A review by allingoodtime
The King by J.R. Ward

emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

As much as I love this series, the books are long and do take me a bit longer to read because of the plethora of storylines happening in each one. Now that I’m finally on the audiobook train, I decided to give this one a go that way. If I could listen to these longer stories while getting my errands and things around the house done it wouldn’t take me as long, right? I just couldn’t. Maybe if I had been listening from book one, but I already have an idea in my head for each character and it just wasn’t working for me. Especially when it came to the dialogue since the Brotherhood tends to talk in a very particular way with tons of slang. Oh well, I tried.

That being said, once I got a chance to read this book I really enjoyed all of the stories. Before I get into the titled character’s storyline, I’m going to talk about some of the others. I had already been fully invested in Assail and Marisol from the last book. Their cat and mouse game intrigued me and the way their storyline ended in that book was shocking. Man, these two tore me apart in this book. The longing and yearning are so palpable. Assail’s desperation when he is searching for her and Marisol’s grit and determination when she is saving herself. Gah! I cannot wait for more from them because I know their story cannot be over yet.

I’m finding myself getting more invested in Trez’s story. I’m honestly unsure where it’s going and where I even want it to go, but I now find I’m sympathizing with the guy whereas before I was getting annoyed by him. I’d love to see his brother find his HEA, but I don’t think that can happen until things are settled with Trez. He hasn’t lived the best life, but I’m glad he’s being honest with Selena even when it pushes her away. And speaking of Selena, she’s another one who I’m super curious about. This story definitely got me more invested in some of these characters that were a lot more peripheral in the past.

Now let’s talk about the king. Wrath and Beth had huge growth in this book, especially Wrath. Their story was a bit of marriage in trouble. They both kept talking, but neither was being heard. For the longest time, they just could not see beyond their own wants and fears to truly appreciate the other’s hopes and fears. I don’t want to give too much away, but I’ll tell you that by the end there is joy in their lives and I’m glad the author had Beth open her eyes a bit as well as Wrath because, as much as I agreed with her about most of it, I still thought she was being obtuse at times. Wrath’s parent’s story is, in part, played out in this book. While Wrath looks at that time through the innocence of a child’s perception, the reader is shown what was really happening leading up to Wrath’s birth. Theirs was also a beautiful love story, but the ugliness of their reign they hid from their son (who was still quite young when they were murdered) ties into the current day. It is artfully done and I loved those bits.

There are always things in this series that make the books seem dated, mostly it has to do with celebrity names and popular brands. Poor Miley Cyrus was put through the wringer on this one and it bothered me. The author does seem to alter her writing as things progress in the real world, and this was published in 2014. I get it. And looking back I can remember how the world treated her when she was a very young woman and cringe. It’s funny to see other cultural references, such as V being convinced Steve Job’s legacy was the root of all evil in the world, and think of how prophetic these little snippets can be.

I’m very excited about the new direction things are going in the overall world of the Brotherhood. Which is good since there are still tons of books to go. 
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