ARC Review: The Beast by J.R. Ward

Recommended Read!

“…it [THE BEAST] was a beautiful experience meant to be savored by fans.”
~ Under the Covers

I can’t really describe the feeling I get when I start reading a J.R. Ward book.  It really does make me giddy with excitement and happiness and transports me to another world, with a group of characters that I feel I know almost better than anyone.  And I attribute that to J.R. Ward’s magical brain.  It’s not always pretty, and maybe not often perfect, but it’s addicting and makes me want to stop everyone around me and share what I’m reading because they must see all the awesomeness I’m experiencing.  I admit to trying to read parts of THE BEAST to my husband who, without really knowing all the back story, looked at me like a lunatic when I would read a short passage and grin at him asking if he didn’t think that was the most amazing thing he’d ever heard.

But I digress.  Enough about me acting crazy.  THE BEAST is a perfect sampling of J.R. Ward’s style, and in much needed lightness, this book comes off the emotionally hard rollercoaster of THE SHADOWS and brings us some happiness and sweetness.  Fans needed that, and it was nice to see.  Although, my only complaint is that I wish there was a happy medium between sorrow and totally sweet.  This was just missing a bit of an extra edge that I come to expect from Ms. Ward’s books.  But nonetheless, it was a beautiful experience meant to be savored by fans.

We know this book revisits Rhage and Mary and after the bit we saw in THE SHADOWS, we know Rhage is going through something.  But Mary is as well.  And they both need to work through their issues together in this book to get back their happy place.  J.R. Ward gives them that in a way that makes sense without breaking all her world rules, which I thought was really good because I didn’t want something to happen just for the sake of having it happen.  I wanted it to make sense, but I also wanted them to have what they needed.  So this was a great compromise to me.  And I know I’m being cryptic and may not make sense, trying to not give spoilers here!

There are, of course, side storylines to this one.  The biggest one being Assail.  And whereas before I wasn’t such a big fan of the guy, now I can’t wait for his book!  Giddy with excitement, I tell you.  And dare I hope for some more m/m action from Ms. Ward?  I wouldn’t mind that at all!

There was one particular storyline in this book that I didn’t really care for or understand why it was there until the very end where it gets tied in.  I do hope that introducing this new story now will come to fruition soon instead of leaving it hanging like some of her other stoylines introduced in books past (ehem Muhrder! ehem).

I did enjoy reading THE BEAST and being in the Brotherhood again.  I hope, however, we get new couples in the future books and we can revisit the previous ones in the Legacy series like we saw with Butch and Marissa in BLOOD KISS.  I find that I enjoy that a lot more than being the central focus again.  Now, I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen in this world.  The Scribe Virgin?  The Omega?  It all should start coming to a head soon, right?  That’s how I’m feeling after this book… Waiting for mayhem and smiling in happiness.

Favorite Quotes:

He was used to the boys being pissed off at him.  And his demons were way harder to deal with than his brothers.

For a male who never felt fear, he found himself looking into the gaping maw of pure terror.

Time was way too finite: no matter how much of it you had with someone you loved, when the end came, it wasn’t nearly enough.

Life didn’t have to be perfect…for true love to exist in it.

[about-author author=”J.R. Ward”]

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