Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Lover Enshrined

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Lover Enshrined by J.R. Ward

5 reviews

allingoodtime's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective tense medium-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

3.5

As I don’t find the stories in this series to be great as standalone, I’m going under the assumption that if you’re thinking of reading this book you have read the previous books in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Therefore, you know Phury has a drug problem. I want to be perfectly clear to those that need content warnings, this story goes deep into that addiction. If detailed descriptions of drugs, drug use, drug addiction, etc. will be detrimental to you I’d strongly advise you to read a good recap of this story and move on to the next in line.

While Phury and Cormia are the main event in this book, their love story is not as prominent as the other couples have been. A lot is going on in this story. I know that can be said about all of the books in this series, but it’s even more chaotic here. Not in a bad way. As each story has been told, things have been ramping up between the vampires and the lessers. It is safe to say that by halfway through this book they are in an all-out war. There are glimpses of people from the past, more about Rehvenge is revealed, things within the Lessening Society have been turned upside down and sideways, and the way things are traditionally done with the Chosen is being questioned.

Although I’m not a fan of the parts of these books that go into the POV of the lessers, it was necessary for this story. I can’t say much without spoilers, but there is a huge shake-up in how things are run and what the lessers themselves know about the Omega and how things work for them. It’s an interesting plot twist that I feel was needed with that group.

When it comes to the romance between Phury and Cormia, there isn’t much. He’s too in his head to take the steps needed to open up to Cormia. And she is so innocent from growing up so sheltered, she doesn’t know the right questions to ask. For the couples in the past, there has been an intensity to their connections, I didn’t feel that here. But I felt their connection nonetheless. It had an element of comfort to it that they both needed. Of course, that comfort would turn to flames that would then turn to guilt and feelings of inadequacy. It was a vicious circle. For those brief times when both Cormia and Phury let down their guard and relaxed, they were beautiful together.

This story was hard for me to get through. Partly because of all of the information given regarding the Lessening Society (which again, is needed and important, just not my favorite). Partly because reading about Phury’s struggles, his thought process, and internal demons, was very hard. Especially when I often felt as though I wanted the Brothers to do more. On one hand I understood that they’ve done so much already and they need him to do for himself, but I also felt they were missing so much of what he was struggling with by not paying attention to the root cause of his issues. There is a scene in the last chapter that had me in tears because I honestly thought, other than Cormia, Phury had lost the rest of his family due to his bad choices.

I am so deeply invested in this world, even the books that don’t go smoothly for me still keep me rapt. I want to know what will happen next. I’m always left wanting to jump into the next book.

Content Warnings

reptilewish5's review against another edition

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adventurous dark slow-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

The path Fury takes is believable and well written 4.5*. I was not as impressed by the relationship/romance between the couple this book focuses on 3*. The rest was ok. A little slow. Not my favorite in the series, but a needed read. Very important information is in this book.

Content Warnings

the_disreputable_dog's review

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dark emotional medium-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

5.0

I think this might be my favorite of the books so far. Fury went through so much adversity, I LOVE the parts with John Michael, I'm intrigued by Blay and Qhuinn, I also am starting to actually really like Revhenge (definitely did not like him to begin with, what with that request he put in to the king), and I think Lash is pretty smart, and I like him a little as well. I'm really liking this series and cannot wait to dive into the next one.

Content Warnings

liz_ross's review

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dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

" 'I love you forever' didn't always need to be spoken to be understood."

The Black Dagger Brotherhood series books are Dark Romance with vampires. Anyone who knows that has no trouble realizing it means that there are sex scenes. Lots of them. And I have no doubt those sex scenes with sexy, handsome, dangerous vampires are what makes many readers continue to buy the books in this series. Which is fine because anyone should be allowed to read whatever they please and this genre is as good as any other.

But those sex scenes are not the reason why I keep buying these books and loving them (with one sad exception so far). They are a plus I could live without. What makes me buy the books and love them are the mesmerizing world Ward created that is even more complex that it already seemed at first sight; the addicting, extremely interesting plot when it is related to the war between the vampries and the Lessening; and yes, the sexy, handsome, dangerous vampires, but not because they provide quite good sex scenes, because they are messed up, each one with demons of their own that they fight everyday, and that makes them so incredibly credible and somehow easy to love, to care about, to connect with.

All these things create stunningly beautiful books. Give me a reason to put up with all the sex scenes, because I need to know more about everything else.

Now, you must be wondering why I am telling you all this. Because that's the only way you can understand why I loved this book so much, when Phury is the Brother I like the least - I do love him, but I love all the others way more. There are really few sex scenes in this book, which means there are really few scenes I have to put up with in order to have the chance to enjoy everything else. And that made the book even better for me.

It's not just the fact that it made things easier for me, though. This lack of sex scenes when compared to the other books is just something that feels so damn right. Because it's Phury we are talking about. The Brother who pretty much gave up his life for his brother, sacrificed his own happiness to take care of his brother, devoted his life to him. He didn't deserve a story filled with sex scenes, a story mostly about sex or about loving Cormia like a "man" should. He deserves exactly what Ward gave him. A story about self-love, about trust, about acceptance and learning to forgive himself. Phury deserved redemption perhaps more than any other brother and he finally got that.

And by giving him all that, Ward created this absolutely lovely story that got me near tears as often as it made me smile. It's quite close to perfection and the best match to that bittersweet ending that left my heart throbbing while I stared at the book with a stupid smile on my face.

Ward made me love the one book I was expecting to like the least and I do admire her for that.

But it's more than Phury's path that made me give this book such a high rating. The lack of sex scnes brought one other positive aspect - it left a lot of space for world and plot development.

I loved to learn more about The Chosen and their world and I absolutely love what Ward did with it and how it fits Phury and Cormia's relationship so well. It was so interesting to dive into that side of the world Ward created, which had only began to be developed in the previous book and definitely hadn't got enough "screen time" yet. It adds a few more layers to the complexity of the vampiric world and its culture.

And the Lessening are no longer on vacation!! 🎉🎉 You know what that means? Action. LOTS of it. And DRAMAAAAA. And oh boy, I am here for the drama! And the action. Well, mostly the action. The drama is a bonus, but you know what I meant. Anyway, as I said before the part of the plot related to the fight between vampires and the Lessening is one of my favorite parts about these books. So, you can imagine how glad I was to get more about that in this book. It made the book a thousand times more interesting and I am desperate to get my hands on the next book. I need to know when will the Brotherhood finally figure out the threat that is pretty much knocking at their door. I NEED TO KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN!!

Overall, one of the best books of the series so far. Phury's story is absolutely endearing and left me so many good memories of the book that fill me with joy just for thinking about it. And the new information about the world and the developments in the war against the Lessening are just as interesting. For those who read this book for the sex scenes, I can guarantee you, everything else makes up for the lack of those. And for those who read the book for the same reason that I do, I assure you, you'll love this book.

Content Warnings

velocireader's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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