Shadowfever: Fever Series Book 5
SPOILER ALERT!!!
If you came here cause you’re interested in this book, and wanted to know how I reviewed it, it’s a 5 star for sure! Action packed, unrelenting, wickedly infuriating, and at times, deliciously sexy (in it’s own way). What? I’ve said that before? Well… it couldn’t be more true in this case. And, when have I ever steered you wrong? This book is deeply satisfying. You won’t ever be bored (but you will need to come up for air at times). EVERYTHING is connected in the end (from book#1 to now), and because of this, I can’t even give one part away, without *ruining* something else.
Therefore, I’m going to be a little lax on my no-spoiler policy, cause, honestly, it’ll be impossible to properly review this book without giving away the answer to that last evil nifty little cliffhanger. Now, while I’m not going to give away any major spoilers, I would recommend, that if you have not yet read this series, don’t read this review. This one is a “too bad so sad for those who haven’t read the series – stay away” review.
Interested in the series? Karen Marie Moning – Fever Series Reading Order
Just know, the series is addictive (and WILL be one of your favorites). And this book is as good – if not – better then it’s predecessors. Oh AND!! I’m gonna let you all run free in the comment section too, so definitely do not peruse that part if you haven’t read this book yet. But if you have, by all means, join in and tell us your favorite parts!
The first two chapters of this book are simply devastating. For months, we’ve all been guessing who Mac killed, and I’ll admit I thought it was probably Christian. You know, with all his recent physical changes, being in the “Silvers” and all….anything was possible. While the “real” option was so obviously Barrons, (considering the “beast” was protecting for her so intently, and the whole IYD situation), I just wouldn’t accept that as a possibility. But I was wrong. The author doesn’t leave us hanging in this one. She doesn’t have us re-live any other situations, follow any other characters – she gives it to us straight. Barrons is dead, and the anguish that MacKayla feels is so perfectly detailed, so emotionally heartwrenching.
Her mind is rattled. Her thoughts fluctuate from scattered and erratic to completely focused, from despondent to hopeful and then back again…you feel her devastation, you relate, you get it.
…the worst of it is that you woke me up from my Barbie-girl world and now I’m here and I’m wide awake, you bastard, I couldn’t be more awake, and you left me –
I think I’ll scream until he gets up.
He was the one who told me not to believe anything was dead until I’d burned it, poked around in it’s ashes, then waited a day or two to see if anything rose from them.
Surely I’m not supposed burn him.
I don’t think there are any circumstances under which I could do that.
I’ll squat.
I’ll scream.
He’ll get up. He hates it when I’m melodramatic.
and as she tries different things (from attempting to tap into magic, to physically holding his wounds closed)…
I am suddenly furious.
How could he be mortal? How dare he be mortal? he never told me he was mortal! If I’d known, I might have treated him differently!
“Get up, get up, get up!” I shout.
But he doesn’t get up.
She is devastated. So much so, that she becomes emotionless. Cold. Calculating. Maybe even a little corrupted. She practically becomes Barrons.
But she comes to a realization.
I know now where Barrons ends and I begin.
When Barrons ended, I began.
Me.
Mac O’Connor.
Sidhe-seer that a certain Seelie Prince said the world should fear.
I kneel and kiss Barrons a final time.
I do not cover him or perform any ritual. It would be for me, not for him. There is only one thing left that I will do for me.
Soon, none of this will matter anyway.
I had to be ripped in half to stop feeling so torn in two. Divided, never knowing who to trust.
I’m now a woman with a single ambition.
I know exactly what I’m going to do.
And I know how I’m going to do it.
The very book they have all been chasing and running from, is the key. She will capture it, learn it control it, and make it do what she wants. And all she wants is for her world to be the way it was…a world where her sister Alina, and Barrons are still alive.
It was going to be mine. I would study it. Grief had focused me like a laser. I could learn anything. Nothing would stand in my way. I would rebuild the world the way I wanted it.
To accomplish this, she sides with her worst enemy, The Lord Master “Darroc”. He has a few answers about the book, and believes he can merge with it. She plans to seduce the secrets out of him.
Planning to do anything it takes, even sacrificing her own dignity (what good is it for anyway, when she no longer has anything to live for in this world), she follows him out of the silvers (learning even more as she goes about herself) and back into Ireland. She “connects” with him, comes on to him, but never gives in to him completely. I had the impression, though, that he was truly connecting to her. There was something there, and it made me question, just how bad he really was. Was there more to Darroc?
I will give you everything. And you I will not lose. That is a mistake I will not make again. If you come to me knowing what I am, there need be no fear, no mistrust between us. Take my kiss, MacKayla. Accept my offer. Live with me. Forever.
Meh…doesn’t matter cause… his head was efficiently popped right off his neck like a berry!!! (poor gorgeous, evil ex-fae – dead). And what is that I hear? What we’ve all been waiting for. Barrons and his beast rattling dangerously inside of him, as he watches from the shadows.
She’s standing in my alley, kissing the bastard that had her raped and turned her Pri-ya.
No let’s be perfectly precise: She’s grinding herself against him and shoving her tongue halfway down his throat.
My monster rattles it’s cage.
Violently.
Yup! He’s alive, and witnessed Mackayla’s little intimate exchange with Darroc. Oh come on people, you knew he couldn’t stay dead. I told Lily, as she begrudged the whole first two chapters of the book. that I KNEW Barrons was not dead dead – NO WAY. This series can’t exist without him, especially not the last book, and anyway, he’s magic. We don’t know what he is, but the magic will fix him somehow (hopefully sooner then later, cause I wanted as much Barrons in this book as possible)…
Despite Barron’s watching furiously, he wasn’t the one to take his revenge on the evil villain that was manhandling his woman. It was the book. THE book. The Sinsar Dubh (oh and some Dragon/Hunter thingie). Why oh why does that book insist on following Mac around? What does it want with her? Why does it *play* with her, speak with her, try to entice her, but not kill her like it does the others? Who is MacKayla to have so intently captivated the most evil book in the world?
So this is what the book is about. Finding out, once and for all, how to stop the Sinsar Dubh, and what it wants with Mac. Watching as the Seelie, the Druids, the Sidhe-Seers and whatever “Barrons and friends” are, attempt to cooperate (or not), for the greater good. Uncovering who, (or what) Mackayla really is (loved this part)! New powers in her arsenal, vivid memories that aren’t hers. The clues, the memories, the powers… it all comes together to an obvious answer, and then all falls apart again, but, I loved the whole process of unearthing her great mystery.
And of course, the grand finale, that reveals the enemy. Oh there are LOTS of enemies in this series, no doubt (and most have been strategically picked off), but…who’s the one that started this mess? Who has the most to gain? MacKayla has kept everyone at a distance, and not completely sided with anyone for the entire series. She constantly feared that they had ulterior motives for wanting the book, even though she was secretly in love (lust?) with a few of ’em. Was she right in the end? And… considering how suspicious some of her “allies” are of her, how much some even hate her, are they right? Is she the enemy?
Most infuriating moments: Mackayla’s head games. When Barrons was dead, she goes on and on in her own head that if she just had one more chance she’d not resist him anymore – tell him everything she feels, give herself completely to him, trust him, love him…
I would give my right arm to be back there, for just one day. Live it again. Touch him again. Hear those sounds he makes. Smile at him. Be tender. Not be afraid to be tender. Life is so fragile, exquisite, and short. Why do I keep realizing that too late?
… and then boom – he’s back and she’s back to playing hard to get.
…I’d have made a complete fool of myself. I’d have confessed feelings to him that I’d felt only because I’d thought he’d given his life for mine.
Nothing had changed.
There was no deeper level of understanding or emotion between us.
As my mom would say… “She brings on her own misery.”
And when he dies again? She’s back to moping and missing him, anxiously awaiting his “resurrection”. When she walks in the door, and there he is, does she throw herself into his arms and confess her undying love (maybe the 3rd time’s the charm?)?
Hell No! Instead, she irritates us all (and especially an already highly irritated Barrons).
One of my favorite Mac/Barrons moments:
“You will never do such an idiotic thing again,” he said, muscles bunching in his jaw.
Given my track record, I was pretty sure I would.
Amen to that! This girl can be so smart and stupid at the same time!
My favorite parts – ANYTHING Barrons. An accurate description of him:
Unpredictable as a hungry lion, he might be feared by everyone else, but he never ripped out my throat, only licked me, and, if his tongue was a little rough sometimes, it was worth it to walk beside the king of the jungle.
I especially giggled over his “cravings” for Mac and his frustration over his unrelenting “condition”. She plays hard to get. he just plays hard. *blush* He doesn’t pull any punches, doesn’t beat around the bush. He puts it all out there (well, his physical needs, anyway 😉 )
“Please,” I groaned.
“Please what, Mac? You’ll have to ask for it this time, spell it out in graphic detail. I’m done giving you everything you want without making you ask for it.”
Emotionally, he might seem like a closed book, but he has his moments…
When you know who I am. Let me be your man.
It’s because it’s never easy with him, that has me so intrigued. There isn’t anything tender about that man, (ew!…”tender” isn’t the right word for Barrons at all – those two words shouldn’t even be in the same sentence together). Lemme try again: his version of “vulnerable…no not that…romantic NO! hrmm…mild? okay…”mild” let’s go with that… His version of “mild” is still scorching! He’s so intimidating, it’s hot. He can stare at her with a sneer on his face and passion in his eyes. And he doesn’t hide from any of it.
“There was purity in that basement. that’s the way I live. There was a time I thought you did too.”
I did, I wanted to say. I do.
“Some things are sacred. Until you act like they’re not. Then you lose them”
He’s so not “tender” but he has other desirable attributes. With Barrons, what you see is what you get (well, ‘cept for his “other half”). And well…that comes out too, when all is said and done.
The intoxicating love “triangle” continues between Mac, V’lane and Barrons, too, causing even more friction within their entourage.
“Your wish, my command, MacKayla.” He smiled. “Shall we spend tomorrow at the beach together?”
Barrons moved beside me. “She’s busy tomorrow.”
“Are you busy tomorrow, MacKayla?”
“She’s working on old texts with me.”
V’lane gave me a pitying look. “Ah. Old texts. A banner day at the bookstore.”
“We’re translating the Kama Sutra,” Barrons said, “with interactive aids.”
I almost choked.
Twists and turns and unlikely enemies, like you never saw coming. At least I didn’t. I was sure I had it figured out, but nope. Fear not, however, as the author explains it all. Situations that annoyed me (black river anyone? Anytime something bad happened *boom* the answer in Mac’s head and the object magically in her hand! I would roll my eyes and think to myself, “Oh sheesh…how convenient for Mac”) did eventually make sense. No gaping holes from what I could tell. Well, ‘cept for what Barrons is, and I hear some are upset about that. I just know he’s immortal, and some kinda beast thingie, and that’s okay with me. Giving his kind a name, doesn’t change much, in the grand scheme of things (and I have heard it will be further explained in the spin-off).
Which, of course, I will read with abandon!
Until then… I will have to make do with re-reading these. Maybe if I physically devour the books, I will absorb their essence? Oh right, mine are e-books. Okay, sleeping with my iPad under my pillow? Surely all that magic being so close to my suggestible brainwaves will give me some extra powers? No?
*pout*
5 stars!!!
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