Fever Series Review: Faefever, Dreamfever and Shadowfever
OmGeeeez! What a series! If I ever meet Karen Marie Moning I will hug her tightly and thank her for spinning such a marvellous story. If you ever wondered what ‘sexual tension’ actually meant then your answer is here, right here with Mac and her knight in shining armour, Jericho Barrons.
I finally finished the fever series (the MacKayla Lane novel) and now I don’t know if I should feel happy about that or sad because I won’t be reading any more of Mac and Barrons. I was so captivated by Moning’s writing that I binge read the last three books of the series and a decided to do a collective review. So here is the synopsis and my final review for the Fever series.
Faefever, Dreamfever and Shadowfever
Synopsis
Faefever: MacKayla Lane aka Mac’s search for her sister Alina’s murderer is still on and so is her quest for the Sinsar Dubh. Her alliance with two of the most powerful people in Dublin encourages her to explore dangerous realms and find out more about her sister and her bloodline. Jerricho Barrons, the man on a mission, wants nothing but to hunt down the Sinsar Dubh for reasons only known to him. V’lane, the extremely desirable death-by-sex fae will do anything to protect the Queen of his clan and his people. Both of them agree to form an alliance with Mac as she is the only person who can sense the Sinsar Dubh and can lead them to it. But before they can lay their hands on the dark book, they have to ensure that the wall keeping the Unseelie from roaming freely amongst humans must be kept intact.
Dreamfever: MacKayla is not herself anymore. After suffering abuse at the hands of Unseelie princes she has lost her identity and is unable to recognize anybody until Jericho Barrons takes it up to himself to get her back to normal. Sadly, his attempt at saving her is not the ideal way of saving a person but he does whatever he can to protect her. MacKayla now has more than just her sister’s murder to avenge for.
Shadowfever: With Jerricho Barrons no longer in her life MacKayla is left alone with the responsibility of saving the human kind. She is willing to go to any extent to make the world Unseelie free even if it requires her to sleep with the enemy. It all comes down to the final battle between MacKayla and the Sinsar Dubh. How does MacKayla take her revenge? Does she overpower the Sinsar Dubh or falls victim to the greed for immense power?
Points I Liked About The Fever Series (Faefever, Dreamfever and Shadowfever)
Astounding Characters: Almost all the characters in the book have a back-story that explains the reasons behind their presence in Mac’s life. Every character is shrouded in mystery (not as much as Barrons is) and makes you want to know more about them. Moreover, Moning has spared no efforts in describing her characters in such a way that the readers can easily imagine them.
Realistic: By realistic, I do not mean that I believe in the existence of fairies. The characters in the book are real in the way that their actions and reactions seem justified and plausible. For example, Jericho Barrons is the quintessential bad boy who is rude to the woman he loves. Mac is the good girl Barrons falls for but unlike other heroes, he does not change suddenly or become nice after falling in love. He is proud of who he is and does not change for anything or anyone. He has his own way of showing love and care, which makes a tough guy like him look so damn endearing. Similarly, most of the other characters have a definite character sketch that makes them seem real and believable. Nothing in the book happens out of nowhere or without any reason.
Plot Twists: The twists in these books are just mind blowing. On several occasions when a secret was revealed, I would wonder ‘how come I didn’t think of this?’ The story has several dark secrets and Moning unlocks each door in the most suspenseful way leaving you feeling gobsmacked.
Fantabulous Writing: I have already mentioned this before and will mention it again that the Fever series has been written extremely well. The main reason I found the series so addictive is because of Monings writing. Her eloquent writing gives life to her books. I will not say anything more but just add a few of my favourite dialogues and lines from the books to prove my point.
Faefever
Barrons’ lips twitched. I’d almost made him smile. Barrons smiles about as often as the sun comes out in Dublin, and it has the same effect on me; makes me feel warm and stupid.
“What are you?” I said irritably.
“In the Serengeti, Ms Lane, I would be the cheetah. I’m stronger, smarter, faster, and hungrier than everything else out there. And I don’t apologize to the gazelle when I take it down.”
The inspector ate only two of my tiny sandwiches: the first because he hadn’t expected it to taste so awful; the second, I think, because he’d thought surely the first must have been a mistake.
Dreamfever
Good and evil are merely opposite sides of a coin. Get tossed in the air enough, it’s easy to come down on the wrong side.
He gave me that brilliant smile again, then his mouth was on mine. This time, when he kissed me, the unpronounceable Fae name slid sweeter than tupelo honey across my tongue and pooled there, warm and delicious, filling my mouth with a feast of taste and sensation beyond description before melting into the meat of it. Unlike the other times he’s implanted his name in my tongue, it felt natural, unobtrusive. Also unlike those times, I wasn’t battered by an erotic attack, forced into orgasm by his touch. It was an extraordinary kiss, but it invited without invading, gave without taking.
He drew back. “We are learning from each other,” he said. “I begin to understand Adam.”
I blinked. “The first man? You know about Adam and Eve?” V’lane didn’t seem the kind to study human creation myths.
“No. One of my race that chose to become human,” he clarified.
Life’s not linear at all. It happens in lighting flashes. So fast you don’t see those lay-you-out cold moments coming at you until you’re Wile E. Coyote, steamrolled flat as a pancake by the Road Runner, victim of your own elaborate schemes.
Shadowfever
Some people bring out the worst in you, others bring out the best, and then there are those remarkably rare, addictive ones who just bring out the most. Of everything.
They make you feel so alive that you’d follow them straight into hell, just to keep getting your fix.
One day you do meet a man who kisses you and you can’t breathe around it and you realize you don’t need air. Oxygen is trivial. Desire makes life happen. Makes it matter. Makes everything worth it. Desire is life. Hunger to see the next sunrise or sunset. To touch the one you love. To try again
V’lane: Are you busy tomorrow MacKayla ?
Barrons: She’s working on old texts with me.
V’lane: Ah. Old texts. A banner day at the bookstore.
Barrons: We’re translating Kama Sutra…with interactive aids.
Points I Did Not Like About The Fever Series (Faefever, Dreamfever and Shadowfever)
Repetitive: The book gets repetitive when Mac compares her past with her current life. The writer often adds points from previous books to refresh the memory of the readers and for the sake of those who have not followed the reading order of the series. It is good that Moning does that to keep a link but she does that too often in Shadowfever. Mac is often reminiscing about the comfortable life she led back at home and how she has now been dragged into this ruthless new world. Adding a linking paragraph once in the book is OK but Moning does it a little too often which breaks the flow of the book.
Lukewarm Ending: I can’t say if the series had the perfect ending because I loved the first four books and was expecting a bombastic ending to such an incredible series. I guess I was expecting way too much from the series. Fever series is good no doubt but I felt that the climax was treated slightly hastily. Everything seemed too convenient to conclude. I felt this series deserved a better ending.
Final View: I am so glad that the Fever series was my introduction to urban fantasy. I was completely new to this genre and now I think I will never be able to get enough of it. Karen Marie Moning, you rock! And Fever series is just out of this world and I would recommend it anyone who loves urban fantasy or just fantasy or even just love reading. This series should not be missed by anyone.
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