Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning

Shadowfever (Fever, #5)

by Karen Marie Moning

“Evil is a completely different creature, Mac. Evil is bad that believes it’s good.”
 
MacKayla Lane was just a child when she and her sister, Alina, were given up for adoption and banished from Ireland forever. 

Twenty years later, Alina is dead and Mac has returned to the country that expelled them to hunt her sister’s murderer. But after discovering that she descends from a bloodline both gifted and cursed, Mac is plunged into a secret history: an ancient conflict between humans and immortals who have lived concealed among us for thousands of years. 

What follows is a shocking chain of events with devastating consequences, and now Mac struggles to cope with grief while continuing her mission to acquire and control the Sinsar Dubh—a book of dark, forbidden magic scribed by the mythical Unseelie King, containing the power to create and destroy worlds. 

In an epic battle between humans and Fae, the hunter becomes the hunted when the Sinsar Dubh turns on Mac and begins mowing a deadly path through those she loves. 
Who can she turn to? Who can she trust? Who is the woman haunting her dreams? More important, who is Mac herself and what is the destiny she glimpses in the black and crimson designs of an ancient tarot card? 

From the luxury of the Lord Master’s penthouse to the sordid depths of an Unseelie nightclub, from the erotic bed of her lover to the terrifying bed of the Unseelie King, Mac’s journey will force her to face the truth of her exile, and to make a choice that will either save the world . . . or destroy it.

Reviewed by mitabird on

4 of 5 stars

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3.5 stars

What a ride this series was, though at times, it was slow moving and bumpy. I found the ending satisfying, though I'm not still not convinced that it's love between Mac & Barrons. One time Mac mentioned seeing lust and fury in Barrons' eyes and that sums up their relationship to me. I think my problem was that I was doing what Barrons told Fiona and Mac not to do, romanticize him. When Barrons says this to Mac near the end of the book, I realized that I needed to do the same.

“I’m not the hero, Mac. Never have been. Never will be. Let us be perfectly clear: I’m not the antihero, either, so quit waiting to discover my hidden potential. There’s nothing to redeem me.”

So while I don't think it's a love match, they are right for each other.

The twist and turns in this book astounded me; I didn't see them coming and I couldn't believe them either. The truth about the Seelie Queen and especially, V'lane, blew my mind. I wanted to kill him. I wanted Mac and Barrons to destroy him. He put her through so much hell. The kicker is that I liked him before this. I didn't want V'lane and Mac together, but I was hoping they could remain friends. Ha!

If it wasn't for my emotional investment in Mac, I probably wouldn't have continued reading this series. Many times I felt it was moving too slow, talking about unimportant details. A lot of the plot was dragged on, IMO. Sometimes I felt like I was watching Lost all over again. So while it wasn't the best series I've ever read, my feelings for the characters will stay with me.

ETA: One thing I wanted to mention and I forgot. The main thing that pissed me off about Barrons was how he didn't want to answer ANY of Mac's questions! Not one, as if she didn't have a right to know. She definitely did. A lot of the grief she suffered was due to lack of knowledge that Barrons' could have provided. Plus, he was just a jackass to her all the time.

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  • Started reading
  • 28 August, 2017: Finished reading
  • 28 August, 2017: Reviewed
  • Started reading
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  • 28 August, 2017: Reviewed