"MacKayla Lane’s life is good. She has great friends, a decent job, and a car that breaks down only every other week or so. In other words, she’s your perfectly ordinary twenty-first-century woman. Or so she thinks…until something extraordinary happens.
When her sister is murdered, leaving a single clue to her death–a cryptic message on Mac’s cell phone–Mac journeys to Ireland in search of answers. The quest to find her sister’s killer draws her into a shadowy realm where nothing is as it seems, where good and evil wear the same treacherously seductive mask. She is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to learn how to handle a power she had no idea she possessed–a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae….
As Mac delves deeper into the mystery of her sister’s death, her every move is shadowed by the dark, mysterious Jericho, a man with no past and only mockery for a future. As she begins to close in on the truth, the ruthless Vlane–an alpha Fae who makes sex an addiction for human women–closes in on her. And as the boundary between worlds begins to crumble, Mac’s true mission becomes clear: find the elusive Sinsar Dubh before someone else claims the all-powerful Dark Book–because whoever gets to it first holds nothing less than complete control of the very fabric of both worlds in their hands…."
This is the first book in the Fever series, and it's been sat on my shelf for months. I originally bought it on recommendation from the fabulous @evilqueen21, aka Nikki, who has seriously awesome taste in books. But while I liked the sound of it, I liked the sound of others more and then more new books, and more, and months have gone by before I actually pick it up. Well that was a mistake wasn't it?!
MacKayla 'Mac' Lane is a blond, pink loving 22 year old who loves her small town, her parents, her sister and she's a little on the spoiled side. Then her world is destroyed and turned inside out with the news her sister, who was studying in Ireland, was brutally murdered. Grief stricken and hungry for vengeance she flies to Ireland determined to get the police to reopen the case and discover the truth. Instead, the truth finds her and she suddenly faces the fact that she is not what she believed. That the world is not as she thought. And she is in every bit as much danger as her sister was.
It took very little time for me to get sucked in and get to a point where I couldn't put Darkfever down. I just wanted to keep reading and reading. Mac's voice, the style of writing and the world building hooked me. Mac's voice struck a cord, but at the same time I found her so frustrating at times. Shallow, spoiled and bratty. But the writing kept me hooked even when she was being a bit of an idiot. Mac's shock and grief though, felt very real, very understandable. I think that more than anything gave her the substance she needed to not make me want to give up on her early on.
The world building is fantastic. There are great twists and turns, plenty of action, and plenty of gritty, dark scenes with the fae. It's so hard to figure out who can and can't be trusted, what matters and what doesn't. I felt like I was fumbling through the world right along side Mac. I thoroughly enjoyed her development over the course of the book, along with some of her sassiest moments. She may be seen by most as weak and helpless (and yes, she really is at times) but she's not about to get pushed around any more than she can help. Sometimes that bratty, spoiled nature was a very good thing. Something else I really enjoyed, and found surprising, is the complete lack of romance. There is a little casual flirting, but that's the extent of it. This is pretty strictly, for now at least, a story of a girl looking for revenge. It makes a nice change actually, for a young, pretty protagonist to not suddenly fall in love and focus on this amazing guy rather than what she's meant to be. I enjoyed the change of pace a lot.
If I'm being honest though, it takes a while for things to really start happening, despite there never being anything dull going on, and while I really liked most of the book (Mac's spoiled, over girly moments aside) I didn't love much about it. And yet I barely put it down. Darkfever has a very addictive feel to it, like it's just the warm up act for something special. I hear from Nikki and several others lately that the series does just keep getting better. That, along with the potential in this book and how it left me wanting much more, had me convinced that I wouldn't be making a mistake buying the rest of the series that's currently out (books 2-4) all together. Its the way Darkfever is written, the mystery and some of the character interactions that made this un-put-down-able for me I think, and I can't wait to read the rest! May just be on to a new favourite here!
Rating: 7/10
2 comments:
The rest of the series is incredible Cem!! I became addicted soooo fast!! While Mac is a little aggravating in the first book, her character totally changes throughout the next few and OMG there is a HUGE cliffhanger at the end of Dreamfever, so read carefully!!
I've had this book on my shelf for ages too & still haven't found time to read it - I've had lots of recommendations saying how fab it is though. Sounds like I really need to get reading!
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