Darkfever (utgåvan 2006)

This is the first time I have read anything by this author and I must say I like her writing style.

Mac Lane goes to Dublin after her sister Alina is murdered. What she finds out about herself and her "normal" world sends her stumbling through dark streets with even darker beings out to get her. Jericho Barrons, man of mystery and now her ally is using her to find mystical objects and prevent world wide catastrophe.

At first I will say Mac's flighty personality and obsessions with girlie clothes and all the trappings made me a little skeptical of how she was going to hold her own and become the warrior she's going to have to become. Trusts no one, only thinks of avenging her sister, never really takes in her surroundings....like Barrons said, he gave her three days before she ended up dead the way she was blundering around.

And it all started by asking a stranger about some weird thing her sister had left her a voice message about. The Sinsar Dubh...evil written a million years ago and so powerful. Now she's knee deep in shades, unseelies, death-by-sex fae and whatever Barrons is.

I like the fact that the two main characters, Ms. Lane (Mac) and Jericho Barrons, have fallen madly in love with one another or just jumped straight into bed just for the heck of it. He's trying to teach her to protect and defend herself, while getting her help sensing the magical objects they need. He somehow shows up whenever she's neck deep in trouble and has enough of a hidden side to make my curiosity want to know more about him.

I will continue on with the series just to find out more about "the Lord Master", what his plan is and just how will the petite and girlie Mac play into any of this. ( )

The physical book comes with 3 pages called "Glossary from Mac's Journal"

I've also read:
- The Alpha Alternative: JZB Sex Scene #1.5 which I've heard is expanded in Book #7. As I was reading it I couldn't understand how I missed Mac's version of this story in Book 1 but by the end it's clear. That "twist" is my favorite part of the story. This story revealed a lot about Barrons that isn't obvious from reading the story from Mac's POV. It made me dislike Barrens very much.
- Blood Fever #2 - 4*
- Faefever #3 - 3* - started with audio but got HC to finish. I couldn't wait for car rides to continue the story. I ran out of errands. :)
- Dreamfever #4 - 4* - What a cliffhanger must be the druid (Christian), so it can't be the thing in the bsmt, so Ryodan is lying. Edit: book 5 answers all questions. Well played.
- Shadowfever #5 - 4* - Someone else's review said "We don't have to accept him nor do we have to forgive him and I personally don't. But, I do enjoy reading about him."
- Fever Moon Graphic Novel #5.5 - 1* - With Mac drawn like that I obviously wasn't the target audience. Absolutely ridiculous. I can understand her being hot but that was over the top. And Barrons... awful look. He doesn't have to match the imagine in my head but does he have to be ugly? This must of taken place concurrently with one of the books, I think book 5. But Dani and Rowena were never in the hospital with parts of their face missing so why not just make a different story in the world? Do not recommend.

Open questions/Notes for myself

her pool of magic fix anything ruins? *eye-roll* endless access to whatever magic you need is cheating
her mother was pregnant but Barrens said he saw grave 5 days later. where is her mom?
how is she UK but had normal birth/life
why did she like barrens soooo much
why did Dani get sis killed
why does Rowena hate her so much
why do shades ignore Barrens
who did v'lane/cruce think she was, he called her princess.


Author says regarding next books "It's a trilogy, books 6/7/8. Then there will be two more stories that continue 1-5.
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It's 2020 and I haven't gotten back to the series in maybe 8 years. I'm going to let the idea of reading the next books go. I don't need more of the same. Seeking other stories now. And I'm so over having a story be spread out along so many books. ( )

Slow start, but a satisfying hook into the rest of the series. ( )

My hopes were pretty low, so this wasn't excruciating. I mean...I enjoyed trying it, and it had the potential to surprise me, if not just get me interested in a new genre and hunt for better authors.

the pros:
- considering how many people here wanna tear her head off, I really liked the main character. she's kinda like a season 1 Buffy Summers, in that she's distracted by pretty clothes, nail polish, and being cute. like, okay, she's a vapid idiot but,,,,it's called a character arc - she's harmless and a bit ridiculous. She's not overflowing with badassery and this early on she shouldn't be, but here we go hating female characters in any form again lol. I like me a glamorous MC. I have a feeling this part of her personality will be treated as something vapid and stupid later on but for now I enjoyed it because she was different and it was kind of disarmingly sweet.
- worldbuild was cool! I wanted weird fae and I got them - not exactly the kind I hope for but hey. weird rotting monsters are a good substitute. there was a lot of history and lore involved that I also really enjoyed.
- i didn't love all aspects of the narration but I did like that it didn't take itself too seriously. it was fun to read

the cons:
- speaking of narration. while the personality to it was really enjoyable and made the book fly by, I couldn't stand how it was randomly as if the MC was talking to us from the future. Once or twice would have been fine. But in practically every intense or interesting (or plot-relevant?!) moment, Mac would pop in and say "wow i had NO IDEA that this would be the most CRAZY DAY EVER omg back then i was SO DUMB eventually I would learn that x y z happens in this situation and here's a lore lesson - " Just...just shut up and let me read it for myself. It sucked the tension out of everything, as we didn't get to learn along with Mac; we were either a step ahead or a million steps behind.
- i'm sorry u call those love interests
- I'm serious they were carbon copies of each other and every other cliche attractive white guy. Jericho was an asshole. It wasn't charming, it wasn't thrilling, it wasn't dangerous and sexy. It made me wonder, is this the shit straight women are into in their fiction??? Just. JUST. I love an enemies-to-lovers. I love two people on equal ground battling it out. I love tension. I love banter. But somehow Moning managed to create that dynamic with none of the chemistry and all of the red fucking flags. I just don't understand this trope. I quit a billion romances over it. I get it, and I feel ya, fiction isn't real life, guys get away with everything in these books. But I get no sense of sexual tension or attraction or ANYTHING from guys treating the MC like shit (and literally pushing her around until she's BRUISED....?!). Besides not being sexy, it's not narratively interesting either!
- i could'a plotted this better in junior high it was so freaking juvenile. we go to x location and then Mac chatters at us in the narration to build tension and the lore regarding the person we're intimidating - and then the scene is completely skipped over and relayed in exposition. heck off
- why was every man the most INDESCRIBABLY HOT MAN ALIVE and yet they all sounded the exact same..................................................​
- i hate it mostly because a part of me wants to read book two but i don't deserve to suffer ( )

This book was an engaging & fun read, with one or two exceptions. Every time I had to endure a page long, or god forbid, two page long explanation of clothes, hair, and/or make up, I stopped reading. I wish I could rip out those pages, I really do.

I have no problems with the heroine's disposition or interest, but I do struggle when she's...boring. And that's when she's boring. At this point, she does feel like a typical, vapid early 20-something, which isn't something that I generally find young 20-somethings to be. I usually find them bright and complex--even *gasp* ambitious and socially conscious! So really, it often feels like this is just our idea of a young woman who is lacking ambition. Of course her toes are always pedicured, of course we hear about her sandals. Of course we always consider her hair. Truly, I don't see this in the hard-working young women I've met & mentored who are just out of college, so I find it incredibly annoying. Also note that I like pretty clothes but I don't keep my nails up. I'm obsessed with shoes. But I have more to me than that. I wish I had seen that in Mac. She wants to go back to the time that she was ignorantly lazing by the pool working on her tan...I did see a bit of a stubborn streak, and independence, and some questionable choices, which was the saving grace for her character--and why I'll continue with the series. (And I'll end my rant, sorry).

Admittedly, I'm intrigued. Like I said, it was a bunch of fun, and I'm willing to watch Mac grow. I do get bored following one character in a long series so I hope these don't all center around her.

But honestly, V'lane skeeves me out. Jericho is interesting but there isn't much to him yet. I admire KMM for taking her time with this, and I don't mind, especially because it is a fun read. ( )