The King (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #12)

by J. R. Ward

[Angie]

In The King, we are revisiting Wrath and Beth as they bring in the next generation. At least, that's what Beth would like to do. Wrath is too stressed out over his job of ruling his people, and doesn't want that for his child. Plus he's even more terrified that the pregnancy or birth will kill Beth. Meanwhile, Xcor is still looking to dethrone him and take his place as king, and a whole bunch of other unrelated stuff is also happening. I'm pretty much in the middle in regards to my feelings about this installment, since some interesting stuff does happen, but it's buried underneath a whole bunch of other stuff that I simply don't care about.

I'll start with what was suppose to be the focus of The King: Wrath and Beth. As the first couple of the series, they'll always hold a special place in my heart. But I don't think they got nearly enough page time, and most of what they do have is them arguing about babies. I wasn't as annoyed as I thought I was going to be, which was good, but I still wanted to see them doing something else. My favorite scene from the book, luckily, was of them, but not because of them. Lassiter continues to steal the show every time he appears! I like Wrath and Beth, but I don't think this re-visitation did them justice. They have some serious fears to work through, but it was all sped through, and wrapped up neatly in the last couple of chapters.

The King also parallels the current royal couple with the previous couple. I actually really liked the chapters about Wrath's father and his mother. It goes from the moment they met, through their marriage, and to their deaths. While I don't think these parts added anything other than even more pages, they did make me want a spin off series that focuses on the Old Country. I just really love how the historical bits are written and the way they talk and found myself more invested in the past than in the present.

Of course, as with the previous several books, The King has a million other sideplots going on. Some of which only get maybe two or three short chapters, never to be seen again. One of those being John Matthew. I adore him, and I want to know what's wrong with him! However, nothing is revealed on that front. Then there's a couple of chapters from Saxton and newcomer, Abalone. Again, only a couple of pages, but at least their stories were directly related to the overarching war and dethroning plot.

There's also three more romances going on in The King! Three! Xcor and Layla continue to be the odd pair, that I just cannot see together, but am also intrigued by. Unfortunately, Xcor's plan to become king was resolved way too easily and felt forced in order to give Wrath a happy ending. Assail and Sola are back, and I still don't care. At all. What is their purpose?! Assail snorts a ton of cocaine and pines after her, and that's it. Boring. Finally, there's Trez and Selena. I enjoyed learning more about the shadows, especially since their book is next, but couldn't it have waited?

I liked The King, as I've liked all of the books in the series, but it was unnecessarily bloated. Some of the plots are dragged out, only to have super simple solutions at the end. While others aren't resolved, and aren't developed enough for me to get interested in. It would have been much more enjoyable with Wrath and Beth's troubles were given the attention that they deserved, especially since it was clear crap was about to hit the fan when it came to vampire politics. It also seems to me like some things are winding down, like the series is coming to a close, and yet the author keeps introducing new characters who will need their stories played out also. Hopefully it doesn't go on too much longer and can go out on a good note.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.