Dani O'Malley – Goodys.Blog

*Publish Date: January 20th, 2015*
*Number of Pages: 457 Pages*
*Publisher: Delacorte Press*
*Genre(s): Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy*

***Warning!!! This book contains spoilers from the previous books in the series! Continue at your own risk, you’ve officially been warned!!!***

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

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

To see my review of book #3 – Dreamfever – Click HERE

To see my review of book #4 – Faefever – Click HERE

To see my review of book #5 – Shadowfever – Click HERE

To see my review of book #6 – Iced – Click HERE

To see my Fancast/Dreamcast of the series – Click HERE

Total Star Rating: 4.25 Stars

With the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning getting up there in the number of books it holds, it still manages to completely thrill, completely keep me guessing what will happen next, completely OBSESS over the couples developing and the romance in general, and continue to introduce intriguing characters to keep the story feeling fresh!

I liked but didn’t love the previous book, Iced, but that’s just because I wasn’t completely sold of having the story shift over to the 14-year-old Dani O’Malley, who for awhile was Mac’s partner in crime and best friend until their falling out when it turned out Dani had a hand in the murder of Mac’s sister. That truly made Dani a much more interesting character for me, but I still wasn’t completely behind having her become the main protagonist. I liked her a little more after reading Iced, but I still think she has a ways to go before I’m 100% behind her. With all this in mind, I was happy to see Mac return to the spotlight in this book.

Now, while I loved Burned, I do need to give somewhat of a warning that it doesn’t have all that much of an actual plot, it’s more about developing a lot of the characters. By plot, I mean it just lacks a more direct focus like the previous books did. One of the main points of the story is defeating the Crimson Hag and rescuing Christian Mackeltar from her clutches, but there’s so much else that’s going on it’s actually kind of crazy, but I go more into that in the next section. What I can say is this book may feel like a bunch of filler/set up for what’s to happen later, but that’s not exactly anything too new when it comes to this series… This book is just more substantial in size when compared to the earlier books before Shadowfever, and while it may be a lot of filler material, that in no way means this book is weaker in comparison to the rest of the story so far! The character development is absolutely top notch, and there’s so much depth added to those that you honestly didn’t think it’d happen for! Ryodan, Dani, Kat, Jo, and even Lor get some major limelight cast upon them and you read more into them and the relationships they’re forming amongst the growing cast.

I was especially surprised at how much more I liked Lor after reading this book, but it just further proves at how KMM really knows how to write alpha-holes. She may even be better at it than Sarah J. Maas, but I’m still up in the air about that comparison as both do such an amazing job! Lor was actually a really fun character to get inside the head of! He turned out to be a hidden treasure. I mean, he’s a total beef-head himbo who only cares about tits and ass and long, blonde hair, but he still has his moments; he especially shines when he gets with a certain character, and shows his protective side with Dani. He totally gives me Chris Hemsworth as Marvel’s Thor vibes, or his character in the Ghostbusters female led reboot, and I loved every second of it, especially when he…

***Spoiler Alert***

…

…goes Pri-ya!

This was definitely the funniest book by far with the rest of the series so far too! Lor got involved with some of it which is also partly why I love him now, but KMM allowed for a lot more humor to show up with one particular character gets themselves into a little conundrum, but takes advantage of it all the same! I go more into it down below!

Ryodan also really surprised me in this book too! Multiple things get revealed about him, but one thing in particular I need to address is when he’s talking and admits a bit of his history with Dani and how he’s been watching over her over the years as like a guardian-angel sort of figure, not that she was aware of it. It’s not as creepy as it sounds, but what he says was actually really touching and made me absolutely, 100% behind him as a character and now an excellent candidate to add to my ever-growing list of book boyfriends (click to see my list so far, part 2 is coming soon!)

One thing I’m confused about is the idea of the trilogy that was supposed to focus on Dani and Ryodan that started with Iced… is that still a thing, or was that plan crossed out? Will other books go back to them, or it’s just done and forgotten about? If anyone wants to get back to me on that, it’d be greatly appreciated! I didn’t find anything myself after a google search, but I might have skipped over it without even knowing it. I admit though, the idea of this side trilogy may be put on hold/cancelled after what happens in this book too, but who knows honestly…

Overall, Burned is yet another great addition to what has to be my top pick for favorite book/series of 2020 so far: the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning! While it lacks a main focus/conflict, its main focus was the character development, and boy was there an amazing amount of it! So much is explored and hinted at for more to come, and even though Cruce is defeated… for now… there’s still plenty of danger to go around and plenty of drama to keep the series thriving and our minds racing!

What It’s About:

Burned continues immediately after how Iced ended: Mac and Dani finally have their much anticipated face-off. We learned back in Shadowfever that it was actually Dani who lead Mac’s sister, Alina, to her death by an Unseelie monster which lead Mac to coming over to Dublin in the first place. However, we also learned that Dani’s former leader, Rowena, actually used her Sidhe-Seer abilities of coercion to make Dani perform the terrible act, which Dani doesn’t know that Mac knows about that. It’s all a very twisty circumstance, but both sides desperately just need to hash it out already in order to make amends and get on the same page again, so long as they can actually face not only the other person, but themselves…

The Unseelie Princes have teamed up, and are gaining Pri-ya followers, a new Seelie ruler, plus a new group of Sidhe-Seers, led by the mysterious and lethal Jada, who’ve set their sights on Dublin, so there’s an epic turf war waiting to happen on who will gain control of the city, and ultimately planet Earth…

Mac also discovers a shocking secret about Barrons that will put a real test to their relationship! While dealing with that scandal, she’s also on the hunt for the Unseelie King to hopefully make another appearance and help her with the Sinsar Dubh, or to get rid of it from her mind entirely, but of course, he’s nowhere to be found after being reunited with his Concubine…

Ryodan continues to have his little minions everywhere to be able to whisper into his ear all the happenings of what’s all going down so he can make sure he’s able to stay three steps ahead of everyone…

There’s the hope of a search and rescue mission for Christian Mackeltar, who was snatched up by the Crimson Hag in the climax of Iced…

… And on top of all that, the Hoar Frost King, the villian we met in Iced, has left aftershocks of where he’s literally iced folks all over, and they’re turning into blackholes that threaten to continue to tear apart our world until it is no more…

Yeah, we thought it all ended with Cruce and his plot to take the Sinsar Dubh for himself, but it turns out he was only the beginning! There’s something brewing, and the world KMM has created in these books is far from over!

What I Liked:

Mac is Back! Our familiar protagonist and main character, Mackayla Lane, returns in this book and immediately brings the series back to it’s well deserved glory! It was a huge relief because of how meh I found Iced to be with having Dani as the main character. We’re also given back our lusty tall, dark, and handsome Barrons too for anyone possibly worried about that as well. It was just good to see the story once again come back and focus around them as the core central characters.
A Secret of Barrons Get’s Exposed! It’s actually revealed in the prologue of the book and brings up an important scene from the very first book that will surely make you not able to look at Barrons the same way ever again. Even better is that he explains his actions within the book as well too, so it’s definitely a not-miss moment you need to read it to believe it. I for one think it adds so much depth to his character, because everything he does thats questionable to readers, one thing we can all agree on is that his actions are all about his need to protect Mac, even if it’s from herself. How can you not love a guy who’d go to the ends of the earth for the one they love?
New Character: Jada! There’s a new badass Sidhe-Seer babe in town who’s shrouded like a certain group of shadow-groupies with mystery and grandeur, and her name is Jada. As soon as she makes her first appearance in the book, major change within the realm of the Fever series is abundant, but that’s not all; there’s a big reveal with her you won’t see coming.
Major Character Development for Ryodan! Ryodan continues to develop so much, even more than in the previous book, Iced. You learn even more about his background and his character overall has unexplored depths that are no longer hidden; he’s quickly becoming a huge favorite character of mine because of all this. His development with Dani really takes on a heart-wrenching development, and his admission about her was actually so touching! I actually—legitimately—had tears in my eyes when he talks about Dani and his history with her; it was the moment that Ryodan became a favorite character of mine!
The Humor! Burned was definitely the funniest novel of the series, and all because ***SPOILER ALERT***—a character goes invisible and doesn’t know how to change back! I will at least leave their name out of it, but what I can say is it gives them—and you, the reader—a backstage pass to get away with some hijinks, also Lor gets involved in probably the best way possible, and you see and learn things that you’d never have believed if the character wasn’t secretly there to witness it all firsthand.
New Monsters! The Unseelie have some more faces to reveal themselves, and while I won’t give too much away, the female monsters are the MVP’s of the bad guys in this novel, and there’s even one more type of monster to debut… all I can say is, watch what you say around cockroaches!
Character Development: Lor! You get inside the head of another member of the pack of 9, and this time it’s the big, blond, caveman-viking-like Lor. You met him in Shadowfever, you got to know him a little better in Iced, but in Burned you even get inside his head a little bit, and wouldn’t you know it, you fall for him too just like Ryodan and Barrons. Absolutely loved him in this book, and may or may not even be a part of another ship for you to stan in this series!

What I Didn’t Like:

The Return of the Highlanders…Once again, the Highlanders of KMM’s other hit series make an appearance, and I only say I don’t like this just because I haven’t read them, nor do I really plan on reading them either, so their appearance is very meh for me, just like it was in Shadowfever. I know they hold a special place in the hearts of a lot of other KMM fans, so feel free to take this criticism with a grain of salt.
Jada’s Big Reveal…So I mentioned this big reveal earlier, and while it’s big and makes you stop and make sure you read it right, I still can’t help but feel so conflicted about it… The main reasoning behind this is because it almost ruins another character entirely… It’s a confusing plot twist, and I feel like maybe this book explains it enough and I still don’t entirely follow it. Maybe there’ll be more justification in the next book, but I’m not entirely sold on it, especially if it means we’re possibly saying goodbye to another beloved character for good.
The Drama That Goes with Barrons’s Secret Revealed…While I appreciate the author going back to maybe add some justification to a scene that many people have criticized in the past and that is a huge reason some readers don’t like Barrons, what I wasn’t a fan of was the drama it caused to happen between him and Mac. I said this before, but it’s kind of getting annoying at how these two end up going in circles right back to where they started in terms of arguing with each other… can we please move on from it already? Let’s put some angst into other’s relationships, but can Mac and Barrons just move on already?? It’s showing a lack of development with her two main characters that started this whole dang series!

Conclusion:

Another scorching addition to the Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning; this series still somehow continues to impress me and throw me through a loop every time I open whatever the next book is, and it’s actually so unpredictable. I swear, every time I think I have it all figured out, KMM manages to throw in something that blows away the path I think the story is traveling down, and I absolutely love it!

It’s the only Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance books/series I’ve really read, but part of me worries if it’s considered one of the best ones, what other ones would I be able to enjoy at this point? I mean, I’m going to compare any other books/series to it after this, so who has any recommendations? I’m all ears, be sure to leave me a message somewhere to let me know (scroll up to the CONTACT INFO tab on the main menu), or we can just gush about this series and others we’ve read too, I will never say no to a convo about books!

Thanks for Reading!

— Nick Goodsell

Fantasy, New Adult Romance, Paranormal, Romance

My Review: Dreamfever (Fever #4): by Karen Marie Moning

February 29, 2020October 28, 2020 nicholasjgoodsell

Publish Date: October 26th, 2010 (First Published August 18th, 2009)
Number of Pages: 498 Pages
Publisher: Dell
Genre(s): Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance

***Warning!! This Review contains spoilers from the previous books in this 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 review for book #3 – Faefever – Click HERE

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

Total Star Rating: 4 Stars

Well feck me…we got another gem of a book in Karen Marie Moning’s Fever series that has pretty much become the main highlight of my book-related 2020. It’s filled with nail-biting antics and plenty of unpredictable danger, and Karen really masterfully drags it all out to the point of insanity, but one thing is certain: she knows how to drag you in and pique your interest!

Cliffhangers are also the author’s big thing, so if that’s not your cup of tea, this may not be the series for you…because I have to say: the cliffhanger ending of this book, much like the apocalyptic ending of the previous book, they seriously mess with your head and heart. I love it but ugggghhh do I hate it too!

The plot somehow continues to thicken even further into the storyline; the world gets richer and darker, the characters continue to grow and develop, the relationships either become stronger or burn to the ground, more myth and lore is explored, and you continue to ask yourself: “What can happen next?” along with “How can things get any worse?”

What It’s About:

So it happened…based off the ending Faefever, the walls have come down, and the worlds between us humans and the powerful Fae have fallen down and there’s no longer a barrier of protection. It’s pretty much the apocalypse up in this bitch…and the number of casualties are rapidly rising on a global scale!

Mac (Mackayla Lane) has been taken by the Lord Master, Darroc, and has been turned Pri-ya by being raped by the four Unseelie Princes–what a freakin’ way to end the last book with that chilling cliffhanger…

For those that don’t remember, being Pri-ya is when a human is turned into a sex-crazed drug addict and slave to the Fae whom they’d done the bump’n’grind with.

Dreamfever continues immediately following these events, and it’s looking pretty hopeless, but Mac luckily gets rescued by Jericho Barrons, who is doing all he can to bring Mac back to normal, and I do mean everything…with being Pri-ya, she’s forgotten who she is, who everyone else is, and all that’s been happening. In her crazed Fae-sexed-brainwashed mind, the only way she responds to any sort of mental progress is sex…yep, I’m not making this up.

Usually in romance novels, the characters talk about screwing each other’s brains out, but this was the first time I’d ever read where someone is trying to screw someone’s brain back in…talk about a criss-cross! One good thing about it is you get to see a side of Jericho Barrons you’ve never seen before, and thinking Mac won’t remember any of it, even reveals some interesting little tidbits.

Slight spoiler alert but not really…Mac gets back to normal, and within five minutes is back out on the streets kicking ass, taking names, and trying to figure out more answers for herself, because like we’ve all gotten so frustrated with in these books: no one tells her shit!

There’s a few big mysteries that rise up from the night the walls came tumbling down: who was the mysterious fourth prince whom Mac didn’t actually get to see as they all raped her? Where was Jericho for the four days it took him to rescue her? Where was V’lane?? Mac called his name thanks to the spell he gave her, and he never showed! It also added to the question of WHAT is Jericho Barrons? He was able to catch Dani when she was speeding through the Abbey, and not even the Fae can do that!

Without going too into the details of this book, I can say we get to see a couple things happen: What happened to Fiona, Derek O’Bannion, Inspector Jayne, Rowena and the other Sidhe-Seers in the Abbey, Darroc shocks us with some plot-altering confessions and backstory with the history of the Seelie and Unseelie Courts, you meet Ryodan, you enter the “Hall of Days,” you learn who Mac’s mother was, where Christian ended up, and even what “IYD” on Mac’s phone means!

In fact, I’m going to give a warning right now and organize all that happens in this book and the questions/answers it raises for my own peace of mind, so I say SPOILERS AHEAD, read at your own risk:

Who was the fourth Unseelie Prince, and why couldn’t we see him?
Eight Men break into the Abbey with Jericho and help break Mac out. Whatever they are, they are the same creature as Jericho (whatever that may be)
We meet the 5 Highlanders from the authors other series: Drustan, Dageus, Christian, Cian and Christopher (a crossover!)
Mac sneaks into Jericho’s mind and see more from his past: he’d slept with and killed a Seelie Princess (which has never been done before, and thus maybe explaining the tension between him and V’lane), and a dying child in his arms in the desert–who is it?
Who’s the “Icy Blonde” in the restricted section of the Abbey library and why has Mac seen her in her dreams since her childhood? Also, why did V’lane hiss and disappear so quickly when Mac summoned him down there and disappeared for the rest of the book?
Inspector Jayne and other officers have formed a rebel group of remaining humans with weapons and are trying to fight back against the Fae–especifically the Devilish Hunters who fly over Dublin.
We learn Mac’s real mom’s name was Isla and that she was one of the best Sidhe-Seers and was a part of a secret coven within the massive group of women.
The Old woman who called Mac “Alina”…simple mistake, or does this mean something else down the line?
Mac and Jericho once again try to corner the Sinsar-Dubh, but it goes terribly wrong…also we learn Derek O’Bannion is the latest victim to be possessed by it, and the book has changed his body into some sort of chainsaw-like monster, and it’s actually pretty creepy!
Fiona shows up and learns that Jericho still hasn’t told Mac something…”She still doesn’t know. Oh, Jericho! You never change, do you? You must be so afraid—-” and he throws a knife into her heart to shut her up…OF COURSE. But what were they talking about? What chance did Jericho have with Mac?
Darroc kidnaps Mac’s parents from back home
Mac ends up in the Hall of Days (Think Palace of Versailles with thousands of mirrors everywhere), and finds Christian, who’d been missing since the walls came down, stuck in another world that’s a desert. She discovers if she takes out the three stones in her pouch that they’ll be transported to other worlds, and feeds him Unseelie flesh when he’s dying, but he reacts strangely: his skin turns black with markings and his eyes turn amber…what is happening to him? Does it have to do with whatever spell had gone wrong on Halloween?
Mac and Christian get separated during a jump, and he’s most likely not dead.
Mac finally dials IYD on her phone when she’s alone, and a terribly dark beast shows up shortly afterwards, brutally killing any living thing that gets too close to her.
Ryodan shows up and tells her Darroc had marked her like Jericho did, and tries to rescue her from the monster, but gets badly injured before the monster has him fall off a cliff right after Ryodan and Mac team up to kill it.
Mac stands over the beast’s mutilated corpse and watches it transform into someone–or something–and the book ends with her screaming in agony…omigod, who/what was it???

What I Liked:

Mac’s Character Development (Again)! I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s really apparent in this book how much Mac has changed since she’d first arrived in Dublin Ireland: she’s practically an entirely different person now!
More Fae Backstory Revealed! Both V’lane and Darroc supply you with more Fae history with the Seelie Queen and the Unseelie King, and it adds so much more to the story on a mythological level. It raises the questions of how does it pertain to what’s happening now? Are the King and Queen big players who we haven’t met yet? Will they make an appearance at some point and if so, when?
Dani O’Malley & Mac Lane Teaming Up! To our relief, one person Mac can for sure rely on is the young Sidhe-Seer Dani. Their bond continues to grow into a newfound sisterhood, and you can tell both of them desperately needed it. Mac literally went insane with how she can’t trust anyone, and it’s been hinted how Dani hasn’t a good upbringing at all, so I’m happy they both get this small victory to make the treacherous journey that much easier.
Jericho’s Intensity! He continues to get so jealous over Mac and V’lane–which is hilarious–but you also get a surprisingly tender moment with the heartbreaking line: “You’re leaving me, Rainbow Girl.” He dances around completely naked to the “I Get Knocked Down” song, but then stays the infuriating ass that he is: he gives this gem of a quote: “We fucked, Ms. Lane. Even cockroaches fuck. They eat each other too.” We see so much more depth from him in this book as a character, and I’m glad we get more moments between him and Mac…I wouldn’t really call him a romantic guy, far from it, but I like how his enemies-to-lovers subplot has been handled, and the fact that it’s not a guaranteed happily-ever-after just adds to the anticipation.

What I Didn’t Like:

Back to the Same Old Argument…Jericho rescues Mac at the very beginning and brings her back to reality, and I feel for her that she’d been through a lot and it’s all been weighing down on her: her sister’s murder, meeting her sister’s murderer, discovering the whole world of the Fae and how she’s a Sidhe-Seer, meeting Jericho Barrons and everyone else, no one telling her anything, finding out she was adopted…and I’m probably forgetting plenty of other things too, but to top it all off gets gang-bang raped by the four Unseelie Fae Princes…girl has a right to be pissed off…BUT her and Jericho just go back to the same old relationship they’d had ever since they’d met: mutual distrust with scorching sexual tension, often at odds and itching for a fight or fuck. I don’t know, I was hoping for a new-found respect or understanding between them. He continues to keep her in the dark on so many things, and she could be a little more grateful that he literally saved her life…I’m just frustrated and expected some more development in that aspect.
Still Not Enough Answers…Okay Karen…girl, we need to talk…We are now four books in and we still don’t get almost any of the answers to the many questions we’ve got since the beginning.
Dani O’Malley’s Perspective…We get a glimpse into the mind of Dani, which makes sense since I know later on in the series focus more on her and will have her narrate like Mac has been doing. That’s cool and all, but in all honesty I’m not too fond of Dani as a character yet and think she still needs some more development or maturity before she becomes so central. I’m sure she’s going to change much like Mac does and I’ll love her to death when that happens, but I’m defs not there yet.

Conclusion:

Overall, I loved the book despite how we yet again get the same results of only getting some answers but have added plenty more questions to everything that’s happening, and it being the fourth effing book in. I’m so torn by how well Karen slowly drags it all out in a way thats frustrating but still satisfying enough to keep you reading and find out what all the answers are.

Shadowfever is the next installment for this addicting Urban Fantasy series, and I’m told it’s going to supply a lot of answers and tie up a lot of the the many subplots, so think of it as being the finale of what is going to be “Phase 1”–like the MCU–of the series, and I am SO INCREDIBLY EXCITED AND CURIOUS TO SEE HOW IT ALL PLAYS OUT!