Faefever
Karen Marie Moning
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: September 16, 2008
Series or Standalone: Fever
Links: Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Goodreads
Rating:

MY REVIEW

CW: Rape

This book. THIS BOOK. I was already in love with this series before reading this book, but Faefever made me OBSESSED. 

In terms of a plot summary, I feel like I can say very little without spoiling major plot points in the series. Suffice to say, Mac is continuing to search for her sister’s killer while also trying to track down the powerful magical book, the Sinsar Dubh. The stakes get raised as Samhain quickly approaches since the boundaries between the Fae and human realm are the weakest that night.

That’s all I’m going on the plot to say as I truly believe it’s best to go into this without knowing anything. Take my word for it that the plot in this book is fantastic. Moning takes you on a ride with the story in this book and I seriously could not put it down. From the first page to the end, I was fully engrossed in the story. It felt like all the previous books were building to this point as we come to a major climax in the series. 

And THAT ENDING! Oh my god, I was speechless and a big old ball of emotions. The stakes are massively ratcheted up in this book as Mac and Barrons are racing against the clock to prevent the walls of the Unseelie prison from coming down, allowing the bad Faeries free reign over the human world. Moning takes you on a roller coaster of emotions at the end of the book, and I felt like I was experiencing the same emotions Mac was. The writing takes you on the journey with Mac and puts you there in the moment. And the ending is going to have significant consequences for the next book. 

Outside of how unique the story was, I genuinely love the worldbuilding in this book. Moning expands on the world she’s already built, bringing in more lore on the Sidhe-seers, the Seelie and Unseelie and Druids. It’s such a richly complicated world that Moning’s built, yet because her writing is so strong, it’s easy for the reader to understand and become immersed in the story. 

Mac also continues to go on a major journey in this book. The Mac in this book resembles nothing of the superficial, grieving girl we meet at the beginning of book one, Darkfever. So much has happened to Mac since then, and her character growth is fantastic. I loved seeing Mac coming into her own as I felt this was the first book where she started to own her power and take a lead role in her own narrative. So many people have wanted to use her skills for various reasons, but Mac starts to see her value and doesn’t want to be a pawn in the game anymore.

This book also brings more characters into the story than just Mac and Barrons. We get to know Dani, a powerful and cocky young sidhe-seer with the power to move incredibly fast, who becomes a bigger player in future books. Rowena, the leader of the sidhe-seers, gets fleshed out a lot more and we see her being set up as another antagonist and a potential thorn in Mac’s side. I feel like Mac is picking up enemies left and right by this point as she has the Lord Master after her, a bunch of Unseelie faeries, the Sinsar Dubh, which keeps possessing people and sending them on a murderous rampage, and now Rowena isn’t her biggest fan. 

We also get to meet Christian, a college student from a powerful druid family, who we’ll be seeing a lot more of. I enjoyed him and thought he was an excellent addition to the story. V’lane is still kicking around, and Mac’s feelings towards him are conflicted. While I was reading, I wasn’t sure if I should trust him or not, but he’s been helpful. 

I’ll also say I loved the chemistry between Barrons and Mac in this book. I continue to ship the two of them getting together so hard. I lived for the scenes between them, especially as it is so hard to get a read on Barrons true emotions. There is an attraction between them, but it’s hard to know if it goes deeper as Barrons is so mysterious. Speaking of Barrons, I want to know who he is so bad! I feel like we’re slowly peeling back the layers of Barrons, but with every reveal we get, I have more questions or the information contradicts my guesses on who he might be. He’s got to be one of my favorite characters in a book despite how standoffish he is. 

This book truly changes the game with the overarching series plot. I honestly don’t know how people who read these when they originally came could stand the wait between books as I needed to dive into the next book immediately! 

I genuinely don’t think I can do justice to just how good this book is. It helped solidify the Fever series as a new favorite, and I’m going to start pushing this series on everyone I know as it’s just so dang good. If you’re looking for a series with an incredibly rich world that will take you on a journey, look no further than the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning.