My Review: Faefever (Fever #3): by Karen Marie Moning

***Warning!! This review will contain spoilers from the previous books in the series, so continue reading at your own risk! You’ve officially been warned!***

To see my review for book #1 – Darkfever – Click HERE

To see my review for book #2 – Bloodfever – Click HERE

To see my Fancast/Dreamcast for the whole series – Click HERE

Total Star Rating: 4.25 Stars

So by now, after reading this next installment of the addictive Fever series, I’m officially obsessed with this series! Mackayla Lane has risen way up there on my list of favorite fantasy-genre heroines, and both Jericho Barrons and V’lane continue to have both my admiration and complete need to smack a bitch because of how they keep playin’ my girl Mac.

We meet some new(ish) characters, we get some brutal monsters, we get a hilarious scene with Mac designing a helmet with lights attached in order to ward off said monsters, and a lot more of the same…as in we get more questions that rise up, some new information on whats caused the major situation the series is in, and V’lane and Jericho both continue to get closer to Mac while keeping some major secrets from her, and deftly avoiding giving her any info when she asks them…like, how we still don’t know what Jericho Barrons is. He’s something both the Seelie and Unseelie respect and/or fear, can touch both their magical items…and I’m so close to screaming at how frustrating both men are. It’s obvious both of them are using Mac for their own needs, and it’s equally frustrating that it’s still impossible to tell if Jericho has actual feelings for Mac while he uses her. She obviously does, even if she can’t admit it, but we’ve all heard the saying:

“Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt!”

With that said, the thing that makes Mac so effing likeable by now is how she doesn’t just sit back and pout at the unfairness of it all. She goes out and figures stuff out for herself, she learns to defend herself and become a badass in order to get answers on the Sinsar Dubh, that Fae-created book from the Unseelie King that holds secrets to all the magic of their kind, and has the keys to the Song of Making, and ancient song that can create, give, and end life.

I’ve been especially impressed with the mythology and lore behind this series, and wonder if all of it, or even just a smidge of it, is based off actual Irish, Celtic folklore. Maybe one day I’ll actually do some more research behind it and figure out how much is from ancient legend, and how much was created by Karen Marie Moning, the evil genius behind this addictive series. I mean, we’ve got the Sinsar Dubh, the Seelie and Unseelie Courts, the 8 magical objects (4 Seelie, 4 Unseelie), the monsters, the Druids and Sidhe-Seers: it’s all so fascinating! I’m just surprised I’ve never even heard of this series before my friend at my job introduced it to me!

What It’s About:

After the terrifying capture of Mac from Mallucé, the weirdo/Fae/Vampire wannabe you brutally murdered that guy to gain that Unseelie amulet, and she died! Like actually died for a little bit there! Jericho Barrons came to her rescue, and she was resurrected in time by eating the flesh of those Unseelie Rhino boys, like Mallucé did, to gain Fae-like abilities. She gets some badass skills, some serious strength, and she exacts her revenge on Mallucé and stabs him with her Seelie spear, and leaves him to die a slow and horrible death!

Mac’s back at BB&B (Barron’s Books & Baubles), and she has really taken to working the store; putting through orders, arranging the magazines, and doing more and more extensive research on the Fae and the Sinsar Dubh, that evil book that everyone has been running around looking for. Jericho and her continue their…interesting relationship, but now theres even more tension between them as they’d had a heat and heavy moment down in the caves when he’d come rescuing her. Mac seems to want to forget it, but she can’t, and Jericho only brings it up in order to get a rise out of her.

Let’s cue in V’lane then, the Seelie-Fae prince who Mac has slowly gotten closer to. She trusts him about as much as she trusts Barrons, because it’s painfully obvious that both are just using her for their own needs, but neither will answer most of her questions as they pop up, which frustrates her–and us too! Anyways, in order to gain her favor, V’lane brings Mac to the land of the Fae and allows her to spend an afternoon with her sister, Alina. Well…an illusion of her. Mac is allowed to have a feeling of closure, getting to say a more proper goodbye to her sister, who’d gotten murdered and drove Mac over to Dublin, Ireland in the first place!

You also gets to know a few more characters that have made appearances already in the series:

First there’s Christian MacKeltar, who works in the Ancient Languages department at Trinity University, who Mac was going to meet up with in the previous book before she’d gotten abducted. It turns out he’s from a line of Druids who’d aligned with the Seelie Fae Court in ancient times, and he’s there to continue their agreement.

Next, there’s Dani O’Malley, a spunky and outspoken 13-year old who helps Mac discover that there’s an actual coven of other Sidhe-Seers, so she’s not alone. Dani is full of rebellion, attitude and befriends Mac as they start to work together. She also helps Mac realize that their leader is actually the same crazy, older lady who we’ve seen before.

Which brings me to my next big character: Rowena, that crazy lady who turns out to be the leader of the Sidhe-Seers, and who hurts Mac even further by revealing a big secret….drumroll please…Mac and her sister were adopted!! They’re actually O’Connors, who were one of the best Sidhe-Seer families from ancient times!

Inspector Jayne still appears from time to time, and Mac and him come to a certain understanding.

Besides that, the Lord Master, who we learn is actually named Darroc and is an exiled Fae turned human, has something majorly bad brewing, and soon all the monsters of the Unseelie court will return from their dark, icy prison and take over the world, so it’s the big question of whether Mac can learn who her true enemies are, and bring everyone together to stand and fight for the future of their world!

What I Liked:

1. That Ending! It’s complicated…but I can honestly say I’ve never read an ending quite like this one. It was like when you watch Joker with Joaquin Phoenix and (Spoiler Alert!!) realize the girlfriend is a figment of his character’s imagination: you get that stomach-drop feeling of dread with your heartbeat rapidly accelerating, your eyes widening, and mutter to yourself “Holy shit…” It’s bad, but man is it also so great how emotional it makes you–something a writer/storyteller can really appreciate!
2. Jericho gets Jealous! Like what began in the second book, V’lane and Mac’s relationship continues to shift to where there’s definitely an alliance forming, and Jericho is seething about it! I loved the moments where Mac comes back from hanging out with the golden Fae Prince and Jericho is just standing there, pouting and glaring more than Grumpy Cat–RIP G.C.
3. The Lines of Good-and-Evil are Blurred! This is more for the whole series in general, but what’s especially appealing is how it’s so hard to tell who’s a good guy or a bad guy. It’s like Game of Thrones, where alliances and rivalries are constantly changing, and there’s the promise of more going on behind the scenes and the stakes will get higher are what’s making this series so addictive!

What I Didn’t Like:

1. V’lane & Jericho Barrons Continue To NOT. TELL. US. ANYTHING…I’m officially only Team-Mac because of this, but it has gotten absolutely so frustrating with how these two guys continue to keep such big secrets from Mac–and us readers. Like seriously, WHAT is Jericho? I’m starting to think he’s the Unseelie King from the legends we’ve been told about or something…V’lane isn’t any better, either. Both of them are so incredibly obviously using Mac for their own needs, but won’t budge when she wants to know what those needs are. I love it, but hate it, and it’s not great for my anxiety issues, no joke!
2. More Cliffhangers…Like the two Alpha-holes above, Karen Marie Moning continues to slowly draw out all the info we all are dying to know! The books ends in a huge cliffhanger, along with several others throughout the chapters, which makes me stay up late to figure it all out. But we’re three books in now, and we still continue to feel like we get so little new information, but get distracted by more backstory, which in turn gives us many more questions! I love the series, I really do, but Oh My God…it’s also a slow-burn in EVERY sense of a story/series, not just with the sexual tension brewing between Jericho and Mac!

Conclusion:

We meet new people, we get more backstory, we get some highly emotionally-driven scenes, a cliffhanger ending that seriously knocks you on your ass (possible trigger warning for some readers!), and of course, more questions instead of answers…

I’m seriously hoping we get some major answers going into the next book, and here are some answers i’m specifically looking for:

1. What is Jericho Barrons? I’ve been starting to think he’s the Unseelie King, or someone who was extremely close to him, but I’m also not so sure? He’s not exactly Fae, so what the Effff is he?!?!?!
2. What are Barrons’s feelings towards Mac? Does he actually have feelings, or is he simply using her for his own needs, like she’s constantly deliberating amongst herself throughout the books. Like I said, she defs does have some feels, even though she’s extremely conflicted with her distrust of him, and sometimes pure hatred…but we know love and hatred have a fine line drawn between them…
3. Who’s side is V’lane on? He always says his loyalties lie with his Seelie Queen, but do they really? He wants to learn more about humans and our ways, but some itching has me wondering where his loyalties may truly lie.
4. Which of the big players will make an appearance? We’re constantly being referred to the Seelie Queen and the Unseelie King, and I’m wondering if they’re ever going to make a major appearance!

Thanks For Reading!

— Nick Goodsell