can you tell me without doubts that Jane never feared for her life living in a house full of man armed with all kinds of weapons? Can you tell me that there's absolutely no way that Jane falling in love with V was the way she subconsciously found to preserve her life? Trust me, I tried to tell me that she never felt fear, that there was no way she fell in love to preserve her life. That's how badly I wanted to accept their relationship and feel happy for them. But no matter how hard I tried, the doubt always came back, because truth is, you can't be sure, because Jane was freaking kidnapped!
To make things worse, this book had definitely much less action than all the previous ones. It was focused on V and Jane' s romance and used by Ward to develop the vampiric world a bit more and to develop Phury - preparing us for the next book, which is about him - and a character that I was always curious about but that I always got so little about - the Scribe Virgin. And trust me, I loved that. I loved every single new piece of information, both about the world and the characters. But I couldn't stand the romance and it hurt so much because I do hate romance most of the time, but for V I would have made an exception if the relationship was something I could root for.
And a book where all I could enjoy was the information isn't really a book I could enjoy. All I wanted was some action, just like happened in all the previous books. Some action to balance the romance. But apparently the Lessening were on vacation, which means I got barely any glimpse of the "dangerous and sexy vampires who go out hunting not-so-dead dead humans who hunt them in return" and almost got bored to death.
I did love that ending, though. It is stunningly beautiful. And a new validation for what I already knew - V is the kindest Brother and deserves the world - and a quite pleasant surprise - I may not like V and Jane's relationship, but I like the characters very much and I couldn't think of a better ending for them that wouldn't be a repetition of Rhage and Mary's.
Before the conclusion, I just have a quick question that doesn't stop haunting me. Is V bi or is he straight and he was just confused?! At first I had no doubts that he was bi, but the way his feelings for Butch were explained left me really confused.
Overall, my heart aches for V and I hate Ward for destroying my chance of rooting for his relationship with Jane. But I don't hate her that much, because the world she created (and I got to know more about) is absolutely divine, her characters are perfectly created - a true masterpiece! - and she really left me wanting to read Phury's book to see what will happen!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Kidnapping
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Child abuse
Minor: Rape and Injury/Injury detail