Review: Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning

Title: Shadowfever
Author: Karen Marie Moning
Series: Fever #5
Pages: 594
Publisher: Delacorte
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Source: Library

Goodreads Description:
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.

There is NO way I can write this review without talking in depth about certain AWESOME happenings in this book. So SPOILER ALERT! Continue at your own risk!

My Review:
At the beginning of the book, I was completely heartbroken. I was like Mac...just lying there on the cold ground waiting for my heart to re-start. I couldn't believe what happened! And then...I didn't...I just thought to myself...there is no WAY that KMM would still have a fan base after killing off her main heart-throb...no freaking way. It was basically all that led me to continue. Barron's death really did a number on Mac. She became a complete 180 from the Mac who first got off the plane in Dublin. She was almost heartless when she thought that Barrons was dead. She hurts Dani, and teams up with the man she believes murdered her sister...the whole reason she came to Dublin was to kill him, and now she's his cuddle buddy. Wow...girlfriend's got something cracked up in her head....But at the same time I could see her point. If the man I loved died and it was AT ALL possible to bring him back, I would go to any extreme to do so. Morals = gone. The few that I still have clinging to me would be irrelevant and I would do anything and everything to save him. So on that level, I would have done the same thing that Mac did...team up and sleep with the enemy.

After leaving us with all sorts of cliffhangers and unanswered questions and dragging us through 4 books that never quite left me satisfied, Shadowfever finally delivered what I wanted. Seriously...There's so much ground to cover that I don't even know where to begin. I liked how The Unseelie King came out of nowhere and pretty much saved the day. The Unseelie princes are unmasked,  the Seelie queen is introduced, Mac's "heritage" is finally revealed, Alina's killer/s are finally caught ...kinda..and we FINALLY learn what Barrons is and why he acts the way he does. All of these answers were a long time coming and I was SO glad to finally have everything fall into place. I felt so betrayed by V'lane! I totally thought he was one of the good guys! I mean I knew there was something about him that was a little off, but I thought he was going to have some deep dark secret like Barrons did...I didn't see his plot-line coming at ALL.

One complaint I had was regarding the entire section in the middle where it's basically Mac talking to herself, questioning her decisions, and wondering what to do next. There was literally 15 pages where no action took place...whatsoever. You just sit there and listen to Mac think the same things over and OVER and OVER again. Then there was all of the times when Mac would make a decision and seem like she was going to stick with her choice and be strong, but then a chapter later she was already doubting herself or her choices. This book was huge...594 pages in hardcover. It kind of drove me nuts at how much of the book was just..thinking...even when there was some action going on, there would be huge paragraphs of silent monologue. That part threw me off. If this wasn't the 5th book and I wasn't already so invested in Barrons and Mac and Dani, I might have considered putting it down. Eventually though, things did get better and when the final pieces of the puzzle fell into place, the end of the book was non-stop action after action.

Okay. Let me just take a minute to freak out about Mac and Barrons FINALLYYYY getting together! *SQEALS!!!* I was pretty much jumping out of my chair and I have to admit I did literally squeal quite a few times when I was truly getting into the moment...tehe...but for real, the Mac/Barrons union was probably one of my favorite parts of the book. There were so many fantastic quotes about love or just Barrons or whatever! I could for real write a 2-3 page review just talking about the awesomeness of the Barrons quotes...instead I will just give you a few of my favorites right now...
 "Some people bring out the worst in you, others bring out the best, and then there are those remarkably rare, addictive ones who just bring out the most of you. Of everything. The good. The bad. Every single thing that makes you who you are is magnified when you're with them. And you're better for it."
"For me, I didn't get the erudition of 'I think therefore I am'...Instead, I got; 'I am, therefore I want to f**k Jericho Barrons.'"
You're Mac, he says. And I'm Jericho. And nothing else matters. Never will. You exist in a place that is beyond all rules for me. Do you understand that? I do. Jericho Barrons just told me that he loves me.
Le-swoon! If I hadn't already fallen for Jericho's bad boy combo savior attitude, I would have fallen right then! I totally love Barrons no matter what. He's demanding, insanely secretive, and very rude...but for some reason, he can be all of that and still be the man of my dreams. ahah.

I give Shadowfever a grudging 4 out of 5 Keys. Notice how this review has a lot of "finallys" in it.  I think that the lack of answers and making me wait so long for things to fall into place kind of hurt this series for me. I still enjoyed reading it, but I was exasperated almost the whole time. I got irritated with how drawn out everything seemed. It just goes along with my major hatred of series that are one continuous plot that gets extended through multiple books. I feel like a book should have a definite ending, with maybe a few loose ends and hints at a possible future book. Some books are just like "chapters" for one big huge novel and they really piss me off. That being said, I loved the way Shadowfever ended. There is the potential for a spin-off series or book, and there is only one loose end that I can think of. THAT is the kind of ending I was searching for.