Book Review: The Black Dagger Brotherhood (books 1-7) by JR Ward

Summary:

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing more than Wrath, the leader of The Black Dagger Brotherhood.

The only purebred vampire left on earth, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But, when one of his most trusted fighters is killed-leaving his half-breed daughter unaware of his existence or her fate-Wrath must usher her into the world of the undead-a world of sensuality beyond her wildest dreams.

 

 
Review:

I can't figure out how to classify this series.  Is it a romance?  Is it a thriller?  It is definitely paranormal.  JR Ward's webiste lists a review that calls this series "genre-bending."  I think that is an appropriate classification.  These books include love, action, killing and a little mystery.  It's a nice mix! 

Each book tells the story of one member of the brotherhood.  By the way, none of these guys are actually brothers, just brothers-in-arms, so to speak.  The brother featured in each book goes through personal trials and usually ends up finding his true love by the end.  I like a series where each book can stand on its own and you can read them out of order without getting totally confused.  I wouldn't recommend reading these out of order because they do build on each other a little, and you will have some plot spoilers as to who ends up with whom.

One thing I'm really enjoying about my foray into the paranormal genre is how each author "feeds" the vampires.  Example:  Stephenie Meyer's vampires drink blood only and drink to kill.  Darren Shan, PC Cast, and Richelle Mead's "good" vampires eat food and drink little bits of blood.  Richelle Mead's "bad" vampires drink blood from the "good" vampires and drink to kill.  In the Black Dagger Brotherhood, the vampires eat food and drink little bits of blood from each other occasionally.  That's a new twist on the feeding issue---they don't drink from humans at all.  In fact, they pose no danger to humans and their existence is dedicated to protecting humans from the lessers (the soulless bad guys). 

I would be remiss if I didn't warn you that The Black Dagger Brotherhood has a LOT of sex in it.  Each book gets pretty graphic at least three to four times.  It's not as raunchy as Richelle Mead's Georgina Kincaid series, but if Twilight is PG, Georgina Kincaid is an adult video, then Black Dagger Brotherhood would be an HBO series, if you get my drift.  Also, the books include a lot of bad language.  I can't decide which number is higher:  the number of f-bombs in one of the Black Dagger Brotherhood books or the number of Cadbury mini eggs Natalie and I ate at Easter.  Suffice it to say, there's a lot of each!  This series is NOT for a younger audience.

Overall, I really enjoy these books.  The plots are very good and I think JR Ward is a good writer.  The books keep me guessing, which I love.  If you read Dark Lover (book 1) and aren't impressed, keep reading.  The other books are much better.

Just One Gripe:

I'm so tired of reading about the brothers' boots.  Why does Ward keep calling them "shit-kickers"???  I get that they wear big, clunky, manly-man boots, okay?  You don't have to keep telling me about their "shit-kickers"!

The Best Thing About This Series:

I like reading about "good" vampires.

Appropriate for a younger audience:

NO WAY

Score:

Characters:  5/5

Plot:  4/5

Setting/Imagery:  4/5

Originality:  5/5

Ending:  5/5

Total Score:  23/25