Review: The Beast by J.R. Ward

Title: The Beast

Author: J.R. Ward

Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood #14

4 stars – It was really good

Rhage and Mary are back!

This book was so good. It featured so many of the characters and really moved the story line alone (which I felt was falling behind a little in the previous books). Rhage and Mary are struggling. There is a distance between them that they don’t know how to breach, until Rhage gets majorly injured. The injury makes them confront the distance and work out what the problems are between them, which is children. They both realize they want children but Mary can’t have any. This was very emotional and heartbreaking because Mary feels like she isn’t a woman because of this. I love how Rhage handled it though. While he was upset that they can never have children together he knows there are other options and starts looking into adoption, especially once he met Bitty. I just loved how they worked through this together and came out stronger for it.

“Your not being able to have young? It’s the reason we’re together. It’s not a curse, Mary . . . it’s a blessing. It’s what saved us.”- Rhage

Bitty was adorable. I just loved her. She has gone through so much in her short life that she is leary of everyone. She has lost her home, her baby brother, and her mother all in a short time. Now she is struggling to work through that grief and find a new life.

“Location doesn’t matter. There is no escape from what I remember. It is with me every waking minute and in my dreams all day long.” – Bitty

Also can I just say I loved her reaction to meeting Rhage’s dragon and it was adorable!

“Rhage! You have a dragon! A pet dragon! I got to rub his tummy!”-Bitty

Rhage and Mary are one of my favorite couples in this series and I just love that we got a whole nother book of them. I really hope that they can officially adopt Bitty and be a family. They are so good together. Also seeing Rhage talk to Bitty and show her stuff, like his car, was adorable and I just couldn’t get enough of them together.

“You are the best thing that ever ever happened to me. You and Bitty.” – Mary

Assail played a big part in this book. He is working with the Brotherhood to infiltrate the glymera and find out what the Bastards and Throe is planning next. I don’t know how I feel about Assail. I liked him when he was with Marisol. Now that he isn’t with her and is heavily addicted to drugs I keep swinging between disgust and anger. He is sleeping with others and trying to kill himself, but then he will rescue a blood slave and my feelings will change. I will have to see him once we get to his book.

Xcor is also in this book. I really like him and can’t wait for his and Layla’s book. I love how Layla sees the good in Xcor and makes him a better person. Layla also finally has the babies in this one so I wonder how that will play into their relationship. Let me just say that I came close to crying during the birth scene because I thought we were going to have another tragedy on our hands, especially when Quinn screamed.

We also get introduced to a new character named Jo, a human. I don’t know how I feel about her yet but I feel like she will be important in the future, especially considering who her family is. Also I loved Lassiter in this one, as always. He cracks me up and you never know what he is going to do. I loved that he and the Brotherhood kept playing tricks on Rhage.

Overall, this was a great addition to the series and I cannot wait to read the next one to find out what is going to happen with Xcor.

Goodreads / Amazon

Previous books in the series: