Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning review
***SPOILERS***
I think Shadowfever is very satisfying ending to the Mackayla Lane chronicles. Is it without it's flaws? No. But do I think I could write anything like this? No.
And after being so into Twilight and then being crushingly disappointed in Breaking Dawn, I was nervous about this book. I feared it wouldn't live up to my expectations.
I have been on the message boards for a long time. I'd read tons of theories and had tons of theories of my own. Some hunches were proven correct. I had suspected the dreamy-eyed guy was the UK. I was right. I also had suspected Dani had killed Alina on Rowena's orders. That was right. But some answers surprised me. I had not had a clue what Mac was (even though I had heard the guesses that she was the concubine reincarnated, I didn't feel this was correct.) I was surprised by her actually being a "twin" of the book itself. Very clever plot twist. I also didn't see V'Lane has being the ultimate bad guy. Even though he was a major player throughout the series, for some reason my mind just hadn't traveled down that avenue. That was pleasant to discover. The way Darroc was killed and mostly, the point in the timeline in which he was killed (much earlier than I expected.)
There were also delightful smaller nuggets of surprise in there. The biggest gasp I got was from Dani's reveal that it had been Barrons who had helped Isla escape the abby. I laughed at myself for my own shock. I was equally astounded when it was Fiona who appeared skinned alive.
There are flaws for me (almost anything in life can be improved on; constantly honed). The biggest for me with the book is that KMM tends to use certain words too often. In particular, "duality" and "bipolar". I think in her effort to really drive home her emphasis of Mac's conflicted emotions she forgot the thesaurus on her desk and as a result, it felt a little redundant.
The first part of the story up until approximately chapter 8 or 9, the story has a slightly different tone that the previous novel Dreamfever. It has a more chopped and far-away style which reminds you of when Mac was priya in Dreamfever. The author's intent is understandable - Mac is temporarily crazed by grief and is not really herself just as she wasn't herself when she was priya. But it is rather jarring starting the book that way. It left me puzzled wondering why it felt so different until I moved a few chapters in.
One would argue that one big plot twist got dropped: Dani and Mac's confrontation after Mac had learned how Alina had truly died. However, you are told that Mac forgives Dani for her part in the tragedy and that she intends to let Dani know this. I also got the impression that Dani would likely have her own story so perhaps KMM was leaving that hanging for future exploration.
Most storylines were sewed up nicely. You learn who Mac's biological parents are, Christian is saved from the silvers (though I'm sure there is more to come for him) and Rowena is exposed and taken care of, etc...
Barrons and Mac's relationship progressed in perfect pacing for me. I feared it would feel too rushed in this book but it didn't. It felt like a very natural evolution from the events they experienced. His son was another large surprise for me in the story but even more so was that KMM didn't explain what Barrons and his eight really are. Are they a breed all their own? Are they cursed men? Who was the boy's mother? Implications are made but KMM is so great at making conflicting implications that you can never be sure what the truth is. Her decision to leave Barrons and his men a mystery was surprising, maybe a wee bit frustrating, but very freshing.
Personally I love Barrons and every time he gets down and dirty I have to fan myself. KMM is so true to her romance and erotica roots. My romance need are met that Mac becomes immortal and thereby always stays with Barrons. I certainly was in no way, shape or form disappointed with the sexy aspect of this book. KMM had the sexual tension running on all cyclinders and that's fine by me. A few of Barron's lines actually made a whoosh of breath leave my chest in a total swoon-worthy way.
The novel made me laugh many times ("That was my phone!" "Mortal here!" Ryodan's horror at having children in his building, etc...). I teared up a few times (Mac's reactions to Barron's death, when her Dad hugged her and told her she was light.) I also shivered from the creepiness of Fioned screaming "Merssseeeee" while in pain from the book. That was horribly creepy mental image.
Overall I think this final chapter was a great finale. It felt consistent with the rest of the series, it answered almost all questions, left a few nuggets for the future, gave us steam and MORE steam, romance, action, intrigue, etc... If you liked the first books in the series, there's no way you won't like this one.
Favorite Parts:
My absolute FAVORITE part was all the sexy/romantic Barrons/Mac scenes. "I just watched you die. I need to f*ck you, Mac." being my absolute favorite line. I reacted exactly as Mac did. It hit me like bullets. I gasped and had to fan myself. I also loved getting his perspective of while she was priya.
I loved the scenes when Mac told off Lor and when she sashayed naked and proud up the stairs. THAT'S the kind of heroine I admire.
Third favorite moment is when Jack Lane hugged Mac and told her that she was light and good. I teared up. I'm a complete sucker for daddy/daughter moments.
I loved that Mac was not reincarnated. Though I thought her possibly being the UK was clever/weird, I'm not a big fan of reincarnation plots. I was pleasantly surprised by what she really turned out to be.
I loved the whole UK thing; how he looked/how he acted, etc...I just thought he was extremely interesting.
I loved that everything wasn't "fixed" in the end (though I would've preferred a few more answers)
I was VERY glad that Alina wasn't brought back to life. Sure, it would've been nice for Mac but what about Alina? What if she's at peace or in heaven?
Even though it creeped me out BIG TIME, I loved how creepy Fiona was flayed and screaming "Merseeeeeeeeeee" I got shivers from that. (I was surprised she was still so bitchy though and non remorseful).
Least Favorite Parts:
Absolutely the LEAST favorite part was Barrons grilling the steaks at the end. I was like "WTF? Barrons is not a garden party kind of guy." Up until that I was so proud that KMM was keeping Barrons very in character while also softening him with Mac. I had felt she was doing a wonderful job of walking that line between him remaining seriously bad-ass and romantic. But the grilling out felt very OOC.
I also felt that KMM tended to use certain words too often. In particular, "duality" and "bipolar". I think in her effort to really drive home her emphasis of Mac's conflicted emotions (identity crises) it felt a little redundant.
I also didn't really like when Mac reminisced about how she had "taken care of herself" in the shower after Barrons had threatened to tattoo her. There was something about adding these details to the previous book that felt tacked on and insincere to me. I understand what KMM was going for, it just didn't work for me.
I'm a little surprised to read so many people wanted more Keltar interaction. I was actually afraid of this. The Keltars/Adam have such a romance-novel feel to them that I was worried they wouldn't mesh well in SF which has a very different tone and objective. I thought she handled it mostly well by keeping them rather silent and not having their wives interact with anyone "on screen". I thought it was rather silly to have them all shacked up in Chester's too. I can't imagine why anyone would want to have their children in there. (That said, I did find Ryodan's reaction to the kids amusing.)
And this is neither my favorite or least part but I just gotta say that I feel SO SAD for Kasteo that they killed his woman and he gets to watch Barrons keep his. :(