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A review by naturally
Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
my third attempt reading this book. i'll hold up my hands and admit that i misjudged the quality of this story based on the prologue/first few chapters.
mackayla lane is a messy heroine, who often strays into unlikeable territory. she views irish (and other European) cultures through a lens of xenophobia, whilst uplifting her southern american upbringing. she's been raised in a bubble. she's spoilt, whiny, superficial. and when finding out the truth about her sidhe-seer abilities, she's reluctant to wholly embrace it for the duration of darkfever. her redemption comes in the form of her unwavering dedication to hunting down her sister's killer. she's stubborn and extremely consistent in her motives. mac's also adventurous, consistently underestimated and loves books - her arc as a young woman far away from home, exploring a new country/culture was written very well, blending seamlessly with the book's supernatural content. yes, she can acknowledge that jericho is attractive, but never to the point where she throws her whole mission out of the window.
same with jericho. he's a POS. however, i appreciate that neither mac, the narrative nor he try to explain this away. he's ferocious in his hunt for the sinsar dubhe, and this tracks until the very end of the book, although we can see occasional glimpses of him beginning to care for mac. the two of them make a compelling, dysfunctional team and i'm interested to see them learn more about each other and the sinsar dubhe's whereabouts. (them calling each other "miss lane" and "barrons" was overdone though. i'm confident this book would be several hundred words shorter, if the rampant uses of these names were cut from the text!)
at times, the plot rambled on...the middle of this book was definitely saggy! however, the overall world we are introduced to is dark, and addictive and near-stellar.
mackayla lane is a messy heroine, who often strays into unlikeable territory. she views irish (and other European) cultures through a lens of xenophobia, whilst uplifting her southern american upbringing. she's been raised in a bubble. she's spoilt, whiny, superficial. and when finding out the truth about her sidhe-seer abilities, she's reluctant to wholly embrace it for the duration of darkfever. her redemption comes in the form of her unwavering dedication to hunting down her sister's killer. she's stubborn and extremely consistent in her motives. mac's also adventurous, consistently underestimated and loves books - her arc as a young woman far away from home, exploring a new country/culture was written very well, blending seamlessly with the book's supernatural content. yes, she can acknowledge that jericho is attractive, but never to the point where she throws her whole mission out of the window.
same with jericho. he's a POS. however, i appreciate that neither mac, the narrative nor he try to explain this away. he's ferocious in his hunt for the sinsar dubhe, and this tracks until the very end of the book, although we can see occasional glimpses of him beginning to care for mac. the two of them make a compelling, dysfunctional team and i'm interested to see them learn more about each other and the sinsar dubhe's whereabouts. (them calling each other "miss lane" and "barrons" was overdone though. i'm confident this book would be several hundred words shorter, if the rampant uses of these names were cut from the text!)
at times, the plot rambled on...the middle of this book was definitely saggy! however, the overall world we are introduced to is dark, and addictive and near-stellar.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Grief
Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Xenophobia, Blood, Stalking, and Sexual harassment