Published: December 1, 2020
I love Blay and Qhuinn SO much! We have seen them interact as a couple a few times in the books since their original book. We always look at Qhuinn being this big tough guy but he just wants the love of Blay and his kids. So when he thinks that he is disappointing Blay by not actually being mated to him he kind of spirals. Add that into the fact that he is worried about his brother, Luchas, that he just doesn’t know what to do. What I really liked about this book is though it focused on Blay and Qhuinn and their eventual mating ceremony it also gave us some more insight into Zadist and how he is doing. It seems like forever since his book but in the BDB world it was only 3 years so his daughter is still young and his matehood is still fairly new. He is still working out his demons in this book and I think that is real character development considering he has been the second main character in some of the other books as well. In this one we also get to see more of the Band of Bastards and how they are settling into their lives in the manor as part of the brotherhood but not a full part of them.
Now I am going to write a spoiler so if you haven’t read this book and don’t like spoilers don’t read on.
Luchas!! Oh my god I had all the tears!! I’m pretty sure we all thought he would make a recovery and find his mate but the truth was he found the love of his life in a human woman and because he was part of the glymera he never had the chance to tell her. Then the raids happened and he was destroyed. He couldn’t take going to her how he was and he couldn’t live in the shell of his body anymore. He went out on his own terms and that was heartbreaking. But so was the aftermath of Qhuinn blaming himself and also blaming Lassiter who he thought should have saved him. We got to see a side of Lassiter in this book that we haven’t previously and I think it shows how much more there is to him that anyone actually thought. Finally, the ensuing struggle between Qhuinn and Blay after Luchas’s death heart breaking. Blay was fully convinced that Qhuinn was going to leave him and he didn’t know how to handle that. Qhuinn was so lost in his head and his guilt that he didn’t see what he was doing to his mate. The only people to keep him grounded were his young and even they were only around him a small amount of time.
Overall this book was fabulous and I’m seriously considering purchases a physical copy of it after having the ebook and audiobooks already in my library. But I kind of want it in a hardcover to match everything. We’ll see how much of my OCD wins out. Anyway, if you haven’t read this book you really should and if you have (considering I gave away spoilers) I’d love to get your reactions of it. I love the BDB world and I am really looking forward to the continuation of it and the off shoot series.
—-“All the strands of all the lives, woven in patterns of suffering and joy, the cloth infinite in every direction, the layers upon layers unending. And I see every fiber in every thread, at every moment. I feel the reverberations, too. I am but a tuning fork of flesh, struck by the hand of the Creator. I am but a servant of destiny, yet I am accountable.” -Lassiter—-
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