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A review by ihateprozac
Blood Fury by J.R. Ward
5.0
A book about Peyton getting 5 stars and becoming my new favourite? …..all I can say is that we stan character development, kids!
Prior to this book I hated Peyton, but his character development throughout Blood Fury is nothing short of phenomenal. He’s never asked to have a personality transplant and quit his stoner life, and yet through Novo he tempers the douchier parts of his personality and grows the fuck up. He realises that he was the one setting himself up to fail, and that he’s capable of far more physically, emotionally, and romantically, than he ever gave himself credit for.
By the end of the book he’s still recognisable as Peyton, yet is totally unrecognisable from the sexist, misogynistic douchebag of Book 1.
THAT’S. WHAT. I. WANT. TO. SEE.
Novo similarly undergoes a lot of character development without fundamentally compromising her identity. She learns to deal with her trauma, to let people in, and is called out for how she lets her past trauma be an excuse for mistreating people in the present.
I also loved that she also got to retain her kinky side! I’m still salty about JR Ward’s kink erasure with Axe, and I hope we get to see more of Axe and Novo frequenting The Keys together!
But holy hell, the real highlights of this book were SAXTON AND RUHN. The angst, the misunderstanding, the hesitation, the yearning, the love, the chemistry…….The sexual tension was off the charts and I thought my lil queer heart was about to explode. THIS is how you write a smutty romance and THIS is the smutty romance we all deserve!
Smut aside, it was wonderful getting to know Saxton and Ruhn in greater detail. While Ruhn’s story is about overt physical trauma and manipulation, Saxton’s hurt was a lot more quiet and introspective. The BDB books usually involve a Brother falling hard for their mate, but there are often consequences for those around them that we don’t get to see. I love that the Legacy spinoff series has shown how Marissa and Saxton were collateral damage to these relationships, and that their wounds don’t heal overnight.
This world has layers, y’all.
Ugh. This book was damn near perfect. A million stars.
Prior to this book I hated Peyton, but his character development throughout Blood Fury is nothing short of phenomenal. He’s never asked to have a personality transplant and quit his stoner life, and yet through Novo he tempers the douchier parts of his personality and grows the fuck up. He realises that he was the one setting himself up to fail, and that he’s capable of far more physically, emotionally, and romantically, than he ever gave himself credit for.
By the end of the book he’s still recognisable as Peyton, yet is totally unrecognisable from the sexist, misogynistic douchebag of Book 1.
THAT’S. WHAT. I. WANT. TO. SEE.
Novo similarly undergoes a lot of character development without fundamentally compromising her identity. She learns to deal with her trauma, to let people in, and is called out for how she lets her past trauma be an excuse for mistreating people in the present.
I also loved that she also got to retain her kinky side! I’m still salty about JR Ward’s kink erasure with Axe, and I hope we get to see more of Axe and Novo frequenting The Keys together!
But holy hell, the real highlights of this book were SAXTON AND RUHN. The angst, the misunderstanding, the hesitation, the yearning, the love, the chemistry…….The sexual tension was off the charts and I thought my lil queer heart was about to explode. THIS is how you write a smutty romance and THIS is the smutty romance we all deserve!
Smut aside, it was wonderful getting to know Saxton and Ruhn in greater detail. While Ruhn’s story is about overt physical trauma and manipulation, Saxton’s hurt was a lot more quiet and introspective. The BDB books usually involve a Brother falling hard for their mate, but there are often consequences for those around them that we don’t get to see. I love that the Legacy spinoff series has shown how Marissa and Saxton were collateral damage to these relationships, and that their wounds don’t heal overnight.
This world has layers, y’all.
Ugh. This book was damn near perfect. A million stars.