Review: Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning

  Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning
  Publisher: Delacorte Press/Brilliance Audio
  Publication date: January 18th 2011
  My rating: 5 stars

 “Evil is a completely different creature, Mac. Evil is bad that believes it’s good.”

MacKayla Lane was just a child when she and her sister, Alina, were given up for adoption and banished from Ireland forever.

Twenty years later, Alina is dead and Mac has returned to the country that expelled them to hunt her sister’s murderer. But after discovering that she descends from a bloodline both gifted and cursed, Mac is plunged into a secret history: an ancient conflict between humans and immortals who have lived concealed among us for thousands of years.

What follows is a shocking chain of events with devastating consequences, and now Mac struggles to cope with grief while continuing her mission to acquire and control the Sinsar Dubh—a book of dark, forbidden magic scribed by the mythical Unseelie King, containing the power to create and destroy worlds.

In an epic battle between humans and Fae, the hunter becomes the hunted when the Sinsar Dubh turns on Mac and begins mowing a deadly path through those she loves.
Who can she turn to? Who can she trust? Who is the woman haunting her dreams? More important, who is Mac herself and what is the destiny she glimpses in the black and crimson designs of an ancient tarot card?

From the luxury of the Lord Master’s penthouse to the sordid depths of an Unseelie nightclub, from the erotic bed of her lover to the terrifying bed of the Unseelie King, Mac’s journey will force her to face the truth of her exile, and to make a choice that will either save the world . . . or destroy it.

I must apologize in advance, because you’re about to read mostly gushing and my experience reading this more than a summary of this story. 

I’m so glad I picked up The Fever series and I’m really sad that this is the last book for Jericho and Mac.  Well, at least for several years.  The story got better and more addictive with each book.  Shadowfever was COMPLETELY addicting.  This series was AMAZING and I now see why there are so many devoted fans.  I’m one of the obsessed now.   This review is for the unabridged audio version, which I highly recommend! 

I had been listening to Dreamfever (book 4) on the way to work and finished.   What an ending!  But it wasn’t until I popped in the first CD of Shadowfever that I realized what had actually happened at the end of Dreamfever and I almost had a heart attack!  I had to go into work and as I was walking in, I purchased the Kindle version on my phone so I could sneak peeks during breaks, because I was so tortured!  When I got home I speed read/skimmed the rest of the book just to make sure everything was going to turn out okay.  Once I climbed off the ledge, I was able to relax and then listen to the rest without worries.   

Shadowfever is a LONG book.  Approximately 688 pages, but I loved each and every one of them.  I loved feisty and self-confident Mac, and with each book we make new discoveries about her identity and her powers.  We see her grow from Mac 1.0: innocent, sheltered, lover of all things pink and glittery, to Mac 2.0:  strong, powerful, and ready to take on any challenge.  Jericho Barrons was larger than life and everything you could want in an oh-so-delicious, dark hero.  Their relationship is, of course, my favorite part of this series, and it starts off on shaky ground when Shadowfever begins.  They repair, bit by bit, opening up, and pulling each other in closer and closer with every interaction.  They have off-the-charts chemistry:

The moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were trouble."
"Ditto."
"I wanted to drag you between the shelves, f%&k you senseless, and send you home."
"If you'd done that, I never would have left."
"You're still here anyway."
"You don't have to sound so sour about it."
"You're upsetting my entire existence."
"Fine, I'll leave."
"Try and I'll chain you up.”   

There were gripping plot twists that surprised, saddened, and enraged me. We finally find out who killed Alina, and it was a shocker.  We get answers about the book, who originally let it out, why Barrons wants it, what he is, and who the Unseelie King is.  I was happy with the way things ended and tied up, but apparently after three books revolving around Dani, we get more with Mac and Barrons. 

Like I said before, I listened to this on audio CDs while I commuted back and forth to work.  I had to try and restrict myself to just listening to it then, but when the holiday came, I could no longer resist and finished Shadowfever listening on my computer while following along on my Kindle.  I feel like the audio increased my pleasure immensely. The narrator switched mid series, and at first there was a woman doing all of the voices.  The last two books are narrated by a male and female, and while it took me a bit to get used to the switch in Mac’s voice, Jericho’s voice was amazing, deep, sexy, and oh-so-perfect!    

See, I told you pretty much just gushing.  All I can say is, if you haven’t read this series, go now!

Favorite Quote:

“He pulls me around and kisses me."You're Mac," he says. "And I'm Jericho. And nothing else matters. Never will. You exist in a place that is beyond all rules for me. Do you understand that?"  I do.  Jericho Barrons just told me he loves me.”