Book Review – Dreamfever by Karen Marie Moning

Dreamfever: Fever Series Book 4
QUICK WARNING: As usual, proceed with caution! All the good parts that I will be discussing in this book are pretty much spoilers for the book before it.

Book#4 – The latest but not last book in MacKayla’s world (one more expected this year), was my absolute favorite of the lot. Not only do we get to see a completely different version of MacKayla, but we experience a very changed world through her eyes, and even get some special one on one time with Barrons. What did I not like? The cliffhanger!! Well actually, I LOVED it (brilliant!), I just didn’t like that I couldn’t immediately continue onto the next book and get relief.

I was told by many that Karen Marie Moning is the “queen of cliffhangers”. It was recommended that, to avoid suffering, I should wait until the fifth and final installment was released, and read the entire series at once, without having to experience the horrid “cliffhanger” panic. I intended to do that. I really did.

There are two things I hate most when reading a new book. Spoilers (I don’t wanna know until it’s time – I LOVE surprises!), and cliffhangers (I wanna know what happens right NOW – I HATE surprises!). But my fellow Twitter/Blogger friends insisted on discussing the series amongst each other with glee, and it sounded soooooo good! So, I decided I could not wait, I had to see what all the fuss was about. I don’t regret it…the series is fantastic. It teased me, excited me, and REFUSED to give me everything I ever wanted, keeping me coming back for more…But I will admit, I internally screamed in agony at the ending (had I let loose, I would have totally freaked out my dogs – and who needs their incessant barking at a time like this!?). I even had to endure mindless TV shows to keep my thoughts from overly obsessing about the ending.

I think I’m better now. I think I’m ready to talk about it. So here goes…

The last book ended with, essentially, the end of the world as we know it. The walls came down, the UnSeelie were highly organized, lights went out all over the city, and humans were lead into Shade territory in droves (and Shades essentially took over all of Dublin). Looting, fighting, panicking and death. All hell had broken loose. Mac, alone in the heart of it, unable to reach Barrons or V’lane, obliged to take refuge in a church, was discovered by the UnSeelie Princes and turned Pri-ya…cliffhanger!

Dreamfever not only eased my cliffhanger pain (since I already had it on hand),  but the whole first part of it eased a whole lot more than that! Mac’s favorite sidhe-seer sister Dani (and a few other of the sidhe-seer team) managed to find and take Mac back to the Abbey with them before the Lord Master took her away with him.

Thing I really want to know is: Where the feck is V’lane? Why hasn’t he come for Mac? Why didn’t he stop the UnSeelie Princes from raping her? I call for him as I dart around the countryside, but if he hears me yelling, he doesn’t answer to me. Guess not to Mac anymore, either.

And Barrons – what’s his deal? Doesn’t he want her alive? Why have they all abandoned her when she needs ’em the most?

Men.

In turn, Barrons (with his team of eight very similar men) eventually manages to get her back from the Abbey. Mac, unable to comprehend what is going on around her, inherently recognizes Barrons, on a primitive level.

Something looms over me. It is dark and powerful. It is electric. It is lust. It is not one of my princes, but my body arches and steams. Yes, yes, yes, you are what I need!

It touches me. I am on fire! I weep with relief. It holds me to its body, crushes me to its skin. We sizzle. It speaks but I do not understand its language. I am in a place beyond words. There is only skin and flesh and need.

Dealing with a Pri-ya isn’t easy. Mac had been turned into a mindless sex slave (well, not really mindless, more like focused on only ONE need, with the inability to concentrate on anything else). Pooooor Barrons, was forced to use all means necessary to bring her back to humanity. Old photographs, sex, memories, sex, nail polish, sex, music, sex sex, sex sex sex sex sex….Oh, and eventually, a Christmas tree…and sex.

He stares.

He curses. “No, Mac,” he says.

I do not know what “Mac” means.

But I know what “no” means.

And I do not like it.

I pout. But it quickly curves into a smile. I know a secret. For a beast of such power, his self-control with me is weak. I have learned this in our time together. I wet my lips, give him a look, and he makes that raw, angry-sounding noise deep in his throat that makes my blood hot, hot, hot, because every time he makes it I know he’s just about to give me what I want.

He cannot resist me. It bothers him. He is an odd animal.

That whole section (and there is MUCH more to it than the excerpts I quoted here) is worth re-reading over and over and over again. LOL! Not just for the sex, get your mind out of the gutter! We finally get a deeper glimpse into who Barrons is (well, not WHAT he is, but his softer side…if you can call it that).

“I want it to always be like this,” I tell him.

His nostrils flare, obsidian eyes mock. “Try holding on to that thought.”

“I do not need to try. I will never feel differently.”

“Ah, Mac,” he says, and his laughter is as dark and cold as the place of which I dream. “one day you will wonder if it’s possible to hate me more.”

Barrons works hard, patiently trying to teach Mac about language, the need for clothes, humanity and it’s celebrations. He places photos of her family in her surroundings, plays her favorite music, puts her favorite outfits together, and even does her nails. While she resists almost everything he tries to teach her (key word is “almost”…there is one thing from Barrons that she NEVER resists), she slowly learns and begins remembering. They eventually get so cozy together, that even he opens up, and dances and sings with her, naked! I wonder if they’ll use that in the movie 😉

Ok, not to be a party-pooper, but I’ll admit, I was a bit taken by surprise that Barrons would have sex with her, while she was essentially out of her mind. Thinking about it though, I guess it *might* make sense that being in close proximity for two months with someone out of her mind with desire for sex, might have made it tough on him…and well, you’ll see – Mac was very insistent…

He often speaks nonsense.  I ignore it. I shut his mouth with mine. Or with my breasts, or other parts. It works every time.

Okayyyyy….that cinches it. I take my party-pooper opinion back.. 😉

A bittersweet moment when Mac begins showing signs of her humanity again, and remembering who she is…

He touches my face.

There is something different in his touch. It feels like he’s saying good-bye, and I know a moment of panic. But my dream sky darkens and sleep’s moon fills the horizon.

“Don’t leave me.” I thrash in the sheets.

“I’m not, Mac.”

I know I am dreaming then, because dreams are home to the absurd and what he says next is beyond absurd.

“You’re leaving me, Rainbow Girl.”

That one clenched my heart tight…

So, MacKayla comes around. Unfortunately, while I’m sure Barrons *might* have stuck to his sweetness with her, she decides to embrace her independent bad-ass self, and leave him (just as he expected).

You told me I was your world.

“It wasn’t me. I was an animal.” My heart pounded. My cheeks burned.

You never wanted it to end.

Did you hear that? That was the sound of his heart locking itself back in. Why Mac? WHY????? He finally opened up (well… as much as inhumanly possible for him), and now you just revert back to the old Mac and Barrons?

Back to the expressions of impassivity, snide remarks, and sarcastic quips. Why? Oh…I know why. Because readers like me LOVE head-games! I get it… give the reader an inch (or *ahem*…anyway) and then take it ALL back!

Aaaannnnnddd we’re back….a little moment of fantasy, and now we’re in hell. A huge chunk of humanity has been exterminated, Earth now has these eerie “Interdimensional Fairy Potholes” that one can be lost in, all of Dublin is a Dark Zone, and the “out-of-the-closet” Fae now openly walk the earth. Mac’s out, trying to work with the sidhe-seers, V’lane, Barrons, and everyone that she can help solve the issues. The cast of characters continues to grow, and each one brings a special power to the mix. This installment allows us to get to know each one a little better. You’ll even find yourself wondering about the Lord Master himself…he’s quite insistent that he did not kill Alina, and in fact seems to have loved her. V’lane, Barrons, Inspector Jayne, the Lord Master and even the sidhe-seers continue to vie for Mac’s allegiance. Flitting from one to the next, desperate to find a solution, she continues to question who/what Barrons is, what they all truly want with the book, and what the Dark Book wants with her (and it definitely wants her).

Ok another of my favorite moments (I refuse to leave out the wonderful V’lane):

“Get your things,” Barrons said. “Let’s go. Now.”

“MacKayla comes with me,” said V’lane. “You cannot protect her parents. You cannot sift. She will not choose you.”

There was enough testosterone in the room for an entire army of men, and I wasn’t immune to it. Even without glamour, V’lane was more seductive than any human male alive. And Barrons – well, the body remembered and reveled in every moment of it. The two of them turning it up at the same time made it a little hard to breathe.

Lucky girl! Two unbelievably sexy men fighting for her, and you’ll see, V’lane continues to raise the bar in his absolute sweetness…

Really, not too many spoilers to give, since nothing has actually been answered. Little teasers all the way through, tidbits of information that we can try to puzzle together, but mostly, the hints serve to simply befuddle us more.

Lots of great action in this one. In fact, a very exciting and terrifying ending that had me gripping my e-book and gave me hand cramps! This series is NOT to be missed.

5 stars!!!!!!