This is a big book. Honestly, it was a little intimidating at first, but like any other Black Dagger Brotherhood book, it's easy to read. In the last few books, this series disappointed me a little bit, but it has redeemed itself in my view with The Shadows. There's a lot of point of views in this book, which makes it a little hard to follow at times, but each point of view is interesting enough. The continuation of many story lines and the introduction of new characters keeps things intriguing and fresh.
I knew this book would be mostly about Trez and Selena but I didn't realize that iAm would also play a major part. Trez has bonded with the Chosen Selena but Trez feels like he's not at all worthy of her. He feels like he has tainted his body by sleeping around with an infinite amount of women. Selena knows she has little time left to spend with Trez. With the deadly disease she has, she might only have days left. Whether those days should include Trez or not, is an easy decision for Selena but convincing Trez might be a little more difficult. However, life isn't that simple for Trez because he has been engaged since birth to the Princess of his Tribe. As a Shadow, a superior race of vampires, everything is predestined by star charts and all sorts of craziness. And his predestined future has always been to mate with the Princess in order to continue the royal bloodline. For such a "superior" race, they're kind of stuck with primitive ideas, if you ask me.
After the failed mutiny that attempted to overthrow Wrath from his royal throne, he now rules his people as the elected leader. He has decided to take on a more active role by meeting with his people and hearing their troubles. Abalone, a respected member of the vampire society is more or less in charge of his political office, organizing meetings and keeping track of everything. Great news for the vampire society is the Brotherhood opening its doors once more to new trainees. However, now they're not only accepting glymera males, but also commoners and females. At least some vampires are willing to move into the 21st century with forward thinking and new ideals. I think it's great that Abablone's daughter, Paradise, is thinking of auditioning to train with the Brotherhood. As one of the last females of good breeding and of mating age, this is obviously taboo, but it's great to see more females willing to kick ass. This is definitely one storyline I want to continue reading!
One point of view I'm not crazy about is Assail's. The drug dealer/drug addict story is getting old. It feels like his story has been dragging on in the last few books and I just want it over with. I like his story when Sola, the human woman he's attracted to, is present, otherwise I don't care for his drug dealing life. And his involvement with the lessers? I hate that even more.
Compared to the last couple of books, it seems like there wasn't as much slang and product placement. I hate when there's too much of it. I'm all for pop culture references but when J.R. Ward trying too hard to makes her characters sound and look cool, it's a complete fail. I'm just glad she didn't try too hard in this book.
Like so many paranormal romance books, many things in this book were predictable but The Shadows also kept me on my toes. So many great things happen in this book, even though others were not so great. I have mixed feeling about the ending but I guess many J.R. Ward books end like this. Ward knows fatalistic romance and brotherly love and it definitely shows in this most recent book. Although not as great as the first books of the series, The Shadows is decent addition to the series.
I stopped reading these at #9 - for no reason, really, but I want to pick it back up! I am excited to see that the books are branching out a little away from the Brother Hood. That sounds interesting! :) Glad you liked it overall! :)
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