Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning
Thanks to a litchick's GRs updates while rereading this, I found myself anxious to delve into this series and see what she was raving about. Well, the one time a year I go to Barnes&Noble (none close to my house, unfortunately) in search of two other books, I end up walking out with the entire Fever series instead. And I BETTER love every single one of them! *squinty glare for the woman who knows what I'm talking about*
Summary:
MacKayla Lane is a true Georgia Peach. She loves warmth and sunshine, bright colors, fashion, and music. And it is as she is enjoying all of the above that she gets a phone call that causes her world to come crashing down.
Her sister, Alina, has been mutilated and murdered in an abandoned alley in Dublin, Ireland. Studying overseas at Trinity College had been Alina's dream come true. Now that decision was Mac's worst nightmare.
When the case hits a freezing chill due to lack of leads, a desperate Mac takes her new cell phone and books a one-way ticket. Her mission? Reopen her sister's case with the hauntingly chilling message Alina left on her voicemail the day of her death.
Dublin has more in store for Mac than she realized, however. All too soon, she is drowning in a world where the Fae are real, and far more deadly than she could ever have believed. Gifted as a sidhe-seer, Mac is capable of finding the truth behind the glamours thrown by most Fae. And it freaks her out.
A chance encounter with Jericho Barrons staples them at the hips before she's able to detract herself from the situation. All too soon, Mac is forced to realize that her hunt for her sister's killer has dropped her into a world that she can no longer escape. And she desperately wants to.
Initial Thoughts:
The opening paragraph was as intriguing as all those editors tell you yours must be. It grasped my attention right away and I could hear this very cynical voice narrate the prologue in such a way as to make me think that my journey with Mac would not be a disappointing one.
While my care for the narration somewhat lessened, I found that the adventure which followed the prologue was not one I was willing to detach from for much longer than an hour or two. In my opinion: a good read.
Characters:
MacKayla "Mac" Lane is a lovely southern belle with beautiful blonde hair, gorgeous green eyes, and the fashion sense to show it all off in a way that drops every male mouth in the vicinity. With an eye for detail and a penchant for describing her clothes at any given opportunity, she was easily getting on my nerves.
We are nothing alike.
Obsessed with her appearance at almost any given moment, it was hard not to want to reach through the book and shake her a little bit. All the while yelling, "Focus! FOCUS!" in her ears.
There was also the fact that she felt strangely sympathetic towards a gang of men intent on killing her--with the added bonus of possible torture and/or rape prior to that event--when something far more menacing takes them off her hands. To me, it's strange that she actually wonders if they had families and whether or not someone would be missing them. And then to be angry at Jericho for doing the only thing he could to ensure their survival… That was too bloody much for me.
She's a pink tornado of emotions and sunshine and angst that did not sit well with me for a lot of this book. And her lack of swearing appropriately made me just want to wave the book in the author's face and say, "Really? She works in a bar but she couldn't pick up how to properly swear? Yeah, because that's totally believable."
Yet, Mac has a few redeemable qualities. Like her bloodthirsty desire for vengeance on her sister's killer. Or her stubborn streak that allows for her to stand her ground (even when she shouldn't, in some cases). And then that inquisitive streak that probably gets her in more trouble than it's worth, but allows the story to proceed at a great pace.
Jericho Barrons is an alpha male in a way that makes all other pretend alphas shrink against a wall and piss themselves. This man is cruel, abusive, cunning, and selfish. He has no regards for another's feelings. If someone can be used to suit his purposes, he will be the first to throw them into a dangerous situation. And if stalking you is something he feels he needs to do, he won't hesitate to do so. No man is more self-confident, arrogant, or unapologetic than Jericho Barrons.
And I loved him for it. I loved that he was an unapologetic asshole with his own agenda. The man is on a mission and why the fuck should he care about anyone else? Particularly if they're a threat to his goals? The fact that he physically assaults Mac doesn't make me cringe or cry out with outrage. (Possibly because I'm more on the violent side than not, and I understand that he did all of this to scare her so much that she would run for her life. Despite how it looked, he did it to save her. It's just rather too bad that Mac didn't listen.)
I enjoy characters who have clear, defined goals and who allow nothing to stand in their way. Evil or benign, I will always appreciate someone who does whatever it takes; no matter the cost. If what they desire is that important, I don't care how they go about achieving that goal. To do anything less would make them seem weak-willed and pathetic in my eyes. So for Jericho to be a complete asshole … that was not a let-down. And while my panties didn't drip the moment his name appeared on the page, I do have a deep admiration for him that is more like the respect of comrades rather than an urge to make him my sex slave.
Alina was the social butterfly who enjoys stuffy classrooms, peaches-and-cream candles, and Beautiful perfume. All of that changed roughly four months after her arrival in Dublin, and nothing else seemed more important than the world she now found herself neck-deep into. The world where the Fae walked around in fierce forms that no one else could see, and she had to find the Sinsar Dubh before they did or else the whole world would be swallowed into darkness.
Even though Alina is already dead from the very beginning, I feel like you get to know a lot about her just by what you experience through Mac. Like her love of learning and the amount of ambition she had. Her resourcefulness was remarkable, and her acting skills commendable since she tricked her whole family into thinking she was absolutely fine up until she no longer was. Alina definitely seemed like the sister to take charge and get things done from the moment she realized there was an issue. And that's why she's on this list: because I liked her as a person, even if the reader only sees her through memory.
V'lane makes any woman want to climb out of her clothes the moment she lays eyes on him. Literally. A Seelie Prince, V'lane has no desire to completely obliterate the human race, unlike his Unseelie counterparts. Instead, the Seelie have a very specific and rewarding use for humans: sex. And just being in the presence of V'lane can assure his success. Except when it comes to Mac … barely.
This Fae… Damn. Just … DAMN!
Plot & Setting:
The setting here was Dublin, Ireland. And I got no feel for it whatsoever. Being a old world nut, I love stories set in Ireland. Gaelic is one of those languages you could listen to forever and scenes of the Emerald Isle are alive and well in all forms of media. But this book didn't add to them.
And I don't blame it for that. When you're in a first person narrative, anything the character isn't likely to think isn't going to be put in print. And your character definitely isn't going to think more than a few things about the architecture or atmosphere of certain places, and they're not going to describe the entire city in detail down to the last bit of cobblestone on the road.
I like when books are like that. When they don't stretch the suspension of disbelief by throwing in a lot of details the character wouldn't normally notice. And it gives me room to create the rest of the scene for myself, with all the furnishings I so desire. Just as Mac said in the beginning of the book:
"Movies tell you what to think. A good book lets you choose a few thoughts for yourself."
This was a good book. No info-dumping, intriguing lay out of the Fae society and history, and a general realness that doesn't derail into the land of unbelievable.
I'm not sure exactly how to explain the plot without giving away too many spoilers. So I won't. There's only one shift in the plot that Mac didn't count on: her responsibilities shifting from being her sister's avenger to the world's protector. Only she is capable of sensing the lethal Dark Book, the Sinsar Dubh and that makes it her responsibility to find it before the Unseelie get their dangerous appendages on it. It's a duty she did not sign up for and one she tries to delude herself into believing she can ignore it. Even though her sister died for this.
Writing Style:
I felt like I was in Mac's head the entire time I was reading. This book never read like it was someone throwing words on pages. It was the reminiscences of a young woman who was naive and frightened in a foreign country where everyone she met seemed intent on killing her. Not a single detail deviated from this image, meaning that the writing was spectacular because no amount of the author's own personality (that I could tell) dripped in to drown out Mac's.
Overall Opinion:
Though Mac and I are very dissimilar creatures, her voice had that dry type of narration that I find completely human. And the adventure she's on is certainly intriguing enough to where I will continue reading the series with high hopes that maybe some of her obsession with fashion is toned down a bit more and a little badassery is stapled into her frail frame.
And I'm getting more of the perfectionist asshole that is Jericho Barrons. Excuse me while I end this review and go back to reading...
Alina was the social butterfly who enjoys stuffy classrooms, peaches-and-cream candles, and Beautiful perfume. All of that changed roughly four months after her arrival in Dublin, and nothing else seemed more important than the world she now found herself neck-deep into. The world where the Fae walked around in fierce forms that no one else could see, and she had to find the Sinsar Dubh before they did or else the whole world would be swallowed into darkness.
Even though Alina is already dead from the very beginning, I feel like you get to know a lot about her just by what you experience through Mac. Like her love of learning and the amount of ambition she had. Her resourcefulness was remarkable, and her acting skills commendable since she tricked her whole family into thinking she was absolutely fine up until she no longer was. Alina definitely seemed like the sister to take charge and get things done from the moment she realized there was an issue. And that's why she's on this list: because I liked her as a person, even if the reader only sees her through memory.
V'lane makes any woman want to climb out of her clothes the moment she lays eyes on him. Literally. A Seelie Prince, V'lane has no desire to completely obliterate the human race, unlike his Unseelie counterparts. Instead, the Seelie have a very specific and rewarding use for humans: sex. And just being in the presence of V'lane can assure his success. Except when it comes to Mac … barely.
This Fae… Damn. Just … DAMN!
Plot & Setting:
The setting here was Dublin, Ireland. And I got no feel for it whatsoever. Being a old world nut, I love stories set in Ireland. Gaelic is one of those languages you could listen to forever and scenes of the Emerald Isle are alive and well in all forms of media. But this book didn't add to them.
And I don't blame it for that. When you're in a first person narrative, anything the character isn't likely to think isn't going to be put in print. And your character definitely isn't going to think more than a few things about the architecture or atmosphere of certain places, and they're not going to describe the entire city in detail down to the last bit of cobblestone on the road.
I like when books are like that. When they don't stretch the suspension of disbelief by throwing in a lot of details the character wouldn't normally notice. And it gives me room to create the rest of the scene for myself, with all the furnishings I so desire. Just as Mac said in the beginning of the book:
"Movies tell you what to think. A good book lets you choose a few thoughts for yourself."
This was a good book. No info-dumping, intriguing lay out of the Fae society and history, and a general realness that doesn't derail into the land of unbelievable.
I'm not sure exactly how to explain the plot without giving away too many spoilers. So I won't. There's only one shift in the plot that Mac didn't count on: her responsibilities shifting from being her sister's avenger to the world's protector. Only she is capable of sensing the lethal Dark Book, the Sinsar Dubh and that makes it her responsibility to find it before the Unseelie get their dangerous appendages on it. It's a duty she did not sign up for and one she tries to delude herself into believing she can ignore it. Even though her sister died for this.
Writing Style:
I felt like I was in Mac's head the entire time I was reading. This book never read like it was someone throwing words on pages. It was the reminiscences of a young woman who was naive and frightened in a foreign country where everyone she met seemed intent on killing her. Not a single detail deviated from this image, meaning that the writing was spectacular because no amount of the author's own personality (that I could tell) dripped in to drown out Mac's.
Overall Opinion:
Though Mac and I are very dissimilar creatures, her voice had that dry type of narration that I find completely human. And the adventure she's on is certainly intriguing enough to where I will continue reading the series with high hopes that maybe some of her obsession with fashion is toned down a bit more and a little badassery is stapled into her frail frame.
And I'm getting more of the perfectionist asshole that is Jericho Barrons. Excuse me while I end this review and go back to reading...
