Reviews with content warning for Murder - Lover Arisen

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

jj7twin's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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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

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