Turn
Me Gingerly
a book review by GingerSnap
 |
| Credit |
The
Black Dagger Brotherhood Series profile
Book
3: Lover Awakened
Theme
Song: “Cut” by Plumb
Lover Awakened is book #3 is the Black Dagger
Brotherhood series. By far, the darkest,
terrifying and ruined brother in the Brotherhood, this is the story of Zsadist.
If you know the song “Cut”, by Plumb, I think this is the best way I can sum up the make-up of Z and how he has managed to get through life thus far. I don’t even know where to start with Lover Awakened. After the rush of the first two Brotherhood stories, Zsadist’s story took on a whole new direction. Abducted and sold into slavery as an infant, Zsadist grows up serving Kings and Queens of his time. Post transition, Zsadist is forced to be a blood slave (amongst other things) to the Queen. These are probably the darkest, most brutal parts of the story. The tale of abuse, humiliation and despair Zsadist suffers through is enough to clamp a vice around your chest. Rescued from the hell he was surviving in, Zsadist learns he has a twin, a family and is part of the most respected band of brothers in the vampire society. Free from the shackles the "mistress" kept him in, Zsadist has never escaped the nightmares, scars, memories and blackness that consume him. He lives in a prison with no walls.
Following up on a storyline from "Lover Eternal", we are reacquainted with Bella, a beautiful aristocrat vamp, who has been abducted by a member of the Lessening Society. After a run-in with Bella during a social gathering at the Brotherhood mansion, Zsadist is on a man-hunt to find Bella and bring her home. Bella's time at the hands of her abductor are eerily similar to those of "Silence of The Lambs"... very, "It puts the lotion on its skin, or it gets the hose again!". Messed. Up. Unusual for a lesser to have any feelings for another being, let alone keep a "pet", the lesser known as David, aka "Mr. O", is consumed with madness as he obsesses over the striking resemblance Bella has to his lost love in his human life. After she is able to release another captive from the cabin she is being held in, Bella hopes the citizen vampire can survive long enough to notify the Brotherhood she is still alive. When David realizes what she has done, Bella suffers the beating of her life and she can only hope her attempt at survival was not in vain.
It is Zsadist that finds her and rescues her from the brink of death. Upon her healing, is when the story of Zsadist and Lover Awakened truly unfolds. If anyone needed rescuing in this story it is Zsadist who carries the weight of centuries of abuse, rape, beatings and torture. Not even his twin, brother of brother Phury, can reach him at times. Sinister to the core, scarred, you can't help but wonder what Bella sees. Zsadist is not ruined, but absolutely broken. How can one survive the depths of hell and come out the other side whole? Can one save themselves and be born again?
"I was dead until you found me, though I breathed. I was sightless, though I could see. And then you came... and I was awakened."
Lover Awakened took my breath away. A story of evil blackness, despair, love & triumph has you reaching into the depths of Zsadist’s soul with him to discover what a life of hope, love and living could be like. In true JRW fashion, I laughed, cried, gasped and nearly fell off the bed on the last page of the book. If you haven't started yet, you must lose yourself into the Black Dagger Brotherhood.
If you know the song “Cut”, by Plumb, I think this is the best way I can sum up the make-up of Z and how he has managed to get through life thus far. I don’t even know where to start with Lover Awakened. After the rush of the first two Brotherhood stories, Zsadist’s story took on a whole new direction. Abducted and sold into slavery as an infant, Zsadist grows up serving Kings and Queens of his time. Post transition, Zsadist is forced to be a blood slave (amongst other things) to the Queen. These are probably the darkest, most brutal parts of the story. The tale of abuse, humiliation and despair Zsadist suffers through is enough to clamp a vice around your chest. Rescued from the hell he was surviving in, Zsadist learns he has a twin, a family and is part of the most respected band of brothers in the vampire society. Free from the shackles the "mistress" kept him in, Zsadist has never escaped the nightmares, scars, memories and blackness that consume him. He lives in a prison with no walls.
Following up on a storyline from "Lover Eternal", we are reacquainted with Bella, a beautiful aristocrat vamp, who has been abducted by a member of the Lessening Society. After a run-in with Bella during a social gathering at the Brotherhood mansion, Zsadist is on a man-hunt to find Bella and bring her home. Bella's time at the hands of her abductor are eerily similar to those of "Silence of The Lambs"... very, "It puts the lotion on its skin, or it gets the hose again!". Messed. Up. Unusual for a lesser to have any feelings for another being, let alone keep a "pet", the lesser known as David, aka "Mr. O", is consumed with madness as he obsesses over the striking resemblance Bella has to his lost love in his human life. After she is able to release another captive from the cabin she is being held in, Bella hopes the citizen vampire can survive long enough to notify the Brotherhood she is still alive. When David realizes what she has done, Bella suffers the beating of her life and she can only hope her attempt at survival was not in vain.
It is Zsadist that finds her and rescues her from the brink of death. Upon her healing, is when the story of Zsadist and Lover Awakened truly unfolds. If anyone needed rescuing in this story it is Zsadist who carries the weight of centuries of abuse, rape, beatings and torture. Not even his twin, brother of brother Phury, can reach him at times. Sinister to the core, scarred, you can't help but wonder what Bella sees. Zsadist is not ruined, but absolutely broken. How can one survive the depths of hell and come out the other side whole? Can one save themselves and be born again?
"I was dead until you found me, though I breathed. I was sightless, though I could see. And then you came... and I was awakened."
Lover Awakened took my breath away. A story of evil blackness, despair, love & triumph has you reaching into the depths of Zsadist’s soul with him to discover what a life of hope, love and living could be like. In true JRW fashion, I laughed, cried, gasped and nearly fell off the bed on the last page of the book. If you haven't started yet, you must lose yourself into the Black Dagger Brotherhood.
No comments:
Post a Comment