BOOK REVIEW: Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning

BOOK REVIEW: Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning

Gollancz
August 2008
Paperback, £7.99 GBP
Reviewed by Aly Locatelli

7.5/10

“What are you, Barrons?”
“The one that will never let you die, and that’s more, Ms. Lane, than anyone in your life has been able to say to you. More than anyone else can do.”

Okay, wow, hi. Major swooning fan over here. Bloodfever is where the series really starts. Darkfever was an introduction to the madness of Dublin’s darkest secrets, but Bloodfever is where those dark secrets come out to play. It sets in motion a series of events that can’t be stopped or ignored and it’s so deliciously, insanely good.

The only way Mac can survive is if she finds the Sinsar Dubh, a book that contains the Unseelie King’s darkest spells and magic, and that can wreak havoc on the world if it isn’t stopped. With Mac’s OOP-detecting powers (or ability to detect Objects of Power) she knows she’s the only one who can find it and stop it. With Jericho Barrons (also known as ‘jackass’) on one side, and V’lane, a powerful Fae prince, on the other, Mac knows she can do it, if only she can decide who she can trust the most. Whilst Barrons has a habit of saving her life, he refuses to answer 99% of Mac’s questions, whilst V’lane is more than happy to oblige if she promises to spend an hour with him on a sunny beach somewhere — as if she could ever say no.

But things, as always, are a lot harder than they seem. Not only is Mac being hunted by the Lord Master, she is also being followed by a creepy spectre that never says a word, and with Barrons being his usual secretive self, Mac doesn’t really want to tell him things when he refuses to do the same.

Every time I think I’m getting smarter I realize that I’ve just done something stupid. Dad says there are three kinds of people in the world: those who don’t know, and don’t know they don’t know; those who don’t know and do know they don’t know; and those who know and know how much they still don’t know.

Heavy stuff, I know. I think I’ve finally graduated from the don’t-knows that don’t know to the don’t-knows
that do.

Bloodfever Mac is an absolute delight. She’s upgraded from sunny, happy, rainbow girl to a smarter, faster fighter who doesn’t make as many stupid decisions, and although her stupid decisions are what makes the novel go forward, she makes them with a lot more thought. Not only is she not as naive as she was in Darkfever, but she’s a lot more vicious too. She fights to survive, and every day is a battle. As the only person that stands between the Fae world and the human world, and the veil-thin wall that is just dying to collapse, Mac knows what she must do, and she goes after what she wants with a single-minded steadfastness that is truly breathtaking.

I love this series, more than words could ever describe, and it’s such a pleasure to see my favourite characters grow and develop with every book. Barron’s and his air of mystery are consistent elements that add to the story, and add to Mac’s ever growing attraction to the man of very few words, and whenever he swoops in to save her, like the knight in shining armour he is most definitely not, there are a few unguarded moments that make the heart yearn. The sizzling, mouth-watering sexual tension between the two is fantastic, and slow burn romances are truly what the author is about when it comes to the Fever series. Unlike other books, there are major things that need to be done plot-wise (you know, like saving the world) and romance is put on the back burner until the right time comes up.

But that doesn’t stop the book from having a make out scene to. Die. For.

I was about to look away when he reached across the seat, touched my jaw with his long, strong, beautiful fingers, and caressed my face.
Being touched by Jericho Barrons with kindness makes you feel like you must be the most special person in the world. It’s like walking up to the biggest, most savage lion in the jungle, lying down, placing your head it its mouth and, rather than taking your life, it licks you and purrs.

The fangirl in me cartwheels and dances whenever she reads this scene.

Bloodfever is also the book of revelations, where things that may seem pretty straightforward actually turn out to be anything but. Also, we get to find out a couple of things that are incredibly interesting and super exciting. As the series goes on, the books just get better and better. I love everything about them and would reread them in a heartbeat again if only real life weren’t so demanding.

Barrons has something the rest of us don’t have. I don’t know what it is, but I feel it all the time, especially when we’re standing close. Beneath the expensive clothes, unplaceable accent, and cultured veneer, there’s something that never crawled all the way out of the swamp. It didn’t want to. It likes it there

A book with characters with questionable morals, a fast-paced, action-packed plot and legends and myths a-plenty, Bloodfever does not suffer with Middle Book Syndrome. It is better than its prequel, and so, so worth the read.

(Bloodfever is Book 2 in the Fever series.)

Category: Book Reviews, Other Reviews