Willy W. reviewed on 1/21/2016 + 503 more book reviews

Pleasantly, happily surprised is how to best sum up The King. I started this opus of a book annoyed by the amount of ink wasted on side characters who had no impact on the main story and about whom I did not care. I honestly just skimmed much of it trying to decide how much time to invest in these characters. Spending more time with Wrath and Beth? Worth every second. The King addresses stories of FIVE different couples Wrath and Beth, Xcor and Layla, Trez and Selena, Assail and Sola, and Wrath's father and mother, Wrath and Anha. Much was revealed about where the vampire monarchy came from, and the side stories began developing future books.

Where The King really delivered was in the story of Wrath and Beth and the realities of living as the monarch of their race. There was real strain in their relationship and legitimate obstacles to their happiness. The parallel story of Wrath and Anha helped demonstrate both Wrath's perspective and also his folly. While it was disappointing that the multiple side stories were not about Brothers we already know and love, seeing glimpses into their lives was still sweet.

The side stories are a distraction, it's true, and especially the story of Assail and Sola seemed pointless since the characters never once (in my skimming) interacted or intersected with any of the main characters or plot. If you're reading to skim, that's a place I would skip entirely. Trez has such a gross life, it's not particularly fun or sexy to read about him, but seeing how he's changing and finding a way to become a better person is a step in the right direction. I didn't think I cared too much about Xcor, even though his story had the most relevance to the main plot, but once Ward finally put him and Layla in the same space, things got more interesting. I can't help but wish more time had been spent on developing a future love story for Saxton but one can only hope he'll get his due someday.

I read this book assuming it would be my last BDB. But the ending of The King is not just the face of another unresolved saga, it wound up being really powerful and I actually got teared up, something I haven't experienced since the first few books. And now I think I will probably read the next and the next, because she got me hooked on a couple of side characters, and got me wondering what is next for people who aren't even members of the Brotherhood. Well done JR Ward, well done.

If for some reason you are considering reading this book without having read other books in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, STOP, and at least read Dark Lover, which is the first book in the series and the beginning of the relationship of the two main characters in this story. The interest and drama of this book would be lost on someone who hasn't read at least part of the series.

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