The Shadows (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #13) by J.R. Ward

The Shadows (J.R. Ward)

SUMMARY

Trez “Latimer” doesn’t really exist. And not just because the identity was created so that a Shadow could function in the underbelly of the human world. Sold by his parents to the Queen of the S’Hsibe as a child, Trez escaped the Territory and has been a pimp and an enforcer in Caldwell, NY for years- all the while on the run from a destiny of sexual servitude. He’s never had anyone he could totally rely on... except for his brother, iAm.

iAm’s sole goal has always been to keep his brother from self-destructing- and he knows he’s failed. It’s not until the Chosen Serena enters Trez’s life that the male begins to turn things around... but by then it’s too late. The pledge to mate the Queen’s daughter comes due and there is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and no negotiating.

Trapped between his heart and a fate he never volunteered for, Trez must decide whether to endanger himself and others- or forever leave behind the female he’s in love with. But then an unimaginable tragedy strikes and changes everything. Staring out over an emotional abyss, Trez must find a reason to go on or risk losing himself and his soul forever. And iAm, in the name of brotherly love, is faced with making the ultimate sacrifice...

MY REVIEW 

iAm and maichen (Or [Princess Catra vin SuLaneh etl MuLanen deh FonLerahn])

“Will you let me see you,” he said in a deep voice.
maichen swallowed hard. Then she lifted her hands to the mesh that covered her face—but it was to hold the masking in place. “I am afraid.”
“Of what?”
What if he didn’t like what he saw?
“I already know you’re beautiful,” he said, as if he read her mind.
“How?”
He touched the center of his large chest. “I see you in here. I know you … in here. You are very beautiful to me, no matter what you look like.”
Acutely aware of everything that she hadn’t told him about herself, she whispered, “We do not know each other.”
“Does that matter to you?”
“No.”
“Me, neither.”

SPOILERS

iAm is such as nice guy:
1. -He is not interested in clubs and drugs. He only wants to cook. So when he has the opportunity to get his favorite restaurant Salvatore’s, he grabs it and now he is the proud owner and chef of Sals.
2. -He is a virgin. He has been waited for the right girl for so many years and when he finds her, he does not lose another second to make her his.
3. -He is a considerate brother who cares and gives without asking anything for return and he is even accused that he suffers from the “Phury syndrome” for his sensitivity and unquestionable love.
Note: “Phury Syndrome—a condition whereupon one brother was so fucked-up that the other fell into a black hole trying to save him.”
4. -He is an animal lover. His best friend is a cat. Boo does not stop following him although iAm pretends that he does not care.
5. -He almost lost the love of his life as the rightful Anointed One and princess’ destiny mate according to the stars. And he was not bitter. He was just happy that his brother was okay.
6. -And he never stopped offering his forgiveness – even to maichen who lied to him about who she really is.

After the Sympaths that we met in book “Love Avenged”, this time we meet the Shadows which are an entirely new species. And moments like this, I really wonder why Ward does not do more spinoffs instead of packing everything in the main series. Sympaths and Shadows would have made great sub-stories and side-series.

Obviously the book focused mainly on iAms story and iAm’s HEA but from Trez’s point of view which is a bit unfair for iAm, because really Trez is a selfish, self-centered guy who thinks that the Earth revolves around him and his never-ending drama.

Apparently after he almost ruined iAm’s story, Trez’s story will continue as it was obvious in book The Chosen.

Readers were tortured for the majority of the Shadows about the question whether Selena will be saved in the end. And I really do not understand why. The two previous deaths i.e. Wellsie and Darius (three deaths actually if you count also Jane’s death) happened fast and were treated with respect. Until now all the readers love Wellsie and Darius, but most of them do not want to talk about Selena’s death.

Somehow, in the midst of the great infinite, and in spite of his mourning, he knew he was exactly where he was supposed to be at this point in time.
Guess it was fate.