Who are you Jericho Barrons and why do you have a lot of my twitter peeps in a "fever"?
The Twitterverse (or at least my little slice of it) has gone crazy over the last 2 weeks and my twitter timeline has blown up with "talk" about the Karen Marie Moning's Fever series. Everyone's in a furor over the next release in this series Shadowfever (due out in Jan 2011 and holy crap it's 608 pages!), so alot are re-reading the series in preparation for the next book. Just an observation from my point, this series must be awesome because I have never re-read a book in my life.
So I had this book in my TBR pile along with the next book in the series Bloodfever. Why you ask? Well I like books and I probably ordered these two the last time twitter blew up when the last book released in this series. With a TBR pile as big as mine - well there just never is enough time to getting around to all the good books.
I think the straw that broke the camel's back was a tweet from @WickedLPixie on Friday night after she finished reading one of the books - Dreamfever "Okay wtf kind of ending was that?!!?!" and wanted to throw her e-reader at the ending. If this series has the power to influence and cause this kind of reaction in so many people - I had to give it a try.
So for starters, I am not a huge paranormal fan (although I have been reading more of that genre this year), I have never read anything by Karen Marie Moning (although I have read many new to me authors this year) and I avoid stories told in 1st person like the plague - yes this one is written in 1st person from the heroine's point of view. Just a few of the reasons this book probably sat in the TBR pile unread.
I started this book Friday night and although not overwhelmed by the story to start with, there was enough there to spike my interest and keep me reading. One of those things that keep me intrigued was KMM set up a story and a world with lots of questions and unresolved answers. I need answers even if a story is about mystical fae, Unseelie, Seelie, Shi-sadu and lots of other things I can't say or spell.
Maybe I'm a little long in the tooth to really enjoy a heroine who is a 22 year old good-time "barbie" girl from the deep south. It soon became clear once MacKayla "Mac" Lane landed in Dublin to investigate the mysterious and heinous death of her beloved sister Alina that there is more to this girl than meets the eye. Who is Mackayla really? It's one of the burning questions in Darkfever. She seems to have no idea who or what she is and the powers she possesses in the Emerald Isle. Mac and I did bond over pink. The color pink. It's her favorite color (as the author reminds us of over and over again), but pink is also my favorite color - so at least we had that in common.
And just who is Jericho Barrons? At first I wasn't sure about him and the jury's still out but he must be a good guy right? Who or what is he - I have no idea, but I'm pretty sure after finishing this book - he's not human.
One thing missing for me - there was absolutely no romance at all in this book (you can't count the panty dropping action V'lane seemed to invoke on unsuspecting females). Barrons and Mac had a strictly business relationship. They needed what the other had to offer. Mac needed someone who could keep her safe while she continued her search for her sister's killer and answer her sister's dying wish by finding an all powerful book. Once Barrons realized Mac's potential and usefulness to his own cause their relationship evolved into - if you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. I really hope that Mac didn't sell her soul to the devil when she put all her eggs into Barrons basket. I really could have used some smexy action especially featuring Jericho Barrons. Hopefully there will be some in the upcoming books *fingers crossed*.
I am told this book is an example of Urban Fantasy (I have no idea what that really means). If I had to classify this book, it would be as a suspense/mystery/fantasy/paranormal.
In conclusion:
My rating C+
Was this the best book of a new series, by a new author I have ever read? No honestly that honor this year goes to the Moonlight series by Nancy Gideon - I gobbled up those books
Did I catch the Jericho Barrons fever? No, not yet - I need to see some more of the big guy
Am I starting to enjoy reading 1st person narrative? No I don't ever see that happening
Will I continue reading this series? Yes (I already have book 2 Bloodfever)
I didn't hate Darkfever and it didn't rock my world. I am intrigued enough about the characters, the story and the questions left unanswered to continue Mac and Barrons great adventure in the land of the leprechauns.
7 comments:
Ha wait till you read my review...I think you scored it better then me...BUT I have faith, I will keep reading
When I first read Darkfever I did not like it. But, I was told by Smexybooks to keep reading it and the storyline would get better. She was right, and I'm so glad that you are going to continue reading it. It gets better, so much better. Once you reach book 4, you're going to get all that you want. Trust me!
I just re-read Darkfever for the 1st time and reading it the 2nd time around was a completely different experience. I enjoyed it so much and caught so many clues that I didn't read the first time. I hope you catch the "fever" soon. :D
My reaction, too. Yes, definitely a "Keep reading" kind of series! Mandi (@smexybooks) told me I would love Barrons, and my taste in books is usually in line with Mandi's. So, I read Darkfever and thought WTH? Why is everyone so gaga over this series? But, they were already three books ahead of me, so I persevered and now sit waiting patiently for Jan. 18th to come!
Nikki: I saw your tweets about the book over the weekend. I was like you - why is everyone so entralled with this series? I too believe that the series only gets better so onto book 2 I will go.
Bells: I know you are a huge Barrons fangirl. Seems like there is much more to learn about this guy - I just wanted to see more of him.
Kystean: I'm hoping I do catch the "fever". Good thing for me is I don't have to wait as long as the rest of you by the time I do get the 4 books read for the new release in January.
I wasn't crazy about Mac in the first book but she's grown a lot by Dreamfever. It's one of those series that I thought book 1 was okay enough to make me want more.
Now, love the series and can't wait for Shadowfever. But watch out for those cliffhangers!
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Yeaaaaaaaaah, the first book is just okay. I honestly enjoyed this book better when I re-read it this past month. You'll enjoy the rest of em, though! :)
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