Darkfever (Fever, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Jul 16, 2009 Dina rated it liked it

Shelves: 1st-person-pov, to-review, 2014-dhasg-challenge, ebook, urban-fantasy

3 1/2 stars (rounded down to 3 stars, because Mac was borderline TSTL, even though she tried to convince me she wasn't, and her obsession with her fingernail polish was OTT) ...more

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Feb 14, 2009 Shawna rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: pnr-angeldemon-fae-magic-witch-misc, hero-brooding-serious-grumpy-aloof, author-karen-marie-moning, pnr-fae-light-dark-fae, pov-first-person, hero-or-heroine-or-setting-irish, horror-mystery-suspense-thrillers, 4-stars, hero-stud-mantel-hall-of-fame, angsty-dark-heavy-lotsa-drama

3 ½-4 stars – Urban Fantasy

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Jan 07, 2011 Marsha rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, e-book

Mac innocently believes that she is living a happy, perfect life and that her parents and sister rounded out her perfect life. Then her sister died and her parents fall apart. She takes it upon herself to go to Dublin to find out what happened to her sister, Alina - only to discover that nothing is as it seems.
I was a little irritated with Mac initially, but she grew on me. I still have a small problem with all of her 'personal battles' (pride, stubbornness, etc.). I know we all have our faults ...more

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Oct 15, 2009 Lara rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: top-5-fav-series, favorites

WOW! I could not put this series down and am dying for the next one to come out. I believe Jericho Barrons is my alltime favorite male lead crush ;)!! I found these in the Fantasy section and then realized they were in the Romance as well which turned me off at 1st. I love Romance but a lot of what I have read is just TOO much for me. If all of them had the mix Moning put in these - I would go through every book in the section! Action, love, fantasy, thrilling/suspenseful, and humorous. I may ju ...more

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Mar 10, 2012 Nairabell rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal-romance, 4-star, borrowed-from-library, read-in-2012

MacKayla Lane is perfectly happy with her life. She tends bar, lives in small town Georgia and her car only occasionally breaks down. But all that falls apart when her sister Alina is brutally murdered in Dublin and when Mac receives a mysterious phone message, she heads to Dublin only to discover Alina had stumbled into a deadly world. With her own life now in jeapordy Mac must turn to the mysterious Jericho Barrons to learn more about the Fae before her untapped skills cost her her life.

This i MacKayla Lane is perfectly happy with her life. She tends bar, lives in small town Georgia and her car only occasionally breaks down. But all that falls apart when her sister Alina is brutally murdered in Dublin and when Mac receives a mysterious phone message, she heads to Dublin only to discover Alina had stumbled into a deadly world. With her own life now in jeapordy Mac must turn to the mysterious Jericho Barrons to learn more about the Fae before her untapped skills cost her her life.

This is the first book in the much lauded Fever series and for me a hard book to review. While I loved parts of it, other parts annoyed me. Darkfever is written as a first-person flashback and I found it hard to adjust to the style of writing, especially with Mac coming out with things like "I didn't know it then" or "it's one more thing I was wrong about". It didn't really add anything to the book and just distracted me from the main storyline.

The other real annoyance for me was that the Irish accents were just plain bad and didn't come off as Irish at all, but thankfully this pretty much stops by the end of the third chapter. The Dublin setting did however make the book stand out from other paranormal romance series and I enjoyed seeing Mac's southern belle dealing with a European city.

Mac was an interesting narrator, despite her obsession with describing peoples outfits and her nail varnish (right down to talking about the colour and shade name). Mac begins the book as a dumb blonde but, once she starts to learn more about the Fae world that her sister had stumbled into, gradually grows into a more well-rounded character. The mysterious Barrons helps her in her quest, but so little about him is revealed that I wish he'd been more upfront. By the end of the book, not much more is known about him than at the beginning.

The mythology of the world-building is where the book really caught me, and as more and more was revealed about the Fae I found myself glued to the page. Deliciously complex and fascinating I really enjoyed learning more of the Fae. Characters like V'lane are introduced and the author manages to show that while the Unseelie Fae are horrifying to see, the Seelie Fae can be just as dangerous. Mac's powers are well written and cleverly developed and I'm looking forward to seeing how they progress.

All in all, this was an interesting read and I'm hoping to pick up a copy of Bloodfever soon.

Plot: 9/10
Characters: 8/10
Ending: 8/10
Enjoyment: 8/10
Cover: 7/10

Overall: 40/50 ...more

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