Title: Shadowfever
Author: Karen Marie Moning
Series: Fever, #5
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Delacorte (Imprint of Random House)
Date Published: January 18th, 2011
Edition: Hardcover
Rating:
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.
My Review:
The first word that comes to mind after finishing this book is epic. This book was absolutely incredible. It’s long, but even so you don’t want it to end! Going into this book forget all your theories. Forget all your guesses and assumptions. Because Shadowfever will throw them out the window for you if you don’t do it yourself. Everything you thought you knew, everything you thought you’d guessed and figured out, you didn’t. Nothing happens the way you will have played out in your mind because this book does it better.
Going into this book I was fully ready for the roller coaster of emotions it would give me, but it still blew me away. It made me sad, depressed, angry, confused, excited, happy, giddy, and everything in between. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time while at the same time I was holding back, trying to keep it from ending as quickly as it began.
After reading this I can understand now why there are so many reviews for this book out there that cry spoiler warning. It’s difficult to sum up ones feelings about this book without throwing in a spoiler here and there. But I’ll save that for later and put it behind a spoiler warning.
For all those out there who have yet to read this series, or have yet to finish it. I urge you to drop everything and pick it up. What I’ve loved most about this series is the mysteries. The questions that keep coming at a rapid pace and never seem to be answered. I loved being able to form my own theories about any and everything throughout this series, only to have it all smashed to pieces because I didn’t have a clue. I love that I was wrong about mostly everything because it made this book so much more interesting.
Overall, this series couldn’t have ended better. If you’re wondering if all the questions you formed will be answered, the answer to that is yes. There aren’t any loose ends. Everything is tied up nicely (in my opinion) and all the mysteries are solved. It probably won’t happen in the way you thought it will, I can guarantee you that. But still go on with your theories and opinions because that’s what half the fun is about. This is easily one of my favorite series now and I can’t wait to pick this back up one day down the road again. I already want to read them all over again and I’ve just finished!
Now for my spoiler-filled final thoughts. Obviously don’t read these unless you’ve read the series in its entirety because they contain MAJOR SPOILERS.
I loved…
- That Barrons and Mac are finally happy together.
- That they will have “forever” together.
- That the story didn’t end all roses and sunshine with the walls back up and the world the same as it was before. The world isn’t the same now. It’s forever changed.
- That even though we know what Barrons is, we still don’t really know. He’s still mysterious and left open to interpretation.
- That every little mystery was answered. Right down to why “dreamy-eyed-guy” always seemed so interested in Mac.
- How long it was. I wish it could’ve been longer!
- That Mac was finally able to do what SHE came to Dublin to do, get revenge for her sister’s murder. She was able to finally kill her sister’s true murderers — all of them.
The only thing I wish was a little different was how it ended with Dani. I hope that if there truly is a spinoff series of some sort that we find out what happened between them. I wish they would’ve been able to have a conversation before the end of the book.
I also am a bit sad that V’lane/Cruce ended up being evil. Although I didn’t want him for Mac, I was amused by him and he grew on me over time.
I am kind of hoping that the spinoff series will be about Barrons’ other 8. I want to know more about them in general and I think they should get love too! 
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