Review: The Savior by J.R. Ward

Recommended Read!

“… I really loved this book. It brought me back to why I fell in love with this series in the first place.”
~ Under the Covers

WARNING! I am trying to keep this as spoiler free as possible but I may slip up! I am also assuming that anyone reading this has at least a cursory knowledge of this series aka I ain’t explaining 17 + books worth of history!

To say this is one of the most anticipated books of the year, especially for us here at Under the Covers, is a vast understatement. We are all huge fans of the Black Dagger Brotherhood and we get as excited as a 5 year old on Christmas morning come release day. Or, at least we used to. If I’m honest, the last few books in the series, especially after the travesty that was The Chosen, has made that enthusiasm wane. I’m not quite as eager as I was, that excitement I used to feel is tinged with a bit of dread as well. If I am honest, The Savior was make or break time.

So next year, will I be hopping around with my kindle waiting for the book to download whilst waiting for the hard copy to come in the post? Why yes, yes I will. Ward has reeled me back in with The Savior. Maybe it was the reappearance of Murhder (or Mhurder, or Murdher? I STILL can’t spell his damn name), a blast from the past. A character we have been waiting years to hear from again. All we know about him is that he is the only Brother to ever be kicked out of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, he is an ex of Xhex’s and that he’s insane.

It seems that by bringing back an original Brother, a character was around whilst Darius and Wellsie were alive, before the story even started for us readers Ward has also brought back the essence of what we loved about this series to begin with. The vampires uncomplicated and instinctive need to bond and love their mate in a really complicated situation. The romance was back. Unlike some of the more recent books in the series the romance was the star of the show, Murhder and Sarah had the main spotlight in the book. And, much like the romances with the original Brothers, it was fucking beautiful; the relationship and the feelings they had for each other were fierce. Which is exactly what has been missing recently from Ward’s books.

Although Murhder and Sarah were the focal point of this book, there was, as usual, a secondary couple that Ward stirred up. Xhex and John Matthew. I admit after the horror show that Ward put us through with V and Jane, I did not want that for Xhex and John, especially as Murhder is an ex of Xhex’s. But don’t worry, Ward takes us in a different direction. And ultimately I found myself pleased that I got a look into John and Xhex’s relationship. It not only tied into the main series story arc really nicely but it put John and Xhex’s other relationship with people in the Brotherhood in the spotlight.

Was this book perfect? No. There were a few things that I wasn’t buying. For one, Murhder’s insanity. At no point during this book, when he was supposedly insane did this seem to be the case. As a reader we were told that he was. He even kept thinking he was. And yet he never actually did anything that indicated that he was anything other than sane, reclusive and lonely maybe, but never mad as a hatter. I also never understood why the Brotherhood hated him so much, but at this point in the series the Brotherhood haven’t always acted in an altogether brotherly fashion.

Overall, I really loved this book. It brought me back to why I fell in love with this series in the first place. It had that core of romance as Ward brought back those intense emotions associated with a bonding vampire. The Savior wasn’t overshadowed by too many short chapters that jumped to too many different POVs, the focus was Murhder and Sarah or John and Xhex. And when it comes right back to the core of it, it gave me all the feels again.

What did you think of our review?
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[about-author author=”J.R. Ward”]

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