Feversong (Fever Series #9)

I read Feversong about two weeks ago, shortly after it was released on January 17, 2017.

Feversong book cover

I had the date marked on my calendar for months. I had pre-ordered it on my Nook. If I had not gone to Seattle the weekend prior for a baby shower, I would have tried to convince my husband I needed to go to the book launch party in New Orleans. I have read all the Fever Series books at least once – the original five I’ve read probably four or five times. A few times, my tweets have been “liked” or “retweeted” by the author, Karen Marie Moning, and I’ve had some fangirl moments. Suffice to say, I am a HUGE fan of the Fever world.

So I was excited. This was going to be it: the concluding chapter to the characters of Mac and Barrons (there will, per KMM, be future books set in the Fever World, but they will be other character’s stories).Where we last saw them, there were black holes forming all over Dublin (and presumably around the world), Mac had read The Book and had supposedly gone completely to the dark side, Jada was finally not acting like a complete bitch to everyone, V’lane really wants to be in charge and taken seriously, and Barrons and his buddies are going to do whatever they need to do in order to save their world – or, at a minimum, ensure they survive in it.

I was ready for action. For characters fighting for what they wanted and for what they believed in. For them to finally be working together, because ultimately they all want the same thing: for the world not to disappear. But Mac and Barrons had a rough few books lately and gosh darn it they deserve some sort of resolution. Let’s be honest: Mac was annoying to start with, but you grow to love her, and Barrons is awesome from the get-go. I was curious to see where their path took them, I wanted to see their friends and their side-stories, I wanted to get back into that world.

excited meme

I read it in one day.

And . . .

. . . Sort of hated it.

I know, I know. Most people LOVE this book, as is evidenced on all the store websites, like this one at Barnes & Noble, where it’s currently got a 4.6-star average (out of 5 stars total). And at Amazon, where it’s currently at 4.8-stars; or at Goodreads, where it’s currently sitting at 4.41-stars. So it’s got thousands of reviews, mostly favorable ones. Feel free to stop reading right here and stay inside your happy “I loved this book” bubble. I won’t blame you.

(Minor spoilers below.)

Here’s why I did not love this book: it was boring, it was too much about Dani’s romance with Dancer, and it was predictable. Coincidentally, these are the same reasons I LOVED the first five books and most of the others: they were action-packed, it focused on Mac and Barrons, and there were turns and cliffhangers and surprises everywhere. I just thought this book fell flat.

The Sinsar Dubh occupies a huge chunk of the book – the story is literally told from its point of view. Which is fine. But it keeps insisting that it’s evil and powerful and hates its weak little human body . . . over and over and over and over again. And then about 100 more times.

The black holes are, indeed, growing and getting closer to demolishing parts of Dublin. So other than putting up barriers so people don’t walk into them, we’re waiting for someone to either learn the Song of Making or figure it out electronically. Otherwise, not much going on with these.

V’lane is pouting, for lack of a better word. He wants all the power to rule the Fae, but, too bad for him, the Sinsar Dubh has made Mac a pretty powerful person in the Fae world, and traditionally the power goes to a female . . . Anyway. He wants to be in charge of the Fae. And maybe have Mac as his own little girlfriend. So, nothing new there.

Ryodan still loves Dani/Jada. But he still won’t do anything about it. Dani/Jada still thinks Dancer is always going to be there for her, even though she’s sorta attracted to Ryodan and is still hung up on this “Jada has no feelings” kick. So that not-quite-relationship is dragged out. Again. See how many times I use the word “still”? Yeah. No resolution in sight, people.

The Seelie Queen, aka the Concubine, wants nothing to do with the Unseelie King. So, nothing much changed from the last few books. The Unseelie King wants her to make a choice, and, once she does, he decides maybe he doesn’t want to make any more decisions, either.

Mac and Barrons were . . . normal? Barrons was considerate, talkative, cooperative, and I’d say he was more romantic in this book. Almost tame. It went against everything I’ve ever thought about him, and I wasn’t sure I liked it. Mac was more decisive and more honest, which was an improvement, but her “escape” from the book was  . . . like getting out of a chair after a nap. It just happened. Literally. And their ending was predictable and happy and a little bit of a let-down.

I will also admit that I may have skimmed a few pages – I just got bored. I hate even to use that word: “bored”. But I was. What happened to all the action and fast-paced nature of the plot and unconventional romance of Mac and Barrons and twists and excitement? Those elements were in abundance for most of the books, but this one just seemed to fall flat.

And the storyline just seems . . . off, somehow. Mac does a tally at some point in Feversong: it’s been just about a year since the first book events took place. Which puts us still stuck in 2007. First, how has all this happened in one year? It just seems this should have taken more time. There were months spent pri-ya. Months spent watching black holes get bigger. At least a month when she pretended to side with Darroc. So all those other books took place over just the few months left in the year? It just doesn’t seem right. And there are references to pop culture – for example, the Game of Thrones tv show – which was definitely not out in 2007. Just little odd things like that seem to add to the disappointment I felt in this book.

So, yes. I’m disappointed. To be fair, I had ridiculously high expectations. The first five books – Darkfever, Bloodfever, Faefever, Dreamfever, and Shadowfever – exceeded my high expectations. I could have done without Iced (not a big Dani fan) but I enjoyed Burned and Feverborn. And I had high hopes for Feversong.

I just couldn’t love it. And, trust me, I tried.

Overall: 5/10. I still love the Fever world, and I’ll still recommend the first five books to everyone, but I thought Feversong fell flat.

disappointed meme

 

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