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m_klevenberg's review against another edition
5.0
I felt like I read the first episode of an amazing show. There was a lot of action packed into the first book and it felt like the only character we got to know is Mac. I’m very excited for the next and hope we get to learn more about Barrons and Fiona! Also, at the end of the book during the authors note... she mentions getting a package/box of a story line, does this really happen?!
sup3r_xn0va_maya's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
💬: "Sinsar Dubh1: a Dark Hallow belonging to the mythological race of the Tuatha Dé Danaan. Written in a language known only to the most ancient of their kind, it is said to hold the deadliest of all magic within its encrypted pages. Brought to Ireland by the Tuatha Dé during the invasions written of in the pseudohistory Leabhar Gabhåla3, it was stolen along with the other Dark Hallows and rumored to have found its way into the world of Man."
Moning, Karen Marie. Darkfever: Fever Series Book 1 (p. 66). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
📖Genres: fantasy, urban fantasy, paranormal, paranormal romance, Fae
📚Page Count: 343
🎧Audiobook Length: 08h 57min
👩🏾🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️ - 2/5
----
Darkfever is the first book in the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning. MacKayla, more commonly known as Mac, is grieving because her older sister was murdered while abroad in Ireland. Mac's sister left one clue, one enigmatic voice message. So when the criminal murder investigation halts, Mac decides to travel to Ireland to find out who murdered her sister and why. As Mac digs deeper she finds maybe an enemy or ally in the peculiar Jericho Barrons, who happens to be shadowing her. Eventually Mac discovers that she's a sidhe-seer (she-seer), someone who can see and sense the monsters on the other side of the veil. V'lane, an alpha Fae who glamours women into wanting sexual intercourse from him, also has his sights set on Mac. The one thing that Mac discovers is that she needs to get her hands on the Sinsar Dubh, a one of a kind Dark Book that has the power to control both the human world and the fae world, before anyone else finds it.
The first part of the book was really boring, things don't pick up and get more interesting in the book until after the 50% mark. This book also had some inconsistencies as well as several scenes not being explained at all. It felt like nothing relevant was happening in the first 50% of the book. We get world building when Mac learns more about the Fae world and she writes the information down in her notebook, I suppose that's okay? It feels a little like lazy writing. The first time Mac finally sees a monster up close is at the 31% mark and that felt like the story was going too slowly. When Mac sees the monster she notices that it is naked and has a large "member", for some reason the monster stares back at her and begins to stroke itself?!This was never explained "why". To be fair, I think it's okay if some things weren't explained because I understand that this first book is meant the be the beginning of a long series. I just don't understand why the monsters want to stroke themselves when they see her and that is not explained. There are a few inconsistences but I'll just share the first one I found.
Moning, Karen Marie. Darkfever: Fever Series Book 1 (p. 66). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
📖Genres: fantasy, urban fantasy, paranormal, paranormal romance, Fae
📚Page Count: 343
🎧Audiobook Length: 08h 57min
👩🏾🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️ - 2/5
----
Darkfever is the first book in the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning. MacKayla, more commonly known as Mac, is grieving because her older sister was murdered while abroad in Ireland. Mac's sister left one clue, one enigmatic voice message. So when the criminal murder investigation halts, Mac decides to travel to Ireland to find out who murdered her sister and why. As Mac digs deeper she finds maybe an enemy or ally in the peculiar Jericho Barrons, who happens to be shadowing her. Eventually Mac discovers that she's a sidhe-seer (she-seer), someone who can see and sense the monsters on the other side of the veil. V'lane, an alpha Fae who glamours women into wanting sexual intercourse from him, also has his sights set on Mac. The one thing that Mac discovers is that she needs to get her hands on the Sinsar Dubh, a one of a kind Dark Book that has the power to control both the human world and the fae world, before anyone else finds it.
The first part of the book was really boring, things don't pick up and get more interesting in the book until after the 50% mark. This book also had some inconsistencies as well as several scenes not being explained at all. It felt like nothing relevant was happening in the first 50% of the book. We get world building when Mac learns more about the Fae world and she writes the information down in her notebook, I suppose that's okay? It feels a little like lazy writing. The first time Mac finally sees a monster up close is at the 31% mark and that felt like the story was going too slowly. When Mac sees the monster she notices that it is naked and has a large "member", for some reason the monster stares back at her and begins to stroke itself?!This was never explained "why". To be fair, I think it's okay if some things weren't explained because I understand that this first book is meant the be the beginning of a long series. I just don't understand why the monsters want to stroke themselves when they see her and that is not explained. There are a few inconsistences but I'll just share the first one I found.
"then turned out the light and fell almost immediately into a deep, dreamless sleep. Someone knocking at my door awakened me. I sat up, rubbing gritty, tired eyes that felt as if I’d just shut them seconds ago. It took me a few moments to remember where I was—in a twin bed in a chilly room in Dublin, with rain tapping lightly at the window. I’d been having a fantastic dream."
Moning, Karen Marie. Darkfever: Fever Series Book 1 (pp. 48-49). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
So Mac starts off saying that she "fell almost immediately into a deep, dreamless sleep." only to say at the beginning of the next paragraph, "I'd been having a fantastic dream."
(TW - mention of physical assault)
I don't think the relationship between Barrons and Mac is really possible without Mac continuing to accept Barrons' physically and verbally abusive behavior, at this point. Within the first few days of knowing each other, they get into one of their many arguments. Only this time, Barrons decides to "snatch" Mac up off the couch she's sitting on, by grabbing her by the hair and neck and shoving her against a wall.
He was on me before my brain processed the fact that he was coming for me. It was the third time he’d pulled such a stunt and it was getting darned old. The man was either an Olympic sprinter or, because I’d never been jumped before, I just couldn’t get a grasp on how quickly it happens. His lunges were way faster than my instincts to react. Lips compressed, face tight with fury, he dragged me up off the couch with a hand in my hair, grabbed my throat with the other, and began walking me backward toward the wall.
Moning, Karen Marie. Darkfever: Fever Series Book 1 (pp. 77-78). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
This is not described as consensual non-consent OR romantic behavior at all. This is described as the abuse it is. Barrons is supposed to be the main love interest but he physically attacks Mac several times in the beginning of their acquaintanceship. Towards the end of the book Barrons saves Mac and for some reason the author sort of paints this idea that it's okay to forget or that we should forget that Barrons was physically abusive towards Mac almost every time they were in each other's proximity. Barrons saves Mac and so the character is expected to be redeemed of his earlier behavior. Well I still don't like him, he's awful and abusive, I want Mac to get far away from him.
The audiobook narrator was okay, I didn't love their performance but I could stand it. Mac, the main character, is supposed to be from the United States South and so the narrator tried to use a "Southern" accent and sometimes the narrator would lose the accent for two sentences just to pick it back up in the third sentence. It was a bit distracting and took me out of the immersion of the story almost every time it happened. Someone gifted me every audiobook in this series (there was a sale at $2.99 per audiobook) so I plan on finishing this series. I think I don't mind that the book's narrators changes to new narrators starting in book 4, Dreamfever.
There were no spicy scenes in this book. All the scenes having to do with arousal had to do with monsters, fae, and creatures of the night being sexually aggressive and even almost sexually assaulting the main character by using fae glamour to make her think she "wants it". Nothing happened but I don't want to read about "almost sexual assaults" in my paranormal ROMANCES. I'm giving the spicy scenes zero -🌶️ chilies out of five chilies
Overall, I think the beginning of this book was not good, though the premise was interesting. The ending of the book is where the action and the full story started to come together, it was definitely the most interesting part of the book. I don't understand the "slow burn romance" in here because Barrons is terrible to Mac and even physically abusive to her in the days following their first meeting. That's not romantic at all. Some of the writing was also inconsistent. I'm giving this 2 out of 5 stars.
⭐️⭐️ - 2/5 Stars
I listened to this audiobook for free on [Libbyapp.com]
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
811emily's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
indyannareads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
sunsetsnbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Si antes confiaba ciegamente en las recomendaciones de Bel, después de leer Darkfever más. Desde que lo acabé esta mañana estoy deseando coger el 2º libro y saber cómo continúa la historia. La trama me ha parecido interesante, engancha desde la primera línea y la intriga hace que no puedas dejar de leer, aunque a la vez no quieres ir muy rápido para no acabarlo.
Quizás lo único que eché en falta fueron más diálogos y la introducción de otro personaje aparte de la protagonista en la primera mitad del libro, pero también entiendo que sea así para comprender mejor lo que viene después. Una vez Barrons entra en acción el libro se convierte en una montaña rusa de emoción y suspense. El final me ha parecido un poco precipitado, no me imagino haberlo leído en su momento y tener que esperar a que saliese otro. Estoy deseando seguir con la saga y conocer más a algunos personajes que se mencionan en este.
Quizás lo único que eché en falta fueron más diálogos y la introducción de otro personaje aparte de la protagonista en la primera mitad del libro, pero también entiendo que sea así para comprender mejor lo que viene después. Una vez Barrons entra en acción el libro se convierte en una montaña rusa de emoción y suspense. El final me ha parecido un poco precipitado, no me imagino haberlo leído en su momento y tener que esperar a que saliese otro. Estoy deseando seguir con la saga y conocer más a algunos personajes que se mencionan en este.
richelleb's review against another edition
5.0
She is one of my favorite authors, especially her Highlander Series. This is her first book outside the romance genre. This urban fantasy is so good. MacKayla Lane is young, care-free woman only to find out her sister was murdered in Ireland. After the police pretty much give up on the case, Mac travels to Dublin to retrace her deceased sister's life prior to her murder. In the process, she discovers a strange ability that no one else seems to have. Except maybe her sister?
This book is the first in a 5 book series. The fifth, and final, book is due out in December.
This book is the first in a 5 book series. The fifth, and final, book is due out in December.
bel_saturnreads's review against another edition
4.0
Pues me ha gustado muchisimo mas de lo que esperaba enganche desde la primera pagina a la última que ganas de saber más de Barrons y V'lane LOL este me mata cada vez que sale jajajaja
victoriaqhoward's review against another edition
2.0
I couldn't even finish this book. I wanted so badly to like it, I don't see what all the hype is about. I hated Mac, she was a conceited southern belle. The more I read the more I saw a bad version of the Sookie Stackhouse novels. Barrons may be sexy but he's an abusive asshole. I hated how Moning would write things like "One day I would know that for the lie it was. But not before I'd been burned by the truth in it." It became so annoying and ruined the writing, which I did think was good. And Mac using petunia for ass? It's just ridiculous. I do however feel as though she created a very interesting world but that wasn't even close to enough for me.
angevba's review against another edition
4.0
4.5
THE POTENTIAL THAT THIS STORY HAS, oh my god.
This was really really really good, I enjoyed it quite a lot, i'm so excited to continue with the series, i can't wait to see what's next!
THE POTENTIAL THAT THIS STORY HAS, oh my god.
This was really really really good, I enjoyed it quite a lot, i'm so excited to continue with the series, i can't wait to see what's next!