Name: Rebecca Hurd's review of Lover Awakened by J. R. Ward
Item: Lover Awakened
Rating: 5
Author: Rebecca Hurd

J. R. Ward

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly war raging between vampires and their slayers. And there exists a secret band of brothers like no other - six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Of these, Zsadist is the most terrifying member of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. A former blood slave, the vampire Zsadist still bears the scars from a past filled with suffering and humiliation. Renowned for his unquenchable fury and sinister deeds, he is a savage feared by humans and vampires alike. Anger is his only companion, and terror is his only passion - until he rescues a beautiful aristocrat from the evil Lessening Society. Bella is instantly entranced by the seething power Zsadist possesses. But even as their desire for one another begins to overtake them both, Zsadist's thirst for vengeance against Bella's tormentors drives him to the brink of madness. Now, Bella must help her lover overcome the wounds of his tortured past, and find a future with her.

Number 3 in series

Lover Awakened

Fantasy-roman. When Zsadist, the most feared member of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, rescues Bella from the evil Lessening Society, he is nearly driven insane by rage against her tormentors, and must confront his tortured past in order to have a future with this brave beauty who is his destiny

Haleigh Marshall

Brooke Kennedy

J.R. Ward

#1 New York Times bestselling author J.R. Ward’s ferociously inventive series continues as the most fearsome member of the Black Dagger Brotherhood discovers just how tempting the night can be… A former blood slave, Zsadist still bears the scars from a past filled with suffering and humiliation. Renowned for his unquenchable fury and sinister deeds, he is a savage feared by humans and vampires alike. Anger is his only companion, and terror is his only passion—until he rescues a beautiful female from the evil Lessening Society. Bella is instantly entranced by the Brother’s seething power. Except even as their desire for each other begins to overtake them, Zsadist’s thirst for vengeance against her abductor drives him to the brink of madness. Now Bella must help her lover not only overcome the wounds of his tortured past, but find a future with her...

A Novel Of The Black Dagger Brotherhood

Rebecca Hurd

Absolutely loved this story Zsadist is literally EVERYTHING!! He seems so broken because of his past, and being able to read more about what happened to him was extremely eye-opening!! Loving this whole series!! Watch O slowly loose it was fascinating and kinda sad the the same time I almost felt bad for him…ALMOST!! On to the next one!!

   In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there’s a deadly war raging between vampires and their slayers. And there exists a secret band of brothers like no other - six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Of these, Zsadist is the most terrifying member of the Black Dagger Brotherhood.

   A former blood slave, the vampire Zsadist still bears the scars from a past filled with suffering and humiliation. Renowned for his unquenchable fury and sinister deeds, he is a savage feared by humans and vampires alike. Anger is his only companion, and terror is his only passion—until he rescues a beautiful aristocrat from the evil Lessening Society.

   Bella is instantly entranced by the seething power Zsadist possesses. But even as their desire for one another begins to overtake them both, Zsadist’s thirst for vengeance against Bella’s tormentors drives him to the brink of madness. Now, Bella must help her lover overcome the wounds of his tortured past, and find a future with her…

Black Dagger Brotherhood #3

Annalissa Powner 

Love just loooooove zsadist. By far my favorite story so far, I'm pretty sure he will always be my favorite brother. The only down side to this story was the huge curve ball thrown about 3/4ths into it. I'm not sure I could have been more heartbroken if I tried! With every story I'm starting to love John a little more, and as much as I like Butch I'm just not as attached to him as I am the other brothers. On to the next book!

Lauryn Page

I have to say I thought I loved the first two but when I read this one I actually got the warm and fuzzies. Z’s character has stolen my heart and I loved being able to see such a transformation in his character from being to end. I’m so glad the most misunderstood brother in the brotherhood got everything and more!

A terrific third installment. Zsadist was such a real character and this entire novel took me on a wild and emotional ride. So good!

Sasha Mann

Annabella

Janna Niemi

The books are getting more serious and the plot gets more gruel. I think too many of the characters died or disappeared in this book but I totally loved the ending. I think that was the best ending in all the three books.

Missy Zuber 

Best in the series by far. Love the whole tortured/tormented hero who finds love and is healed by love and his woman.

Celeste Richardson

I keep promising myself that I’ll put this series aside and read something else for a while. Nope. They’re getting more and more addictive. I suddenly understand why Haïfa has reread the Kate Daniels books so many times. Turns out good paranormal romance series just gets better every time you revisit them. Yet again, this book made my heart ache in the best way. I love these so much more than I remembered. On to the next!

Elizabeth Neill

Jaclyn

MY FAVORITE OF THE ENTIRE SERIES SO FAR OMG  
 I can’t right now, this was beautiful, heartbreaking and wonderful. Loved every single second of it!!!

Jessica Flores

Z ❤️ I loved seen this strong male be vulnerable. Despite trying to act like an ass to Bella (he couldn’t even fool himself )he’s so good to her… although he did make me cry when he tried to push her away by hurting her. Romance 5/5❤️ smutt 2/5🌶

Sarah Escorsa

➽ This is where most people would say something like: "warning! Unpopular opinion time!" 

➽ This is where I say something like: "this is my opinion! I don't give a damn what you think! Oh, and by the way, I don't like you either!" 

Just so you know. 

Sooooo. This was ridiculous, stupid and boring. Wait, I think I'm forgetting something here. Oh yeah, it was pretty lame, too. I think it's high time to get my favourite antediluvian beast out of extinction:



Good doggy.

Believe it or not, the main problem with this thing book is NOT that it is PNR. Well, as 99.99% of PNR novels, it is indeed silly and OTT and slightly ridiculous. But that's to be expected in this silly and OTT and slightly ridiculous genre. A note to all you adorable PNR trolls out there: this is not a bad thing in itself. Unlike this literary masterpiece here, some books can actually be silly, OTT, ridiculous and NOT STUPID. They can even be entertaining sometimes. I kid you not. So the answer to the question you didn't ask is: yes, I am aware that this thing book never pretended to be deep and complex and à la quantum physics. Doesn't mean it had to be this crappy, though.

Now, the main problem with this delightful story? Its Bogus Alpha Asshole MC (BAAM™), aka Z. aka Zsadist (if, like me, you think his name is somewhat stupid and vaguely laughable, please feel free to eyeroll here). So the guy is supposed to be this super antisocial, twisted, sick bastard who rejoices in being a total prick 24/7 and supposedly loves nothing better than inflicting pain. 



J.R. Ward, you are so damn funny. Because Z the Counterfeit Sadist (ZtCS™) is nothing but a big, pathetic, woe-is-me cry baby with the mushy heart of a 13 year old schoolgirl. I swear, the guy is an insult to all the Gloriously Fucked up, Slightly Unhinged, Mentally Unstable Jerks (GFUSUMUJ™) currently living in peace and harmony in my High Security Harem. Shame on you for creating one of the most ridiculous characters in the history of ridiculous characters, J.R. Ward. Luckily enough for you, Fleet Admiral DaShrimp and the Murderous Crustacean Troops (MCT™) are away on holiday at the moment (they are visiting their decapodic cousins in the South Seas), so I can't unleash them on you. BUT I do have a few fluffy bunnies mercenaries on my payroll. Not impressed, are you? Well don't let their disgusting cuteness kill you. These little guys are devious, ruthless fuckers fiends with deliciously homicidal tendencies. So if I were you I'd start running now. FAST.



And that is all. Well, it's not really all, but I've wasted enough time with this thing as it is. Besides, the story is your basic, standard PNR crap, so there isn't much to say about it. Well I could tell you that it is silly and OTT and ridiculous and slightly stupid, but I think I might have already said that, so it's better if I don't repeat myself, right? Right.

» And the moral of this Fantastically Fascinating Non-Review (FFNR™) is: this is it. I've had it. I am done done done trying to commit PNR-induced suicide. 



Yes, that's right, the divorce is final and the masochist in me has finally decided to give up on this pathetic charming genre. Except if Ilona Andrews, Pippa DaCosta, Glen Cook or Craig Schaefer decide to tackle it, that is. Unfortunately, that seems a bit unlikely. But you never know, a crustacean can hope. Oh, and by the way, I reserve the right to read books by Veronica Del Rosa, too. Because the girl wouldn't know how to write harebrained PNR even if she tried. 

The end. You're welcome. And stuff.

✉ To the three lovely ladies nutcases who collectively recommended I read this thing: it was nice knowing you. I'm sorry you have to die such a slow, horrible, painful death.

• Book 1: Dark Lover ★★★★★
• Book 2: Lover Eternal ★★

Tatyana

The story I have been waiting for and not even knowing I was waiting for it. Zsadist has been through a lot and to try and break away from his past and move forward I felt for him. A story of love, pain, hope, and action. 

Ella Zegarra

AHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! amo este libro, ame cada una de sus páginas, ame todo, es la primera vez que los jodidos restrictores no me aburren, gosh, es muy muy bueno!!! seee, lo se, no exactamente un reseña muy buena, pero ahhh1!!! me encanto! ¿no se si quedo claro? jajjajaja

Amy Grieve

OMFG! I didn't think that these books could get any better but here I am proved wrong again. 

After reading Lover Eternal with Rhage and Mary's story I didn't expect any of the other books to be so full of emotional torment. So when I begun reading Lover Awakened I was truly shocked. Hearing about Zsadist's past as a blood slave during the flashbacks were eye-opening and showed his past hell and why he had such a great reluctance to get close to anyone. 

Compared to the last book, I was more interested in the lesser's POV than before. I think it was O's thought and actions that kept me reading the Lesser parts. His mind was obsessive and just really creeped me out. 

It had the best ending for Bella and Zsadist but I will not spoil it. I wish that some things could have went different but I still adored this story. So I will just say that this book is in a class of its own and anyone who doesn't give it a try is really missing out.

Jade Flynn

All I'm going to say is Zsadist, you broke my heart. 

(MY 100TH BOOK OF 2011)

celeste

Petition for Zsadist to never have anything bad happen in his life ever again because my precious deadly warrior needs a fucking break from life, okay? god, these twins always manage themselves to break my heart. Definitely one of my favorite books of this series, and Z's definitely on my fave brothers list, together with my boy V ♥

Kristen

I love the characters in this series. The spotlighted ones in each novel come to life. Zsadist is by far my favorite of the brothers, though, because even in the previous two novels, he was always so three-dimensional and interesting. From the time he was first introduced in Dark Lover, I wanted to know more about him. I couldn't wait for his story, and it is my favorite of the books so far.

So Lover Awakened takes place about six weeks after Lover Eternal leaves off, and throughout this novel we see a heartwarming change in Zsadist's cold heart, a brilliant glimpse into his past and his mind, and the bond between him and Phury being strengthened despite Phury's undeniable jealousy. This is Zsadist's love story, but more importantly, I think it's the story of how he came back to life.

I love Zsadist even more after this book, and it was a fantastic story. I devoured it in one day. I didn't want to stop reading for anything.

But what I didn't like. I don't like where the series is going. I know who John Matthew is from the end of Dark Lover. I don't like the kid's character. Darius was much more interesting. John is boring, and this was the first book where I skipped full sections without even reading. I skimmed through most of his scenes and skipped others entirely. I just didn't see the point in a lot of cases. I was more interested in Zsadist and Bella, and Phury and the Reverend, and Vishous. Unless John was talking to Tohr, he just didn't rate in my opinion. His sections were bland and didn't really accomplish anything except maybe a little character development. I never left one of his scenes feeling like I was better off for having read it.

Another thing I didn't like. Mr. U. What a boring Lesser. I didn't think a Lesser could be more boring and useless than Mr. X, but Mr. U proved me wrong. Mr. O is my favorite of the Lessers. He's despicable and diabolical, and I like that I can understand him. Don't get me wrong-- I still want him dead. But he's a powerful villain, and considering Mr. X disappointed me as a villain in the first book, this series needs him. Without Mr. O, the Lessers aren't even scary. But Mr. O. Evil seeps out of the guy. He's great. I honestly laughed at Mr. X the whole time, and I skipped any scene in this novel that involved Mr. U, but Mr. O was fantastically written. Bravo for that. 

I don't know if I will continue this series. The next book features Butch and Marissa, two characters that I really have no feeling for. Butch is annoying for me to read about, and I'm completely indifferent to Marissa. All the reviews say that Lover Revealed is the last good book in the series, however, so I think I'll try it someday. I'm in no hurry to read it. But if half the book is about boring, half-cocked plans from the Lessers and how much John Matthew hates getting bullied in training, I might not finish it. While I love some of the characters, and I even like Phury after this book (my least favorite brother), I don't think I can finish this series. 

But I am so glad I read the first three books. The Brothers are the best vampires I've read in a long time. Not to mention they're every woman's fantasy. The romance is great, the characters are incredible, but the rest of the plot is just all right.

Wendy M Holt

The BDB is my favorite series. I have reread it multiple times. I love all the Brothers and their stories, but I have to say that Z is my all time favorite.

Brandie States

We go full swing into the darker part of the world in this book. Zsadist's story is so hard to read, yet it becomes clear why he is the way he is. You really feel for his character in this story, and not only that but you get to dive deeper into the war as well. Devoured this one in a single sitting, I couldn't put it down!

Brooke Kennedy &
Lover Awakened by J. R. Ward

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