Title: Iced
Author: Karen Marie Moning
Series: Dani O’Malley Trilogy, #1
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Delacorte (Imprint of Random House)
Date Published: October 29th, 2012
Edition: Hardcover
Rating:
The year is 1 AWC—After the Wall Crash. The Fae are free and hunting us. It’s a war zone out there, and no two days are alike. I’m Dani O’Malley, the chaos-filled streets of Dublin are my home, and there’s no place I’d rather be.
Dani “Mega” O’Malley plays by her own set of rules—and in a world overrun by Dark Fae, her biggest rule is: Do what it takes to survive. Possessing rare talents and the all-powerful Sword of Light, Dani is more than equipped for the task. In fact, she’s one of the rare humans who can defend themselves against the Unseelie. But now, amid the pandemonium, her greatest gifts have turned into serious liabilities.
Dani’s ex–best friend, MacKayla Lane, wants her dead, the terrifying Unseelie princes have put a price on her head, and Inspector Jayne, the head of the police force, is after her sword and will stop at nothing to get it. What’s more, people are being mysteriously frozen to death all over the city, encased on the spot in sub-zero, icy tableaux.
When Dublin’s most seductive nightclub gets blanketed in hoarfrost, Dani finds herself at the mercy of Ryodan, the club’s ruthless, immortal owner. He needs her quick wit and exceptional skill to figure out what’s freezing Fae and humans dead in their tracks—and Ryodan will do anything to ensure her compliance.
Dodging bullets, fangs, and fists, Dani must strike treacherous bargains and make desperate alliances to save her beloved Dublin—before everything and everyone in it gets iced.
My Review:
As a big fan of the Fever series, I was super excited to hear about its spinoff. Especially because after the way the last book ended, there was certainly much more to tell within the Fever world! But I will be the first to admit that I wasn’t too sure about it being from Dani’s POV. I found her somewhat annoying in the Fever series so I wasn’t sure if the book being from her perspective would ruin it for me. As it turns out that was actually my favorite thing about this book.
Dani has a strong, witty, and fun voice; and in a world that is now so dark it is a much-needed reprieve to be within her head. She does have her immature moments, after all she’s only fourteen, but for the most part I really grew to love her character quickly after starting this book and I’m now really looking forward to getting some more of the Mega in the next two books. 
Then there’s the story itself, which of course Moning does best. As always, she’s a master storyteller who is able to weave a tale that is filled with mystery, adventure, and action. Not to my surprise, I did not figure out the mystery part of it, but that’s a good thing, of course; and the action and adventure was definitely up to par with the Fever series as well.
The only downside with this book is that Dani is fourteen. This limits so much and it creates some awkwardness while Moning is clearly setting up a few different potential love interests — who are far older than Dani. Both of these love interests seem to be intent on “waiting” for Dani — obviously until she’s older. But the idea really kind of threw me for a loop. There were times I was really rooting for one guy in particular, but I’m just not sure how she’ll will make it work within just two more books (since it’s a trilogy) — unless one or both books skips forward in time by a few years. I’m still not entirely on board with the whole idea, but it’s done in a fairly decent way and I’m sure it will end up working out in the end.
Besides Dani, some of the side characters from Fever are brought to the forefront of the story in Iced — in particular some other members of Barrons entourage. I love these guys! Seriously, I know I’ll fall for each one of them and I really hope they all get some page time. In this one we get to know Ryodan (the owner of Chester’s) and Lor a bit — and yes, I already love both of them. We also get a few more clues about their kind. Even though we kind-of know what Barrons is (and assuming they’re the same — therefore the rest of the guys), we clearly still don’t really know everything about them. So it will be fun to get more clues to put together as far as that goes.
Overall this was a great book. I can’t say that I’m in love with it as much as the Fever series (at least not yet), but it still sucked me right back into a world I very much love and can’t wait to see more of. Dani is a surprisingly wonderful protagonist and the story was top notch. Now I just have to wait for the next one…
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