Review: Possession by J.R. Ward (possible spoilers)

[KasMorin]

Two angels, a dead girl, a demon, a dog, an artist, a singer....and a partridge in a pear tree. There is so much going on in this book that reading was overwhelming.

J.R. Ward brings Jim the savior back for another round of “save the soul” in the paranormal romance Possession. As with the previous books, he isn't told who the soul is or given any real clues. Good and Evil are now locked at two-two thanks to Jim's attachment to a dead girl. Will he save the soul? Will Good prevail in this round? Who is sleeping with who this time?

In this novel we find Jim totally side-tracked by his obsession with our innocent. This time, it's even worse than previous novels. In fact, it takes up most of the book. We are introduced to the soul and the major players but they seem to take a backseat to Jim and his girl. In the end, the soul does make a choice and a winner is chosen; but I found it hard to care about the outcome.

Unlike previous books, I wasn't invested in the “soul's crossroads” part of the story. There was so little development of the souls in play. Their character development was seriously lacking. There was so much story that I felt like I missed. Cait alludes to her upbringing several times and gives little clues but never a full story. I felt like how she was raised was going to be important to her character but was never given enough of the story.

I'm finding myself a bit disenchanted by this series. I adore Ward's “Black Dagger Brotherhood” books and want these “Fallen Angels” books to be just as good. They're not, however. My opinion is that she wrote herself into a corner. With the Brotherhood, she has many characters to help create rich back stories and side stories. However, there are only a handful of consistent characters at any given time in the Angels series. Many of the situations that these characters are placed in read as a desperate attempt to add layers to their personality. The reader in me finds it bothersome.

I rated this book 3 out of 4 stars. If I'm being totally honest, it's more a 2.5 but I rounded up for simplicity. The weak characters and simplistic plot were a bit painful. It read like a typical romance novel several times (especially when a problem could be solved by a simple conversation) and that isn't indicative of Ward's writing. I felt like the souls in the book were placed there only because we, as readers, expect them to be present for the continuity of the series theme. I don't feel like they held any more importance than that. Their lack of character development and singular plot line are a huge part of my point of view. It pains me to say that I'm looking forward to this series' close because I'm a huge Ward fan, but these books don't stand up when placed next to her other writings.

[greystreak]

I give Possession a 2 out of four stars This series is not up to the usual quality of Wards writing. I found the Fallen Angel's series a bit of a disappointment. There is no excitement in the storyline that I usually associate with J R Wards writing.