Review and Book Club: Lover Revealed by J. R. Ward

Today I'm participating in Bookaholic Does Blogging's Black Dagger Brotherhood Book Club for her BDB Challenge. Every month, in addition to reading one of the series' books, I'll be participating in her book club posts, so we can all gab about BDB!

Book: Lover Revealed

Author: J. R. Ward

Publisher: Signet

Release date: March 6, 2007

Source: Bought for Kindle

Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood #4

Summary: (from Goodreads) Butch O'Neal is a fighter by nature. A hard-living ex-homicide cop, he's the only human ever to be allowed in the inner circle of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. And he wants to go even deeper into the vampire world-to engage in the turf war with the lessers. His heart belongs to a female vampire, Marissa, an aristocratic beauty who's way out of his league. And if he can't have her, then at least he can fight side by side with the Brothers.

But fate curses him with the very thing he wants. When Butch sacrifices himself to save a civilian vampire from the slayers, he falls prey to the darkest force in the war. Left for dead, he's found by a miracle, and the Brotherhood calls on Marissa to bring him back, though even her love may not be enough to save him.

Questions:
1. On a scale from 1-5, what would you rate this book? Briefly tell us why.

I'm going with four stars on this one. It wasn't my favorite of the series, but still engaging. Butch, as the resident human of the BDB, is a unique character. I think Ward made a good choice in featuring him so early on. As readers, we intuited that something deeper was going on with him, and the more time went by, the more I wanted a resolution to that instinctive feeling. Not unlike the feeling I'm getting now with John Matthew.

2. A lot goes on with Butch in this book. What did you think of his past? And what about that revelation his mom makes at the end of the book? Do you think we'll ever discover who is Dad really is?

I thought Butch's backstory was great. It perfectly tied in to his longing to be a part of the Brotherhood. As an outsider his entire life, rejected by his own family even, it's no wonder he wants to be a part of something meaningful. I wish we'd found out that Janie's kidnappers had been brought to justice, or seen the reason Butch became a cop. I guess we can't know everything, though! I'm just being greedy.

3. I had kind of foreseen Butch becoming a vampire, however, I did not see the lesser incident occurring. What did you think of Butch's encounter with the Omega? What about his abilities that stemmed from this incident?

I was also blindsided by the Omega stuff. I had no idea what was going to happen or whether he should or shouldn't be using his new powers. I loved the twist. Ward always manages to keep us on our toes, even when we think we know what's going to happen. It's part of the reason I love her books.

4. We've never seen a new member inducted into the brotherhood... what did you think about this ritual?

Oh my gosh. I loved the explanation of the brand/scar they all have on their pecs. When Butch woke up and felt salt I was like "A-HA!" I thought the ritual was cool, but I wish it had gone on a bit longer. We've seen some interesting rituals, and for this one I was like, "Really? Where's the rest of it?" Also, am I the only one who now wants Vishous and Butch and Marissa to be polyamorous mates? That embrace during the ritual was hot!

5. Speaking of rituals, what do you think about the mating ritual? It was detailed in the first book, but we've seen glimpses of it in each book since.

I like it, but I still don't get why they have to carve the names into their flesh. A bit extreme, true? I was glad we didn't have to read it again with Marissa. I'm not feeling her like I do the other females. Something about her prissy upbringing and constant whining about Butch's safety made me kind of hate her.

6. Let's talk about John. We saw some pretty unusual behavior from him in this book. Most of it strengthened my idea of him being Darius... what do think?

He has some serious aggression threatening to spill over, so I'm glad he's going on these nightly walks with Zsadist. I think those two can really bond over their pasts and hopefully Z can teach John how to control his emotions. I'm pretty well convinced that John is Darius, particularly with the bomb flashback.

7. We saw a lot of V in this book, which makes sense given his relationship with Butch. What do you think about those two being two halves of a whole? The Destroyer and the Savior?

I think this is a perfect dynamic. There was always something bigger between these two than just friendship or brotherhood. They are complementary halves. It was such a cool thing to see this partnership become fully realized and necessary to the survival of the race. I can't wait to read about V. Is his book next? I hope so. As much as I love Butch, I think I like Vishous more.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Click the stars for a description of my rating system

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