Review: ICED by Karen Marie Moning

It's the Ryodan Show! Welcome to the Ryodan Show, where the world revolves around Ryodan, the most interesting man in the world. Ryodan knows mostly everything, but there's one thing he doesn't know: who, how, what, and why is freezing Unseelie in his club. For some reason he thinks Dani Mega O'Malley, a fourteen-year-old who fancies herself a superhero[ine], will be able to help him figure it out.

I was kind of excited about Iced, the first novel in a new series that takes place in the same world as the Fever series, Karen Marie Moning's über-successful PNR novels about a post-Apocalyptic world in Dublin. I loved the Fever series, which concluded last year. Dani, supposedly the main character in Iced and a supporting player in the Fever books, wasn't the most interesting person, but I wasn't opposed to her getting her own book.

Guys, I had so many problems with this novel. Whereas the Fever series felt like it knew exactly where it was going, and I could relate to the characters, Iced seemed like Moning was making it up as she went along. And I could not connect to Dani at all. Let's break it down a little, shall we?

• Dani--First and foremost, Iced does not feel like Dani's story. I'm honestly not sure whose story it is (Moning switches points of view a lot), but even though Dani gets most of the page time, I never got the sense I was reading her story. Secondly, she was completely unbelievable as a character. I was annoyed by Mac sometimes, but I was able to buy into her emotions and predicament. With Dani, I was just annoyed. She was way too OTT, from her crappy childhood to her reactions to EVERYTHING, to the fact that she didn't act like a believable fourteen-year-old. I can see where Moning was trying to make her *seem* like a teenager, but it didn't work for me. And speaking of age, this may be a stupid question, but why is Dani fourteen? Normally I don't care about characters' ages, but Moning makes a point of mentioning Dani's age (or lack thereof) every ten pages, and it doesn't contribute to the story at all. In fact, it works against the believability of the story pretty severely. 
• Chapter titles--All of the chapter titles are song lyrics. Now, quoting song lyrics in novels is generally a bad idea (they never mean the same thing to you as they do to other people, trust me on this), but using them as chapter titles wouldn't bother me if it wasn't symptomatic of the central problems with Iced. None of these characters are musicians. OR EVEN LISTEN TO MUSIC. There's no music in this book, which is set in an alternate world *in Dublin* anyway, so why are the chapters referencing contemporary and classic American rock? Makes absolutely zero sense.
• Ryodan and Christian--Ryodan was an okay character in the Fever series. I didn't give two shits about any of the Keltars, but that's probably because I didn't read that series by Moning set in Scotland, whatever it was. ANYway. My point here is this: Ryodan in Iced is boring. The way he ended every question with a period drove me bonkers. And the way he kept petting Dani was P R E T T Y creepy, almost as creepy as Christian stalking her. Especially considering she's four freaking teen. 
• Story and pacing--You know how I'm always harping on when the pirates go back to the island in Pirates of the Caribbean? Now imagine the entire movie where they just keep going back to the island. Iced is kind of like that; except instead of an island, Dani keeps going back to Chester's. It's like this: Chester's, plot; leave Chester's so we can get adventures and pointless backstory; go back to Chester's so we can get back to the plot. FOR THE LOVE GOD, this book could have been wrapped up in 250 pages if Dani'd just stayed in Chester's!

Basically I really did not get Iced. At all. It just seems like a really weird, meandery book where the author didn't fully think everything through and then the editor didn't ask the right questions. But obviously that's just my personal opinion. And on the plus side I don't have to buy any more books in this series, yay!

Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning

Musical Notes: "You've Got the Love," Florence + the Machine



Review:

Mac is back. But who is she, really? Someone inherently evil, whose every action is destined to push the world closer to destruction? Or the innocent twenty-two year old who was a normal human--aside from her rabid fondness for pink--and whose parents always believed the best of her?


Shadowfever is the final book in the Fever series, and I'm more than pleased to announce it does not disappoint. I can't image Moning managing to pen a better conclusion. After the cliffhanger ending of Dreamfever, there were so many unanswered questions and loose plot threads that I honestly expected to not have all my questions answered--and yet, they were.

Seriously--every. Single. Question.

It starts off right where Dreamfever left off, on the cliff where Mac has just killed a beast. We find out almost immediately who the beast really is, and it's a non-stop ride from there. Despite being nearly 600 pages (and you all know my apathy for long books), the story felt like it was flying by. There are several major shockers, especially toward the end of the book, and things are wrapped up beautifully.



That's not to say everything is wrapped up in a neat little bow, just the major things that bugged me. Other things are left at the reader's own discretion to think about. For example, what was up with the tarot card Mac received? It foretells the end of the journey, where The Fool has made peace with herself and achieved immortality--but I know that because I looked it up, not because it's in the book.

There's also the "Dreamy-Eyed Guy," who's intrigued me since book one, and who has said several times, "Don't talk to it. Never talk to it." Mac assumes he means the dangerous Fae, but does he? I loved the way his story line was brought to the forefront and wrapped up.

And in fact, this is the book where Mac finally makes peace with herself. As she's been growing into her new role in Dublin, she's also been feeling separated from herself, as if there's two sides to her. And, as the quote on the back cover suggests, she's horribly afraid one of those sides is pure evil. If evil believes wrong is good, and there are bits of her inherently evil now, how she will ever know if the path she chooses is right?

As for Barrons, we finally learn what he is... well, kind of. But not specifically. Strangely, though, it doesn't matter so much because we learn who he is. Yes, he and Mac's bickering seemed to drag only to lengthen the sexual tension in the book, but who cares. They're entertaining when they bicker.

I honestly think this is the best book in the entire series and the perfect conclusion to it. It could have been edited down a bit, and Mac was really annoying at the beginning of the novel, but overall it was a compelling, non-stop read. One of those books you have to take a day off of work for, and that you can't stop thinking about after you put it down. When I got to the final page, I was sad to have to leave Mac and Barrons and Dublin behind.

I can't recommend the Fever series enough, or praise Moning enough for being a great writer. And I really want to thank TLC Booktours for sending me this novel to review!

The publisher is offering a book to giveaway! To enter, fill out the form below (if you're viewing this in a reader you may have to go to the actual post).

Unseelie Spaghetti

Image from silver marquis

Ingredients:

• olive oil
  
• 2 anchovy fillets
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  
• hot pepper flakes (as much as you like)
  
• 1 cup white wine (or amayl)
  
• 14 oz canned tomatoes
• chopped parsley (amayl)
  
• 1-2 tbsp butter
  
• 1/2 lb spaghetti

Directions:

• Get the pasta going by setting a pot of water to boil; follow package directions.
• Drizzle 4 tablespoons oil into a thick-bottomed pot (I use a wok).
• Set to medium heat and put anchovies in; mash down with wooden spoon until they melt into the oil, all while thinking about how the gray fillets wiggling in the hot oil kind of resemble Unseelie flesh as described in the Fever books by Karen Marie Moning.
  
• After about a minute, hurriedly put in garlic and hot pepper flakes so that you don't get so grossed out you have to scrap dinner and go out. Lower heat to meduim-low.
• Once garlic is soft, add white wine and briefly raise heat so it boils down.
• Add tomatoes, lower heat to medium-low again and stir. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Once done, drain pasta and put back in pot to mix with butter and most of the parsley. Add a few spoonfuls of sauce and mix with spaghetti, too.
• Put pasta in bowl and spoon over sauce; sprinkle some of the leftover parsley on top. Eat while reading Shadowfever.
  

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Dreamfever by Karen Marie Moning

After finishing this book, the only thing I can say is... HOW IN THE NAME OF GOD AM I GOING TO SURVIVE UNTIL SHADOWFEVER COMES OUT IN DECEMBER????!?!?!?!1

Dreamfever is the fourth book in Karen Marie Moning's "Fever" series (that's not actually the series' name, it's just what I call it).  The books are really one whole story spread out across five novels, about a Southern girl name Mackayla Lane who travels to Dublin to search for her sister's killer.  In the process, she discovers that Irish legends about fairies are not only real, but much worse than the stories would have one believe.  It's only in this book that is becomes clear the Fever series isn't just an UF series, but a story of Apocalypse.

After Faefever, the previous novel in the series, I admit I was a little scared to read Dreamfever.  Faefever wasn't exactly my favorite book; and in addition, it ended on a pretty horrific note.  But after a bit of a rocky start, the story in Dreamfever settled in and started moving along.  A lot more things happen in this book than in the previous one, especially in regards to Barrons' and Mac's relationship, and there's also a lot more action in this novel.  Inspector Jayne rocks it out defending Dublin from the fae, V'lane has formed some interesting partnerships, and the Lord Master has some interesting revelations.  But the new major character in this book is Dani, another sidhe-seer who has become something of an adopted sister to Mac.

The overall story is okay--it's a quick read, although maybe not as un-put-downable as the earlier novels.  That is, until the end, which left me going, "Are you freaking KIDDING me?!?!?"  Literally, that's what I said at the end.  Let's just say it's a cliffhanger.

Dreamfever leaves us with a host of questions, such as:

• Didn't Mac say she was responsible for Jayne's death in book three?  When is that dude going to kick off?
• What is Barrons?
• What is Mac?
• Why did V'lane hiss at Mac when she tried to get him to let her into the Forbidden Libraries?
• What did the dreamy-eyed boy's reflection mean when he said, "Don't talk to it.... Never talk to it."
• What is Barrons?
• Who killed Alina if the LM didn't? (I'm voting for Rowena on this one.)
• Who's the woman with blonde hair that guards the Forbidden Libraries?
• Where is Christian?  Is he the fifth?
• What did the Sinsar Dubh do to Mac?  Anything?
• What is Barrons?

And many others I can't mention for fear of dreaded spoilerage. 

You know what all these questions remind me of?  Lost--endless questions and no answer in sight.  Hopefully the final book in this series will be better at providing answers than the Lost finale was!  Now I just have to dig deep for the patience to wait until December.

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Faefever by Karen Marie Moning

This is the third book in Moning's -Fever series.  Colette from A Buckeye Girl Reads likes to say that every series has that one book where you feel like the author is just killing time and nothing much happens--well, for me that was this book.

Basically everything of any significance that occurs in this book happens during the last 50-ish pages, so I can't really give you a summary.  Mac is still searching for the Sinsar Dubh and still fighting with V'lane, Barrons, the other sidhe-seers, and Inspector Jayne.

Mac's relationship with Barrons and V'lane develops more in this book, but at this point I'm thinking her and Barrons are never going to get together.  Seriously, those two have got way too many issues.  And V'lane is still pretty boring.

This novel wasn't really bad--it's just that not much happens during it.  The only character I really care about is Barrons, so when he's not in the book I get pretty impatient with it.  That was actually true in the other books, too, but in Faefever it was exacerbated by the opening line, "I'd die for him."  Naturally, I was hoping the him in this scenario was Barrons.

Mac, meanwhile, annoyed the crap out of me.  I find her distrust of Barrons unreasonable, and the way she tries to play everyone off one another is not only distasteful, but incompetent.  If you're going to be a manipulative bitch, at least know what the heck you're doing.  And don't even get me started on the jars of Unseelie.  Gross!  No wonder Barrons doesn't want to kiss that mouth.

That being said, there were parts like I liked--the MacHalo was hilarious, and Barrons' birthday scene was priceless.  But most of the book was watching MacKayla dig herself deeper and deeper into a hole.  And the ending was just depressing.

I am of course looking forward to book four. :)

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Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning

Find this book at an independent bookseller near you (via IndieBound).

This is the second book in Moning's "Fever" series.  In the first book, Darkfever, MacKayla Lane came to Dublin to search for her sister's murderer, only to discover that all the things that go bump in the night actually exist--and are very dangerous.  In the second book, MacKayla gets into more trouble (predictably), more mysteries arise, and very few are solved, setting up everything perfectly for book three.

Now that I've thought about Bloodfever a bit, I've realized that not much really happens to affect the overall plot of the series during the course of this book.  Yet it feels very exciting and is a quick, compelling read.

While reading the first book, I found Mac to be a little annoying and overly angsty.  She still has that problem in this novel, but it's to a lesser extent.  Mac is becoming a darker, more dangerous person, and the limits to what she will and won't do are becoming severely blurred.  She's turning into Barrons, basically, which is actually quite funny and makes me wonder if she's rubbing off on Barrons the same way he's rubbing off on her.  Will we be seeing pink in his wardrobe selection in the future? (Please say yes!)

Although Barrons isn't in this novel any more than the first one, it feels like he has a much larger presence in Mac's life, even though she's much more able to take care of herself.  Of which I can only approve.  I don't know why or how, but at some point in this book I completely fell in love with Barrons.

The ending was seriously disgusting and made me want to throw up, but other than that this was a great, thoroughly enjoyable book.  I think it would be safe to say this one's an improvement over Darkfever, and I can only hope the Fever books keep getting better.

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Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning

Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning*

A few months ago on Twitter, I joked that these books are like crack--without ever having read them. Now that I have bitten the bullet and tried them out, I can definitely say that they ARE like crack, and everyone should try them out.

MacKayla Lane is a twenty-two year-old who doesn't have much to worry about beyond what music to listen to, what shade to color her toenails, and which college course she should sign up for next semester. Then her sister, studying abroad in Dublin, is murdered. Mac is determined to force the Dublin police to reopen the case, so she journeys to Ireland, where she discovers all the legends about Irish fairies are true, and then some.

This is a very well-crafted, well-told story. One of my favorite aspects of the book is how the author uses foreshadowing, which is kind of a lost art form, in my opinion. Not that the foreshadowing is subtle or artful at all, but it is very effective at keeping the reader engaged with the story and guessing what's going to happen next.

Since the novel is told entirely from Mac's perspective, the main character is key to one's whole enjoyment of the book. Personally, I'm torn when it comes to Mac--I found her at turns to be very likable and refreshing, and then at other times she was just plain annoying. For an urban fantasy novel (which is what I would definitely classify this book as), she's certainly atypical. Mac is very girly, with a love for fashion (supposedly she's a reader--OF COURSE--but the only thing we catch her reading are fashion magazines), and no desire to get messy or kick anyone's ass. She's an anti-hero, basically, but with a fun twist. During the course of Darkfever--and, I'm assuming, the rest of the series--she gains wisdom and seriousness of purpose and all that good stuff. Unfortunately, I thought that process in Darkfever felt forced. Maybe it was just the fact that she whined and angsted over things way too much for way too long, but I just found it annoying and a bit nonsensical.

Before you start to worry, no, I am not going to conclude this review without talking about Barrons. Barrons is the mysterious and fabulously wealthy owner of Barrons' Books and Baubles, who teaches Mac everything she knows about the Fae. Although I do like his character, at this point I'm having trouble seeing his potential love interest-nish. Not to mention V'lane, the Fae prince, who is just gross at this point. Even without a lot of romance, though, this book still sucked me in and keep me involved in the story, which is really saying something.

Overall, this a great, refreshing twist on the UF genre. I can't wait to get the other books so I can find out what happens next!


Other Opinions:
A Buckeyegirl Reads
Monkey Bear Reviews
Stacy's Place on Earth
This is me....


*This is an Amazon Associates link. If you buy this item after clinking on the link, Santa will give me coal at Christmas. Or is it that he won't give me coal? Have to think about that one.

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