Darkfever (Fever #1)
Karen Marie Moning
First published October 31st, 2006
MacKayla Lane’s life is good. She has great friends, a decent job, and a car that breaks down only every other week or so. In other words, she’s your perfectly ordinary twenty-first-century woman. Or so she thinks…until something extraordinary happens.
When her sister is murdered, leaving a single clue to her death–a cryptic message on Mac’s cell phone–Mac journeys to Ireland in search of answers. The quest to find her sister’s killer draws her into a shadowy realm where nothing is as it seems, where good and evil wear the same treacherously seductive mask. She is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to learn how to handle a power she had no idea she possessed–a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae….
As Mac delves deeper into the mystery of her sister’s death, her every move is shadowed by the dark, mysterious Jericho, a man with no past and only mockery for a future. As she begins to close in on the truth, the ruthless Vlane–an alpha Fae who makes sex an addiction for human women–closes in on her. And as the boundary between worlds begins to crumble, Mac’s true mission becomes clear: find the elusive Sinsar Dubh before someone else claims the all-powerful Dark Book–because whoever gets to it first holds nothing less than complete control of the very fabric of both worlds in their hands….
After seeing several references to Barrons and V’lane and other characters/events in this series, my curiosity took over and I just had to read it. Darkfever is the first book in the Fever series, an urban fantasy about fairies.
We’ve got Mac – the very girly, pink and nail polish, girl – as our protagonist. After her sister is found murdered in Dublin, where she went for college, Mac hops on a plane to try to find out what happened. Once she gets there she finds out she can see the fae. Ok- fae are scary!! None of this twinkly Tinkerbell stuff. These are horrid. Next time I trip on my feet you will see me running like hell away from there!
The first part of the book is definitely “first book”ish. Not a lot happening plot-wise. Very slow moving. Just a lot of world building and character development/introductions. Mac meets some deeply interesting and sexy characters that even though they’re jerks now, I have it on good authority that it’s all a facade 😉 . Still, Barrons… fascinating, but not very nice ARROGANT!! Ugh! He wouldn’t answer any questions, and he was Rude. Plus: leather pants? Eww! Although he did paint her nails – so that counts for a little something. Now V’lane. What can I say about V’lane? He’s very… unique? I like V’lane! Teehee.
It did get a lot more interesting towards the middle/end. We see where this is all going and we get more intrigue. I’m very interested in what powers the characters have (Barrons) or what parts they’re going to play (V’lane). As for Mac, there are signs that Southern Barbie Doll will get stronger and wiser. I didn’t dislike her but my eyes did roll a few times at all the clothing descriptions and her obediency; She was basically Barrons’ lapdog. However, I wouldn’t want her to change too much. The lipgloss and short skirt references actually became sort of amusing. But a little more badassness wouldn’t hurt. Mac 3.0?
The writing itself is good. The story has a lot of clichés and the dialogues could use some work, but It’s still engaging. I found most of it was pretty fun, even when it felt slow. Her world building was very nicely executed. I was creeped out by the faeries and engrossed by the mystery/lore behind them, and It wasn’t overly done; it had a nice flow without being confusing.
As a start, it’s promising, but I’m still not sure why everyone is orgasming about this series. I’ll be continuing it – actually I’m starting #2 right now – to wait and hopefully understand what all the fuss is really about.
3/5 hot espressos |
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Karen
I have had this book on my kindle forever and I just bought Shadowfever at my Borders closing sale but I haven’t gotten to it yet. I have a really strong feeling that I’m not going to love it like everyone else. It was kind of nice to read a review that wasn’t gushing so I could learn a little more about the series other than Barrons.
Giselle
I just finished Shadowfever about 20 minutes ago and I have to tell you, if you don’t love book #1, keep going! Please! I will be posting my reviews for the rest of the series soon so you will see, but it gets Good – awesome! Read at least until book 3 before giving up if you don’t like it. (Book #2 was much better though – but book 3+ is the cakes!)
FABR Steph
I see that the series improves as it goes along.
Cassie S.
I am reading it now. In fact the soul reason I ordered this book online (during one of my book binges) was because you had highly recommended this series. Now that I am almost finished with it, all I can think about is going right now to bn.com and picking up the second book in the series. I am TOTALLY a Barrons fan though. V’lane while he hasn’t showed up much in this one (at least yet) just doesn’t do anything for me. Maybe because every time he is around Mac gets into compromising positions. LOL. I want to see her do that more with Barrons. LOL.
But I definitely cant wait to start reading the second one once I am able to get my hands on a copy. I look forward to it definitely if you say the series only gets better from here and I am already loving just the first book. =D
Thanks for (unknowingly) turning me onto this series.
Cassie @ The Anfractuous Bookaholic
Susan
I totally agree with your review! I gave it 4 stars, but I totally agree with how the beginning is “first bookish”. A friend of mine is obsessed with the series and was always telling me to read it. I decided to just pick it up one day to see if I liked it and at first I was disappointed. I wasn’t really connecting: Mac was hard to love and Barrons was mean and rude. I was almost ready to be one and done…BUT then like the last 1/3 of the book I was HOOKED. It like saved the whole book for me and I went on to read the rest of the series in less than a month! Just truly amazing stuff.
Did you read the rest of the series?
Giselle
@Susan: Yes I finished the whole series and it’s one of my favorites! It’s like crack after book 1! 🙂