Review: Shadowfever

Shadowfever (Fever Series #5)
by Karen Marie Moning
Urban Fantasy
Amazon  /  Goodreads

Plot Summary:

“Evil is a completely different creature, Mac. Evil is bad that believes it’s good.” — 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.

Review:

This is the last book that wraps up MacKayla's storyline and it is the longest of the series yet.  But it has a lot of things to wrap up.  After the cliffhanger ending of "Dreamfever", I wasn't expected yet another very shocking revelation in the beginning of this book.  Yet after that really awesome reveal, I felt like this book started having some pacing issues.  MacKayla got to be a little annoying as well in some of her reactions which was unexpected because I have grown to love her character so much.  Of course I don't want to reveal any spoilers, but in some ways I'm sure other readers were happy with the developments.

The plot really does take it's time though, as the reader finds out all of the different character's secrets and we learn more about what Mac might be and what happened before she was adopted in Georgia.  The world-building is excellent as always, and there are so many different aspects that were revealed that were utterly fascinating.  I loved seeing more of the fae world and how different it is to our own.  The rules of the fae were interesting, as were the effects of being in that dimension.

There's so much going on in this book, that I'm finding it very difficult to discuss certain aspects without revealing any spoilers.  So with just focusing on my feelings as I was reading this - I was at times impatient for the story to move forward, for Mac to get a grip on what was happening, and for other characters to step up to their duty.  But, there were a few (like four) absolutely jaw-dropping developments that made me want to jump up and down in outrage/shock, and for that I loved this book.  It's a mark of a good story for me when it shocks and surprises like this.  It's amazing how absolutely unbelievable some revelations are.

The denouement of the story was excellent as well - the author did a great job of wrapping up every thread and bringing Mac's story to it's rightful conclusion.  I was very happy with the book as a whole, although I'm not sure what to do with myself with a Fever series book that has not ended on a nail-biting cliffhanger!