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ssarahreads's review against another edition
3.0
3 - I'm so disappointed - stars.
I don't really know what to say.. I'm disappointed.
I don't really know what to say.. I'm disappointed.
ssarahreads's review against another edition
3.0
Audio listened on:
20/4 2023. Rated 3 stars for now.
Ebook read on:
5/6 2016. Rated 3 stars.
20/4 2023. Rated 3 stars for now.
Ebook read on:
5/6 2016. Rated 3 stars.
karen1214's review against another edition
3.0
I didn't enjoy this book as much as the others in the series so far. I think a lot of that had to do with I just didn't feel connected to Phury and Cormia. I felt that Phury's problems just went on and on. Their story seemed to resolve too quickly.
I really enjoyed learning more about John, Qhuinn & Blay.
I really enjoyed learning more about John, Qhuinn & Blay.
evikes's review
4.0
I know this book was supposed to be about Phury, but the side stories overshadowed his part (for me anyway). I loved all the JM stories (except that he didn’t say anything about seeing Lash...aaaargh), Rehv’s side-story was awesome as usual, I love Quinn & Blay (that scene when Q is helping to bandage Blay's cuts was sooooooooooooo good), Payne is gonna rock, and boy, did the Omega step it up a notch or what?? Even that story was great. Finally, the lessers seem like a very true and credible threat – I thought in the earlier books, the antagonist was weak. I always liked Phury, but not as much as the other Brothers, and I haven’t changed my mind about that – Z did move up the list for me though. I did enjoy seeing that he is more similar to Z than we were first shown (since they are twins, this seems logical and rings true), and it was rewarding to see Phury ‘grow a pair’ already when it came to Cormia. The last 50 pages or so were fantastic, and actually brought a tear to my eye. The scene at the forest edge was so good, and the imagery was so clear, it actually had me all choked up. Overall, I liked the book a lot, but more so for all the side-stories.
idratherbereading542's review
3.0
Read Count: 2
- Main Couple: Phury(vampire)/Cormia(vampire)
- POVs Included: (will add later)
- Book Playlist (Black Dagger Brotherhood Series Playlist)
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UPDATED REVIEW 5/5/2022:
UPDATED RATING (3 STARS -- SAME)
This is a review for a re-read after 12 years (original review below). This book has never been a favorite for me in the series. And that still holds true for the re-read unfortunately. Although, I will say that in my original review I am concerned about the series going downhill and her expanding to other characters outside of the Brotherhood. As someone who has now read further in the series I can honestly say that it does get good (great) again and the new characters are typically really good, with a few of them being new favorites for me. So no worries there anymore!
The biggest issue with this book is the main “romance” (if you can even call it that). Unlike the previous books in the series in this one I felt absolutely no chemistry, love, or even friendship between Phury and Cormia. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.
Phury spends literally 85% of this 530 page book acting like a pathetic, self-loathing, self-destructive drug addict. I get that he has his issues he needs to work through, but so did Zsadist…so did Vishous. They all have issues. But Phury is so consumed by his misery that he is not even available to form any sort of connection with Cormia. They hardly talk or interact. They don’t even have sex until page 400 and even that is a bittersweet connection that doesn’t bloom into anything between them until another 100 pages or so. It’s too much. By the time they throw around their “I love you’s” I just don’t even believe it. Seriously? There is literally no getting to know each other. No connection. No romance. Nothing between them. And then suddenly they love each other after a torturous battle Phury has with drugs and borderline insanity (HATED the “wizard” voice in his head…HATED IT). I’m not buying their “love”.
Then there’s Cormia, who is a Chosen. She is…boring. She hasn’t been exposed to literally anything since she’s a Chosen living on the Other Side. No colors (only white), or food, or sex, or dancing, or Project Runway, or anything. She’s seeing absolutely everything with new eyes which is…cute. But she has no background, no history, nothing to learn about her. She’s like a female vessel. Nothing interesting there. She’s nice. I’ll give her that. But….yeah.
The next issue I had with the book was with the Brotherhood basically kicking Phury out. What?!?!? I hated this and didn’t agree with this turn of events at all. How many of the other Brother’s have had mental state issues? Umm….all of them! Sure, I would agree that Phury’s is the worst after getting inside his crazy head. But I still think this was totally uncalled for and out of character with the Brotherhood. I did not like this and it left such a bad taste in my mouth. They are supposed to be family to each other and they just kick him while he’s down. After everything he has sacrificed for Zsadist and even Vishous! Appalling! And I hate that he doesn’t even come back to fighting with them in the end of the book. I sure hope that changes in future books. As annoyed as I was by him, I still want him there with the guys fighting with them. Especially now that he’s got his shit together.
One more big issue I had was with Zsadist refusing to thank Phury for his part in rescuing him. Now, I love Z — he’s my favorite Brother — but this didn’t sit well with me at all. Sure, he made the point that he still went through it and some other nonsense. But Phury literally sacrificed his leg to rescue him. He dedicated his life to searching for him and even took a vow of celibacy as a way to show his dedication to finding Z. Desiring a little appreciation for those sacrifices is not too much. Normally I love Z, but I hated that this wasn’t resolved.
Now I know I’m doing a lot of ranting and it almost sounds like I hated the book. I did hate the main “romance”. But what saved the book for me was the other story lines.
Some things I did love:
- Quinn, Blay, and John are awesome. Love them all and their friendship so much. What Quinn does for John was fierce and loyal and love him so much more for it. Rooting for him and Blay (I’ve already read ahead at this point).
- John is amazing to watch as he comes into his own and grows into the warrior male he now sees in the mirror. I love how we get to see him growing up before our eyes. Loved how manned up and told Xhex how he feels. Hot!!! His boldness sure surprised her! Loved it.
- I enjoyed Rhev’s POV as well. Love him and looking forward to his book next.
- Thor is FINALLY back. Can’t wait to see his healing process, although I still didn’t like what happened to Wellsie. But I’m glad he’s (kind of) back at least (well, physically).
- New roommie fallen angel Lassiter! Hello…hi! Loving this twist. And loving his personality so far.
- I kind of despise Lash. But…at the same time I feel like his presence with the lessers is going to make them a more formidable foe. I’m interested with where he takes things on that end. He’s got solid plans. Evil, of course…but, solid.
- Having ghost doctor Jane turns out to be really handy. Especially because she can show up anywhere at anytime and carry things, still do doctor things (like surgeries and checkups), and she can go solid at will. Pretty handy! So this made me feel a little better about her fate. Maybe that was Ward’s plan all along for her?
- I loved how Phury ended up handling the Chosen situation. I can’t believe the Scribe Virgin went for it. But I have a feeling she’s a bit depressed and kind of going for a more hands off “whatever” approach after the whole Vishous (and Payne) situation.
One other comment I want to make about this series as a whole. I really love these books, the world and characters are great. BUT, there’s also something about them that sets me on edge. Like it feels like everything is so perilous and desperate as I read them. I think I would love if there were more interludes of down time/not serious stuff to balance the serious and ominous moods. I think they would go a long way to making the books a little less anxiety-inducing. Lol
Overall this was my least favorite in the series. The romance was practically non-existent and the sex (what little there was) was a snooze fest. Phury and Cormia were lacking as characters for me. HOWEVER, the rest of the characters and storylines held the book together and I’m glad to have read it for the sole purpose of moving the other plots and characters forward. Can’t necessarily skip it (too much important stuff happens in this one), but be prepared to either endure or skip over Phury’s self destructive behavior and don’t expect any great romance to occur at any point in the book. Oh well.
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ORIGINAL REVIEW (10/1/2010):
ORIGINAL RATING (3 STARS)
I struggled very much with deciding whether to give this three or two stars. I am wildly crazy about this series and while this book was entertaining, I had to give it three stars, instead of my usual four or five. The reason is that I really loved the first four books of the series, the fifth one is when things started to go downhill in my opinion, and this one just makes it worse.
This book is really heartbreaking to me for many reasons...
The primary reason is that the story of Phury is really sad for me. He is not only semi-schizophrenic, lonely, a drug addict, self-destructive, etc. But while all of this is going on, the brothers (including his twin brother by blood) is not there for him at all. They push him away and literally exile him, kicking him out of the Brotherhood altogether.
While I may not agree with Phury mutilating and torturing the lessers before killing them; and I do understand that it is a distraction which could get him killed, it is just NOT in the Brotherhood nature to kick him out. Everything Ward has been implanting in our minds about the Brothers and what they're all about is unity, love, family, and looking out for each other. I have a VERY hard time believing, that even if Phury is going through a hard time in his life, that the Brotherhood would kick him out and "wash their hands of him" (to use Zsadist's own words). It just wouldn't happen. He's been with them I think it said about 75 years or so, and they kick him out because of this? I'm not buying it. Yet, at the same time they harbor the murderer Qhuinn with open arms, giving him a position of great respect. Really?
Ward changes my opinion about every single one of the Brothers in this book, and it breaks my heart. I think she made a huge mistake with this book. HUGE. The Brotherhood is falling apart, the romance of these books is near non-existent anymore, and there is no more sense of loyalty between them. Phury is out of the Brotherhood. It's just unbelievable.
On top of the Brotherhood kicking him out, I am disturbed by how Zsadist is treating him too. He's his brother and he is pushing him away when Phury needs him the most. I understand that in this book he is going through Bella's hard pregnancy, but it is just sad for me. I'm glad that there was a resolution between them at the end though.
I'm also glad that Thor's back finally, although I'm not really sure if he really is. I wonder how Ward will play that in the future books. Will he be back to fighting again or just be bed-ridden for the rest of his days. This is another reason why the Brotherhood feels like it's falling apart. Not only is Phury gone, but Thor is too. I just don't think "killing off" these main characters is a good idea and it makes me sad.
On the other hand though, I was intrigued by the fallen angel Lassiter enough to want to start reading her new Fallen Angels series. I thought that was pretty cool how she's tying that in and I liked his personality when he's introduced in this book.
Also, I am actually kind of liking John Mathew. Although sometimes he's boring, I'm intrigued by what happened between him and Xhex in the bathroom at the club. Although she's not really what I'd like to see in his heroine, I'm intrigued by the attitude switch he has in that moment and I'd like to see where that goes.
Anyways, I was pretty disappointed with this book overall. Although it was entertaining, it was sad to see what's happening to the Brotherhood and to this series in general. I'm not sure where Ward is taking this series now that it seems to be falling apart. In addition, the books are starting to be about people not even in the original brotherhood. Rhev is the next book and, although I do like his character, it just seems like Ward is going astray.
Why not make just 7 books about each of the original brotherhood (including Butch because he's part of the family too). I would have done that. For Thor's she could have gone back to when he and Wesslie first met or something. Then she would have 7 solid romance books in the series (ditching the ghosts, killing off Wesslie, and kicking Phury out) and they would all be wonderful. End it there. That's just my opinion though and what I was hoping the series would be.
I'm just getting to think that this series is going downhill. The first four of these books were solid five or four stars, and now they keep going down. It's sad really. I will keep reading to see what happens though so we'll see...
- Main Couple: Phury(vampire)/Cormia(vampire)
- POVs Included: (will add later)
- Book Playlist (Black Dagger Brotherhood Series Playlist)
-----------------------------------
-----------------------------------
UPDATED REVIEW 5/5/2022:
UPDATED RATING (3 STARS -- SAME)
This is a review for a re-read after 12 years (original review below). This book has never been a favorite for me in the series. And that still holds true for the re-read unfortunately. Although, I will say that in my original review I am concerned about the series going downhill and her expanding to other characters outside of the Brotherhood. As someone who has now read further in the series I can honestly say that it does get good (great) again and the new characters are typically really good, with a few of them being new favorites for me. So no worries there anymore!
The biggest issue with this book is the main “romance” (if you can even call it that). Unlike the previous books in the series in this one I felt absolutely no chemistry, love, or even friendship between Phury and Cormia. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.
Phury spends literally 85% of this 530 page book acting like a pathetic, self-loathing, self-destructive drug addict. I get that he has his issues he needs to work through, but so did Zsadist…so did Vishous. They all have issues. But Phury is so consumed by his misery that he is not even available to form any sort of connection with Cormia. They hardly talk or interact. They don’t even have sex until page 400 and even that is a bittersweet connection that doesn’t bloom into anything between them until another 100 pages or so. It’s too much. By the time they throw around their “I love you’s” I just don’t even believe it. Seriously? There is literally no getting to know each other. No connection. No romance. Nothing between them. And then suddenly they love each other after a torturous battle Phury has with drugs and borderline insanity (HATED the “wizard” voice in his head…HATED IT). I’m not buying their “love”.
Then there’s Cormia, who is a Chosen. She is…boring. She hasn’t been exposed to literally anything since she’s a Chosen living on the Other Side. No colors (only white), or food, or sex, or dancing, or Project Runway, or anything. She’s seeing absolutely everything with new eyes which is…cute. But she has no background, no history, nothing to learn about her. She’s like a female vessel. Nothing interesting there. She’s nice. I’ll give her that. But….yeah.
The next issue I had with the book was with the Brotherhood basically kicking Phury out. What?!?!? I hated this and didn’t agree with this turn of events at all. How many of the other Brother’s have had mental state issues? Umm….all of them! Sure, I would agree that Phury’s is the worst after getting inside his crazy head. But I still think this was totally uncalled for and out of character with the Brotherhood. I did not like this and it left such a bad taste in my mouth. They are supposed to be family to each other and they just kick him while he’s down. After everything he has sacrificed for Zsadist and even Vishous! Appalling! And I hate that he doesn’t even come back to fighting with them in the end of the book. I sure hope that changes in future books. As annoyed as I was by him, I still want him there with the guys fighting with them. Especially now that he’s got his shit together.
One more big issue I had was with Zsadist refusing to thank Phury for his part in rescuing him. Now, I love Z — he’s my favorite Brother — but this didn’t sit well with me at all. Sure, he made the point that he still went through it and some other nonsense. But Phury literally sacrificed his leg to rescue him. He dedicated his life to searching for him and even took a vow of celibacy as a way to show his dedication to finding Z. Desiring a little appreciation for those sacrifices is not too much. Normally I love Z, but I hated that this wasn’t resolved.
Now I know I’m doing a lot of ranting and it almost sounds like I hated the book. I did hate the main “romance”. But what saved the book for me was the other story lines.
Some things I did love:
- Quinn, Blay, and John are awesome. Love them all and their friendship so much. What Quinn does for John was fierce and loyal and love him so much more for it. Rooting for him and Blay (I’ve already read ahead at this point).
- John is amazing to watch as he comes into his own and grows into the warrior male he now sees in the mirror. I love how we get to see him growing up before our eyes. Loved how manned up and told Xhex how he feels. Hot!!! His boldness sure surprised her! Loved it.
- I enjoyed Rhev’s POV as well. Love him and looking forward to his book next.
- Thor is FINALLY back. Can’t wait to see his healing process, although I still didn’t like what happened to Wellsie. But I’m glad he’s (kind of) back at least (well, physically).
- New roommie fallen angel Lassiter! Hello…hi! Loving this twist. And loving his personality so far.
- I kind of despise Lash. But…at the same time I feel like his presence with the lessers is going to make them a more formidable foe. I’m interested with where he takes things on that end. He’s got solid plans. Evil, of course…but, solid.
- Having ghost doctor Jane turns out to be really handy. Especially because she can show up anywhere at anytime and carry things, still do doctor things (like surgeries and checkups), and she can go solid at will. Pretty handy! So this made me feel a little better about her fate. Maybe that was Ward’s plan all along for her?
- I loved how Phury ended up handling the Chosen situation. I can’t believe the Scribe Virgin went for it. But I have a feeling she’s a bit depressed and kind of going for a more hands off “whatever” approach after the whole Vishous (and Payne) situation.
One other comment I want to make about this series as a whole. I really love these books, the world and characters are great. BUT, there’s also something about them that sets me on edge. Like it feels like everything is so perilous and desperate as I read them. I think I would love if there were more interludes of down time/not serious stuff to balance the serious and ominous moods. I think they would go a long way to making the books a little less anxiety-inducing. Lol
Overall this was my least favorite in the series. The romance was practically non-existent and the sex (what little there was) was a snooze fest. Phury and Cormia were lacking as characters for me. HOWEVER, the rest of the characters and storylines held the book together and I’m glad to have read it for the sole purpose of moving the other plots and characters forward. Can’t necessarily skip it (too much important stuff happens in this one), but be prepared to either endure or skip over Phury’s self destructive behavior and don’t expect any great romance to occur at any point in the book. Oh well.
-----------------------------------
-----------------------------------
ORIGINAL REVIEW (10/1/2010):
ORIGINAL RATING (3 STARS)
I struggled very much with deciding whether to give this three or two stars. I am wildly crazy about this series and while this book was entertaining, I had to give it three stars, instead of my usual four or five. The reason is that I really loved the first four books of the series, the fifth one is when things started to go downhill in my opinion, and this one just makes it worse.
This book is really heartbreaking to me for many reasons...
The primary reason is that the story of Phury is really sad for me. He is not only semi-schizophrenic, lonely, a drug addict, self-destructive, etc. But while all of this is going on, the brothers (including his twin brother by blood) is not there for him at all. They push him away and literally exile him, kicking him out of the Brotherhood altogether.
While I may not agree with Phury mutilating and torturing the lessers before killing them; and I do understand that it is a distraction which could get him killed, it is just NOT in the Brotherhood nature to kick him out. Everything Ward has been implanting in our minds about the Brothers and what they're all about is unity, love, family, and looking out for each other. I have a VERY hard time believing, that even if Phury is going through a hard time in his life, that the Brotherhood would kick him out and "wash their hands of him" (to use Zsadist's own words). It just wouldn't happen. He's been with them I think it said about 75 years or so, and they kick him out because of this? I'm not buying it. Yet, at the same time they harbor the murderer Qhuinn with open arms, giving him a position of great respect. Really?
Ward changes my opinion about every single one of the Brothers in this book, and it breaks my heart. I think she made a huge mistake with this book. HUGE. The Brotherhood is falling apart, the romance of these books is near non-existent anymore, and there is no more sense of loyalty between them. Phury is out of the Brotherhood. It's just unbelievable.
On top of the Brotherhood kicking him out, I am disturbed by how Zsadist is treating him too. He's his brother and he is pushing him away when Phury needs him the most. I understand that in this book he is going through Bella's hard pregnancy, but it is just sad for me. I'm glad that there was a resolution between them at the end though.
I'm also glad that Thor's back finally, although I'm not really sure if he really is. I wonder how Ward will play that in the future books. Will he be back to fighting again or just be bed-ridden for the rest of his days. This is another reason why the Brotherhood feels like it's falling apart. Not only is Phury gone, but Thor is too. I just don't think "killing off" these main characters is a good idea and it makes me sad.
On the other hand though, I was intrigued by the fallen angel Lassiter enough to want to start reading her new Fallen Angels series. I thought that was pretty cool how she's tying that in and I liked his personality when he's introduced in this book.
Also, I am actually kind of liking John Mathew. Although sometimes he's boring, I'm intrigued by what happened between him and Xhex in the bathroom at the club. Although she's not really what I'd like to see in his heroine, I'm intrigued by the attitude switch he has in that moment and I'd like to see where that goes.
Anyways, I was pretty disappointed with this book overall. Although it was entertaining, it was sad to see what's happening to the Brotherhood and to this series in general. I'm not sure where Ward is taking this series now that it seems to be falling apart. In addition, the books are starting to be about people not even in the original brotherhood. Rhev is the next book and, although I do like his character, it just seems like Ward is going astray.
Why not make just 7 books about each of the original brotherhood (including Butch because he's part of the family too). I would have done that. For Thor's she could have gone back to when he and Wesslie first met or something. Then she would have 7 solid romance books in the series (ditching the ghosts, killing off Wesslie, and kicking Phury out) and they would all be wonderful. End it there. That's just my opinion though and what I was hoping the series would be.
I'm just getting to think that this series is going downhill. The first four of these books were solid five or four stars, and now they keep going down. It's sad really. I will keep reading to see what happens though so we'll see...
secretmagic's review
4.0
I struggled with 'Lover Enshrined'. Out of all the Brothers, Phury has always been my least favourite. I could never seem to connect with him and his attitude for most of the book didn't change my opinions. I found I was focusing more on the side stories than the main one, and that was what got me through this book.
In the previous book, Phury accepted the role of Primale, the number one male to mate with the Chosen (the women kept safe in the Scribe Virgin's sanctuary). And yet, despite taking the position to help one of the other Brothers, he does everything in his power to avoid the duties he has to perform; most notably 'mate' with Cormia, the Chosen who is assigned as his First Mate. Phury makes multiple mistakes throughout the book they left me uninterested in his journey. I understand the pattern of the series is to have a broken male Vampire in need of finding a way to heal and be better for himself; but the 'broken' nature of Phury didn't impress me at all and didn't inspire any emotions to follow his growth.
Cormia, thankfully, was slightly more interesting. Breaking free of her secluded lifestyle with the Chosen and becoming independent. Although slightly repetitive, as I feel like we saw this sort of journey with Marissa in book 4, it was still good to see her coming out of her shell and discovering technology in the human world.
I loved the side stories. John, Qhuinn and Blay have such a strong friendship. Although they also face a few intense moments throughout the book, it's hard not to smile when they have a chance to sit back and relax with each other. I'm looking forward to seeing more of them in the next couple of books. And Rehvenge, he's got such a hidden history and I love the secrecy surrounding who his is and what he's doing with his like. I can't wait to dive into his book next.
The lessers reappear in this book. Any hope that we were free of them was lost. But J.R. Ward has set the scene for the next few books. We're not just fighting random lessers from now on. 'Lover Enshrined' creates a whole new game plan for the Lessoning Society; and I can only imagine how it'll cause trouble for the vampires.
3.5/5 stars
In the previous book, Phury accepted the role of Primale, the number one male to mate with the Chosen (the women kept safe in the Scribe Virgin's sanctuary). And yet, despite taking the position to help one of the other Brothers, he does everything in his power to avoid the duties he has to perform; most notably 'mate' with Cormia, the Chosen who is assigned as his First Mate. Phury makes multiple mistakes throughout the book they left me uninterested in his journey. I understand the pattern of the series is to have a broken male Vampire in need of finding a way to heal and be better for himself; but the 'broken' nature of Phury didn't impress me at all and didn't inspire any emotions to follow his growth.
Cormia, thankfully, was slightly more interesting. Breaking free of her secluded lifestyle with the Chosen and becoming independent. Although slightly repetitive, as I feel like we saw this sort of journey with Marissa in book 4, it was still good to see her coming out of her shell and discovering technology in the human world.
I loved the side stories. John, Qhuinn and Blay have such a strong friendship. Although they also face a few intense moments throughout the book, it's hard not to smile when they have a chance to sit back and relax with each other. I'm looking forward to seeing more of them in the next couple of books. And Rehvenge, he's got such a hidden history and I love the secrecy surrounding who his is and what he's doing with his like. I can't wait to dive into his book next.
The lessers reappear in this book. Any hope that we were free of them was lost. But J.R. Ward has set the scene for the next few books. We're not just fighting random lessers from now on. 'Lover Enshrined' creates a whole new game plan for the Lessoning Society; and I can only imagine how it'll cause trouble for the vampires.
3.5/5 stars
thenovelcourt's review against another edition
4.0
There are so many things I want to say, but yet like every other time I've finished a book from this series, I'm speechless. There is so much going on in Lover Enshrined, it's so chaotic, so many loose ends - but it perfectly mirrors Phury's mental instability. Despite not finding myself heavily involved in Phury's and Cormia's journey, I still very much enjoyed reading their progress both individually and with each other.
Qhuinn and Blay, however? My heart is theirs to shred and tear.
“If there are any who dare to hurt you,” Qhuinn growled in the Old Language, “I shall see them staked afore me and shall leave their bodies in ruin.”
Qhuinn and Blay, however? My heart is theirs to shred and tear.
“If there are any who dare to hurt you,” Qhuinn growled in the Old Language, “I shall see them staked afore me and shall leave their bodies in ruin.”
sirdemalmanche's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25