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A review by meggie82461
Bane by L.J. Shen
5.0
4.5 stars!!
Click. Remember this picture, Jesse.
This book wasn't at all what I was expecting... in the best possible way. It was a love story between two broken people that fit together in ways nobody else could fill. It was equal parts angsty, funny, and rage-inducing. It was a roller-coaster ride in every sense of the word, but in vintage LJ fashion, I ended up falling in love just as hard as Bane and Jesse did.
“Already told you. I heard all the rumors about you, Jesse. Fuck ’em. Fuck ’em to death. Fuck this town, and its preppy, judgmental residents, and every idiot who looks at us funny. Don’t you get it? We’re the outliers. The rejects. We’re free. Free to do whatever the hell we want, because it won’t matter. We’ll never fit in here, so we don’t have to try.
We met Roman AKA "Bane" Protsenko for the first time in Scandalous. He was a memorable character in that he was Edie's ex, but not a stereotypical "evil" one. In fact, him and Edie are still good friends. Personally, I ended up LOVING Bane. After four stories centered around the HotHoles, Bane was a nice change of pace. He was nothing like the others; he lived on the fringes of society, sometimes on the right side of the law and sometimes not. He did whatever he had to do to not only survive, but rise to the top. He was a con, a liar, and a thief, yes... but he also respected women and loved his mother. He was exactly what Jesse needed: a man that had the power to protect her from the far-reaching villains, a man that was no prince charming, but who had been through enough to be able to understand her.
There was a special thrill in knowing he could be doing anything to me. And that he wouldn’t. Because he was decent and fair. Because no matter what he thought about himself, he was good.
Jesse was the kind of character that you wanted good things for SO. FUCKING. BADLY. She was such a broken, tragic character, and she had every reason to be. She was very, very REAL. Not only had horrible things happened to her, but also, everybody that was supposed to care about her had let her down. I loved it when she started to come out of her shell and discover the person she really was. Jesse really was a strong, vibrant person, she had just lost hope. Again, she had every reason to. The reader got to know Jesse right alongside Bane, and really Jesse herself, and that was amazing. She was certainly a survivor through and through.
Maybe that was the difference between Bane and all the others. I didn’t want him. I needed him to remind me how to breathe.
Bane and Jesse's chemistry scorched up the pages. LJ Shen can write the hell out of a sex scene, and this story was no different. The book flowed naturally, the pace of their relationship realistic. There were plenty of twists, some of which I saw coming and some I didn't. There were plot holes, though- not a lot, but I definitely side-eyed a few things, which was why this book didn't get a perfect rating. At times, I felt the author was stretching things to either make certain details fit, or to setup a future spin-off book.
Just because Roman was a nice guy didn’t mean he wasn’t a savage. He was both. And it was part of his charm.
Bane may have had less than honorable reasons to force his way into Jesse's life, but once it happened, they fit together so naturally that Jesse didn't have any choice but to live again. Make no mistake about it: Bane needed Jesse as much as Jesse needed Bane. At times, I really thought Bane was more broken than she was. This story had a lot of depth, which I loved. That being said, there were two aspects that I loved SO MUCH that it overshadowed anything that didn't work. The first was that it (mainly Bane) was hilarious! There was such serious subject matter, some of which was quite dark, so Bane's random analogies and perverted thoughts were welcome distractions. Jesse had a dry, sarcastic side that was just as funny as well. I laughed out loud more than I have in any other Shen book. The second awesome thing? How Bane treated Jesse. I would imagine that it was because of Sonya, his social worker mom, but Bane knew exactly how to handle her, which was quite a feat. He knew when to push her and when to back down. He didn't give himself enough credit for being the first person in Jesse's life to truly want what was best for her. He wanted to protect her, but he understood that she needed to do things on her own, too. Between his quick wit, his sweet side, and his savagery between the sheets, Bane "Roman" Protsenko was truly the gift that kept on giving!
I wanted to yank her into me and hug her. I wanted to kiss that damn scar better. I wanted to lick it and bite it and show her that she was still sexy, with or without it. Actually, especially with it. What’s sexier than a goddamn survivor?
"But you didn’t just walk into my life, Roman. You stormed into it. You left me no choice but to heal. Now I want everything."
Click. Remember this picture, Jesse.
This book wasn't at all what I was expecting... in the best possible way. It was a love story between two broken people that fit together in ways nobody else could fill. It was equal parts angsty, funny, and rage-inducing. It was a roller-coaster ride in every sense of the word, but in vintage LJ fashion, I ended up falling in love just as hard as Bane and Jesse did.
“Already told you. I heard all the rumors about you, Jesse. Fuck ’em. Fuck ’em to death. Fuck this town, and its preppy, judgmental residents, and every idiot who looks at us funny. Don’t you get it? We’re the outliers. The rejects. We’re free. Free to do whatever the hell we want, because it won’t matter. We’ll never fit in here, so we don’t have to try.
We met Roman AKA "Bane" Protsenko for the first time in Scandalous. He was a memorable character in that he was Edie's ex, but not a stereotypical "evil" one. In fact, him and Edie are still good friends. Personally, I ended up LOVING Bane. After four stories centered around the HotHoles, Bane was a nice change of pace. He was nothing like the others; he lived on the fringes of society, sometimes on the right side of the law and sometimes not. He did whatever he had to do to not only survive, but rise to the top. He was a con, a liar, and a thief, yes... but he also respected women and loved his mother. He was exactly what Jesse needed: a man that had the power to protect her from the far-reaching villains, a man that was no prince charming, but who had been through enough to be able to understand her.
There was a special thrill in knowing he could be doing anything to me. And that he wouldn’t. Because he was decent and fair. Because no matter what he thought about himself, he was good.
Jesse was the kind of character that you wanted good things for SO. FUCKING. BADLY. She was such a broken, tragic character, and she had every reason to be. She was very, very REAL. Not only had horrible things happened to her, but also, everybody that was supposed to care about her had let her down. I loved it when she started to come out of her shell and discover the person she really was. Jesse really was a strong, vibrant person, she had just lost hope. Again, she had every reason to. The reader got to know Jesse right alongside Bane, and really Jesse herself, and that was amazing. She was certainly a survivor through and through.
Maybe that was the difference between Bane and all the others. I didn’t want him. I needed him to remind me how to breathe.
Bane and Jesse's chemistry scorched up the pages. LJ Shen can write the hell out of a sex scene, and this story was no different. The book flowed naturally, the pace of their relationship realistic. There were plenty of twists, some of which I saw coming and some I didn't. There were plot holes, though- not a lot, but I definitely side-eyed a few things, which was why this book didn't get a perfect rating. At times, I felt the author was stretching things to either make certain details fit, or to setup a future spin-off book.
Just because Roman was a nice guy didn’t mean he wasn’t a savage. He was both. And it was part of his charm.
Bane may have had less than honorable reasons to force his way into Jesse's life, but once it happened, they fit together so naturally that Jesse didn't have any choice but to live again. Make no mistake about it: Bane needed Jesse as much as Jesse needed Bane. At times, I really thought Bane was more broken than she was. This story had a lot of depth, which I loved. That being said, there were two aspects that I loved SO MUCH that it overshadowed anything that didn't work. The first was that it (mainly Bane) was hilarious! There was such serious subject matter, some of which was quite dark, so Bane's random analogies and perverted thoughts were welcome distractions. Jesse had a dry, sarcastic side that was just as funny as well. I laughed out loud more than I have in any other Shen book. The second awesome thing? How Bane treated Jesse. I would imagine that it was because of Sonya, his social worker mom, but Bane knew exactly how to handle her, which was quite a feat. He knew when to push her and when to back down. He didn't give himself enough credit for being the first person in Jesse's life to truly want what was best for her. He wanted to protect her, but he understood that she needed to do things on her own, too. Between his quick wit, his sweet side, and his savagery between the sheets, Bane "Roman" Protsenko was truly the gift that kept on giving!
I wanted to yank her into me and hug her. I wanted to kiss that damn scar better. I wanted to lick it and bite it and show her that she was still sexy, with or without it. Actually, especially with it. What’s sexier than a goddamn survivor?
"But you didn’t just walk into my life, Roman. You stormed into it. You left me no choice but to heal. Now I want everything."