Faefever by Karen Marie Moning

***** FIVE STARS! *****

**Review Originally posted 7/4/2012**


Oh my gah, oh my gah, OH MY FECKING GAHHHH!

THERE SHALL BE SPOILAGE ALL UP AND THROUGH THIS REVIEW!!

This book rocked my little normally-fae-hating-world guys. And when I say rocked, I mean I wanted a cigarette after reading it and I've never smoked a day in my life.

If there ever is such a thing as the best book ever - And I really don't wanna oversell this but - THIS book is IT. And I seriously mean it.

Mac has really grown into a woman to fear and if you should see the blazing lights of her MacHalo, then you better tuck ass and book. It was no secret that Mac wasn't my favorite person in the world, she probably still isn't. But by G-d she's clawing her way up that list.

This book slayed me. SLAYED. ME. I used to get upset because I thought Moning should've added more action in her books since we're starved for romance and even with this book, I was finding myself upset and kind of let down because there were some places where we were hurting for descriptives and needed a bit more action. HOWEVER, the last 80 pages or so really made up for that. There was soooo much action in those pages that it was enough for the entire book. And everything that happened - Ahhh! I loved every damn second of it.

Mac has wisened up quite a bit although I feel she is still a bit slow on the uptake. Some things she still should be seeing obviously, elude her until she gets smacked it the face by it and damn. She got fuuuucked up with a mean backhand this time. BUT, my fellow Goodreaders, this is what makes for a really good book. Angst, anger at your protagonist, frustration because you can see the things she/he so clearly can't. Yes. Good books indeed.

Barrons...still don't know what he is but man, is he ever. Dear heaven on earth he certainly is.

Still don't like Rowena or many of the many other bitches sidhe-seers she's brainwashed. Although, the foul-mouthed Dani is growing on me a bit. Christian...meh. Don't trust him as far as I can throw his Hot Scottish ass. But, that's cool. Because in the Fever series we are hardly in want of men we cannot trust. One more won't break my heart.

I don't want to give too much away because I feel that this is one of those things people need to read themselves and because this is my new favorite book of 2012, I'll be passing out copies of it on the street next time you see me.

P.S. I'm 5'9 with large boobs and dark brown hair. If you should see me with a HUGE shit-eating-grin on my face, just take the book and leave me with promises of reading it.

Editing Rants, ahoy!

Honestly, I can be critical - very critical apparently - about grammatical errors, etc. and I promise you I have a reason for it. I, myself am an aspiring author. I take writing very seriously and each sentence I write is just an extension of my soul. When editors are called in to do what? - EDIT someone's baby, in my eyes they should do just that. Edit it.

In more and more of the work I'm reading now, someone is sleeping on the motherfluffing job and that is unacceptable. Every author I know spills their heart out onto a blank page and fills it up with amazing writing that leaps off the page at you and burrows into the heart of the reader, taking them off to a far away land where they don't have to deal with their own real life problems. If only for a minute. And when an editor doesn't catch the typos, mistakes, misuse of grammar or lack thereof, you are doing the author and readers a serious disservice.

I know I don't like to feel as if I'm editing a book as I read which makes me anal to the point of obsession with my own works and any typos/errors that pop up. I know, almost counter-productive, but by golly gee I HATE a typo!

*Exhales* Sorry. Rant over.

Bloodfever By Karen Marie Moning

Book two in the Fever Series.

***Review Originally written 8/12/2012***

**Spoilage Alert**

4.75 Stars
Mackayla Lane - or is it O'Connor? Meh, doesn't matter.

Wow. Man, I enjoyed this book. Not enough to five-star it, but damn it was almost there. I wish I could give it more but the critical bitchy reviewer side of me that wished she had just a touch more of this and less of that just would not allow it. I waited two days after finishing Bloodfever to write this review so, naturally, my mind has had time to pick it apart.

This is not me saying this book was bad. Because this book was flippin' awesome. I felt like Mac had seriously grown up and realized that shit was real and her pink nail polish, gold sandals and fluffy Mac brain weren't going to keep her alive. Which I appreciated greatly.

Book two picks up just days where book one left off and jumps right back into Mac's world of unsightly Unseelie - Haa! That's funny - and a delectable really scary bad guy. A Death-by-sex Fae Seelie Prince. What a mouthful. Pun very much intended.

I have to admit, when I'd first picked up book one, Darkfever and read about a Death-by-sex Fae, I assumed there'd be some in these books. Sex, that is. But - and that's a sad but - I haven't come across any sex yet and I'm halfway into book three. Barrons and Mac together are so flipping hot I'm mentally undressing them both at various points in the book and manually having them hump each other like I did my barbies and kens when I was younger.

Don't even act like you haven't.

Still, no sex between Barbie and Ken Mac and Barrons.

I've drawn the conclusion that Ms. Moning lacks the skill to write a good fight/action scene because every time one would feel as if it were coming up, she'd drop us one of these: I won't bore you with the details of a fight and since I'm telling this story... and so on and so forth.

NOOOO, woman! Are you out of your mind?! The action scenes are necessary if your entire world is about to erupt in a war between mankind, Fugly Mc. Nasty Unseelie creeping through the nearest doggie doors and Fuck-me-to-death Seelie Fae that pop up whenever and are so hot women drop panties at their feet. Action is a definite yes. Especially since we haven't gotten any sex yet. Jheeeze.

Barrons is...interesting. I don't know how far Moning plans to drag out the whole big-bad-secret of what Barrons actually is but I sure hope she doesn't push it too far. What with his strength, ability to see the Fae and every inhuman quality Mac points out about him every time the man pops up on a page, I'd say I'm getting tired of being kept in the dark. And from what we know of the dark, tis not a very nice place to be lass.

Dani. First impression. I don't like her. I appreciate Moning bringing in new characters with Christian, Dani, Rowena making a bigger appearance, hot jogger dude who Mac told to 'fuck off' and...there was someone else, too. *Shrug* I do not like the foul mouthed, cliched Irish ginger who is barely five minutes out of diapers. Especially since she brags about how many Unseelie she kills and says 'Fecking' every fecking two sentences. She's, like, 14. Who the feck let's her go out by herself with one of the only two weapons in the world that can kill Fae?

Ohh, wait. That's right. Crazy Rowena. Don't like her either.

V'lane - which just looks like Villain to me - aka our Death-by-Fuck-Me Fae, gets his meeting with Mac after she and Barrons try and steal an amulet that has already been stolen. He snatches her out of her world and they talk. She stays and plays volleyball with an Alina-illusion and SUDDENLY Mac gets this reserve of power in her mind that she draws on to remove the illusion.

That was the first time I rolled my eyes for this series. Sadly, not the last.

Apparently, she's been in Faery for a month. Blah, blah, Mac goes back home to the bookstore in her bikini and new tan, blah - oh! Barrons trashed the bookstore and everything in her room because he's obviously the emotional type who betrays said emotions at every turn of the page. No. No. I didn't like it. Barrons takes pride in appearances. Thus, the reason for the store to begin with. In my view of Barrons, he wouldn't destroy his store in a fit of anger, worry or whatever just because she was gone for a month. Yes, the hottie would be mad as hell but he would've found other means to vent said anger.

I'll pull a Mac and skip over quite a bit of the next stuff. *Grin*
Cliffnotes version: Malluce isn't dead, he kidnaps her and hides her underground in a Burren, *shrug* beats her, etc, etc. Turns out, he eats Unseelie to say strong. Yuck. Blah, blah Barrons comes to save her, she eats Unseelie herself, Barrons kills Malluce because she was dicking around in the fight that was very staccato and beige.

NOW, here's the good shit. Mac gets angry for him killing Malluce and they get all hot tempered. Eventually, they wind up on the dirty floor ripping each other's clothes off.

Let me just say, I've never been so starved for a sex scene in a book in my entire reading career. And when I didn't get any from Barrons and Barbie, I was PISSED.

Lord Master came before anything could go further. The bastard.

I really, really liked it. Would read it again and again. Will eventually.

Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning

Very recently, I've started writing reviews of a few books I read. And really, just a few.

In no way am I a "professional" book reviewer as I only write reviews when and if I feel like it and only for books I want to. There are only a few ways to get me to write a review for anything.

I was given a free book in exchange for a review, I loved it soooo much I might have peed myself if I didn't share, I disliked it immensely or it confused the ever-living crap out of me so much I felt inclined to share.

Well, the entire Fever series just rocked my world and I feel that its only right to share some of the awesome between the pages. I was sooo psyched when my library had all but Shadowfever out on ebook loan. So I highly suggest checking your libraries for books you haven't read. It is infinitely better than pirating books. *Wags finger*

*Review originally written 7/17/2012*

**Spoilage**
4 Stars

Pink. Blonde, big boobs and an uncanny knack for getting herself into trouble because we haven't thought things through. This, my good people, is the essence of Mac.

This is not to say that I hated her. On the contrary, I actually started to feel very fondly for the pink loving, sort of on the airhead-y side blonde who turned into ass kicker. BUT, we're here to be honest with one another. And honestly, I don't know how I feel about her now.

In the beginning, I grew weary of her airhead comments about her life and how easy and simple it was, her love for the color pink - mind you, I shall never look at the color the same again - and her slow processing skills. Or lackthereof.

In the middle, I gained more respect for the wizened up little cookie. Grew to like who she was becoming and how diligently she was trying to avenge her sister's death even though every time she flipped her hair, there was a big-bad-ugly or evil genius hottie Barrons there to capture her attention by endangering her life and divert her attentions elsewhere. Needless to say, she handled them well - albeit, some better than others.

NOW, however....I'm still not sure. I had an opinion of her but it's wilted somehow. *Shrug* I dunno. I figure going into book two with a clear head will be best as to not pre judge the blonde-no-longer Mac.

I wasn't sure how much I'd actually like this book once I realized it was about Fae. Seelie, Unseelie, Sidhe, Sisar-Dubh's, Seers and whatnot....not really my thing. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I thoroughly enjoyed reading about ugly things that can eat my pretty and fuck me sideways hypnotize me into a sexual need so strong and debilitating that I'd strip in a street and beg it to hump me into submission. [Was that any better?] Which - lemme tell ya, is not something I thought I would ever like to read about.

The world Moning builds for this series is astounding and I seriously cannot wait to see what else she can reel me in with because really, I'm a hard gal to please when it comes to books. I've read many a crappy book in my day and I'm positive I'll encounter quite a few more before I'm through.


Now... DUNN, DUNN, DUUUUUUNNNN onto what I didn't like:

The prologue. I feel this book would've been great without it. I kind of didn't need it. It was extra info given that I picked up as I read through the book anyway, so Mac's little story-telling intro didn't quite do it for me.

Sometimes her writing style has me pausing to sigh, sort of like wishing she'd gone in with an eraser and erased some of Mac's pink-tinted thoughts from the book. Seriously, Mac had the world casted in a pink glow, seeming too daft to process things as quickly as she should have. Mac admits to not being the smartest and getting mediocre to nasty grades in school...yet she wants us to believe that she'd do all this cool shit that clearly requires her to use that pretty blonde head? No. No.

Where there's smoke, there's Mac. Probably thinking too hard about something dangling right in her face.

The ending battle scene or whatever it was. Anti-climactic. I don't see Mac fighting off hundreds of Rhino-ugly Fae and a vampire, ALONG with the "Lord Master" dude in the same room with only mysterious Barrons to protect her ass. No. There would've been pretty pink pieces of boobs and Ice Princess Blush pink nails with gold frosted tips littered with Barrons's huge ego as a border. Just ain't happening.

I kind of wish Moning would've written a bit more action in this book. Like, I dunno, I wanna read Barrons ripping someone's head off or something. *Shrug* He could make green Fae blood-slime sexy. I'm a firm believer in that.

All of Mac's incessant ramblings around her silver sandals, pink nail polish, capri pants, gold sandals - we get it Mac. You like clothes. And pink nail polish. Not exactly sure how you found the time to give yourself nail - and toe - polish changes six times in a two week span [give or take] but by golly gee, you did it blondie. I take my pants off to you.


Things that had me on the fence:

Barrons. I admit to not knowing how I like him...yet I know that I do like him. He was an enigma. Still is, actually. Sent to challenge my way of thinking and judging books and their characters. I sort of wish we'd gotten a bit more of a background on him but at the same time, I'm glad we didn't. Good books will tell you secrets slowly. Great books make you work for them. And though it infuriated me to the point of bated breathing, I enjoyed the vague-ness of Barrons. How secretive he is. Calculating and hot. Strong and hot. Hot. Hot. Did I say hot already? No...? Right, HAWT!

The romance aspect. Alrighty, seriously on the fence about this part.
I simply ADORED that this book was mainly about Mac learning to live with her grief over Alina's death and the fact that she was adopted to the fact that she'd been responsible for the deaths of sixteen henchmen. Really, I do. In the back of my mind somewhere - in the mushy, sappy recesses - I kind of wished I'd gotten more of a connection with Barrons and Mac. NOBODY SHOOT! Just know, that although I'm pleased this wasn't a sappy mock up of some serious bad Fae bullshit, some small part of me wanted romance. But the bigger half was THRILLED that the romance was muted and it was more about something useful.

Like avenging the gruesome death of one's Sidhe-seer sister for a book that you can't even touch because it'll make you evil.

Please...

Hello, Hola, Bonjour, Hallo, Annyeonghaseyo, Ciao - whatever works best for ya. *Winks* I am VERY new to Blogger so please, please, please, be patient with me while I get this blog up and running. I promise to have us ready to go in a timely fashion. Thank you!