REVIEW by Jena: Fever Moon: The Fear Dorcha by Karen Marie Moning (@KarenMMoning)

In Fever Moon, we meet the most ancient and deadly Unseelie ever created, the Fear Dorcha. For eons, he’s traveled worlds with the Unseelie king, leaving behind him a path of mutilation and destruction. Now he’s hunting Dublin, and no one Mac loves is safe.

Dublin is a war zone. The walls between humans and Fae are down. A third of the world’s population is dead and chaos reigns. Imprisoned over half a million years ago, the Unseelie are free and each one Mac meets is worse than the last. Human weapons don’t stand a chance against them.

With a blood moon hanging low over the city, something dark and sinister begins to hunt the streets of Temple Bar, choosing its victims by targeting those closest to Mac. Armed only with the Spear of Destiny and Jericho Barrons, she must face her most terrifying enemy yet.

I have to start this review off by saying I am somewhat of a moron. I make a point to NOT read book summaries if I can avoid it because of the overwhelming number of authors there are out there who are incapable of writing a synopsis without spoiling the plotline. When I heard that Fever Moon was coming out, that was all I needed to know. I had just wrapped up the Fever series and was jonesin’ for more in a bad way. Aside from some fleeting details here and there, I really knew nothing more of the book than:

a) Mac is in it
b) Barrons is in it
c) there’s a chance we will see Ryo

Good ‘nuff! I pre-ordered my Kindle copy and counted down the days until release day.

Well, first, I was ready to sh*t frisbies when I realized on the 10^th that although the hard cover was out, the publisher was hanging on to the Kindle copy until the 24^th. That’s TWO WEEKS longer I had to wait because I am moving forward with technology rather than letting it leave me in the dust. Ugh! I hate to say it kids but as I fill in that wonderful book release calendar on the site, I am noticing that the eBook delay is becoming a trend in the publishing world so look out for that when pre-ordering. Anyway, back to the review.

So the morning of the 24^th rolls around and I grab my Kindle and hop on my network at home. Then POOF!!!!!! Mac, in all of her bad ass glory that she acquired when becoming what is essentially a comic book character, graces my screen. I also want to add here that Fever Moon was my first graphic novel on my Kindle Fire and I love it!!! You can zoom in on a panel and when you swipe like your turning the page, it goes to the next individual panel. This is great for those of us who really should be going to an eye doctor about that fact that we cant see too well. However, you lose something by doing this.

If you’re anything like me, you actually enjoy the artwork in graphic novels. Well, when using this zoom feature, some of the bigger panels only show you a portion of the panel. The portion where the dialog is drawn in. So FYI, watch out for that. Again, BACK TO THE REVIEW!

I bought this book without reading the synopsis. Somewhere on the web, I had seen that someone said that Fever Moon took place right after the events of ShadowFever. This person was wrong.

I was about 13% through the book and was starting to feel unbelievably disappointed in Ms. Moning’s effort. Something I NEVER thought I would say. I ended up shooting an e-mail over to my fangirls (they’re the ones that turned me into a big Fever freak so they get to listen to me bitch about it when I want to) and said that I was already confused/not happy with Fever Moon as the story seems to take two steps in the wrong frikkin direction. Barrons and Mizz Lane were right back to acting like their dumb non-committing selves and when I finished Shadowfever, I thought we were done with that crap! Ugh!!!

Well…… Ginny (fangirl#1) and Amber (fangirl #2) informed me that Fever Moon actually takes place parallel to ShadowFever. It runs along side it, not after it. Once I knew that, I hit plot points that line up with ShadowFever and suddenly my UF/PNR loving world made sense again. That’s when it happened….

All feelings of skepticism fell to the wayside and I fell into a hardcore case of bookish lust with Fever Moon.

The story itself follows what was essentially a very brief moment in the Fever world books. Mac meets The Fear Dorcha at the bar in Chester’s and Dreamy Eyed Guy sort of chases him off before he can do his damage to her. In Fever Moon: The Fear Dorcha, Mizz Moning expands on that story line, wrapping the rest of the story line in with it. Remember that raw intensity you felt when reading the Fever series??? Well, it’s back with a vengeance in Fever Moon. It’s a great new mystery wrapped up with some classic moments that we all know and now get to see illustrated. If you were looking for a 100% new story, you’re going to be disappointed. But if you loved the Fever series as much as I did, you’re going to love the new twist on some old scenes.

It’s a very fast read being a graphic novel. I blew through it in no time. Aside from being a graphic novel, the story moves fast in the same manner that the other Fever books did. However, I do have to say, the key to the mystery, the secret ingredient that solves the big puzzle – totally DUMB. It doesn’t ruin the ending of the book by any means but it was very disappointing. Mizz Moning is so much better than that! The solution to The Fear Dorcha puzzle was just stupid. I had one thought when I read Mac figuring out what to do. Really?

Now, as for the illustrated part of the book…

I have ONE complaint. The Fever series brought us an epic character. He’s smooth. He’s sexy. He’s cocky. He’s rugged and debonair at the same time. He’s worldy. He’s a super natural creature. He’s a hunter. He’s a killer. He’s an assassin. He’s a protector. He’s a raging smart ass. He’s…….well, he’s Barrons. He’s just perfect. What he is NOT is Asian…..

Really?!?!?!?! Karen Marie Moning was INVOLVED in the creation of this graphic novel and she allowed her masterpiece to be turned into that!??!?! I understand that everyone is going to have an interpretation of what a character looks like. But Mizz Moning has ALWAYS been incredibly clear about Barrons and what he looks like. And that ain’t it!

Aside from the Barrons hiccup, the illustrators did an AMAZING job with this series. Mac looks incredible. Even with her rather giant comic book ass, I would KILL to be built like that. She looks awesome.

Here are some of my favorite panels from Fever Moon:

This one is the panel that actually ended up becoming the cover. This is Mac looking out over the new Dublin.

A few of Mac fighting….

Mac talking with Dreamy Eyed Guy

Jericho removing the Fae’s name from Mac’s tounge

And finally, Mac thinking back on what the Mac who came to Dublin looking for her sister’s murderer would think if she met the Mac of today. A great illustration of the way Mac changed over the course of the series.