Burned

Book: Burned
Series: Fever #7
Author: Karen Marie Moning

It’s easy to walk away from lies. Power is another thing.

MacKayla Lane would do anything to save the home she loves. A gifted sidhe-seer, she’s already fought and defeated the deadly Sinsar Dubh—an ancient book of terrible evil—yet its hold on her has never been stronger.

When the wall that protected humans from the seductive, insatiable Fae was destroyed on Halloween, long-imprisoned immortals ravaged the planet. Now Dublin is a war zone with factions battling for control. As the city heats up and the ice left by the Hoar Frost King melts, tempers flare, passions run red-hot, and dangerous lines get crossed.

Seelie and Unseelie vie for power against nine ancient immortals who have governed Dublin for millennia; a rival band of sidhe-seers invades the city, determined to claim it for their own; Mac’s former protégé and best friend, Dani “Mega” O’Malley, is now her fierce enemy; and even more urgent, Highland druid Christian MacKeltar has been captured by the Crimson Hag and is being driven deeper into Unseelie madness with each passing day. The only one Mac can depend on is the powerful, dangerous immortal Jericho Barrons, but even their fiery bond is tested by betrayal.

It’s a world where staying alive is a constant struggle, the line between good and evil gets blurred, and every alliance comes at a price. In an epic battle against dark forces, Mac must decide who she can trust, and what her survival is ultimately worth.-Goodreads

Review: There are no words with how excited I was to read this book. Was it perfect? No. Did I devour it in almost one sitting? Yes. Let's dive in...

Mac was the main character in Fever books 1-5 and I thought Dani was the main focus for 6-8. Although I wasn't a huge fan of Dani's POV in Iced (young and immature) I was excited to see how she matured in this book. I knew Mac was going to play a bigger role in Burned but I was surprised she was the main POV. Don't get me wrong, I love Mac, but she spent most of her time in this book extremely passive and invisible. If you haven't read the book, you may be wondering what I mean by invisible. I mean it literally. She spent a good portion of the book invisible, eavesdropping on people. She also spent a good amount of time complaining about how horny she was and/or commenting on how hot every male around her was. Seeing her lust after everyone including Ryodan was just a little weird. There is even a scene were she has to meet with the Unseelie Princes who raped her and she comments on how hot they are. Um....what?!?! Mac wasn't her normal kick-ass self until the end of the book and I think I said out loud 'finally!' Some other issues I had-the main theme of the book is rescuing Christian, but I feel like that plot was secondary to Mac being invisible and horny.  

Now..what did I like? First of all, a summary of characters, places and things was included with the book and it was fabulous. I haven't read her MacKeltar series so I appreciated the recap. I loved the prologue written from Barrons perspective. There were a few scenes written from the perspective of Lor (one of the nine) that were hilarious. Kat only had a few sections but I think her character will be really interesting in the next installment. An Unseelie Princess was introduced in this book and has a lot of potential and while we didn't hear much from Christian, his character can go so many different ways. I'll avoid spoilers, but I really liked how Moning handled Dani's character in this book. I realize I am probably in the minority with that statement, but I liked the direction she took. I do wish we had more sections written from Dani's perspective (since she is supposed to be the main character) and I hope that is the case with book #8. I also like that the Sinsar Dubh is part of Mac and I can't wait to see how that plays out. There were also some great sections with the Unseelie King. 

Overall-while I didn't care for Mac's passive voice and the rescuing Christian plot was thin, I loved some of the secondary characters as well as the framework that was laid for the next installment: Unseelie Princess (princesses?), Sinsar Dubh inside Mac, V'Lane/Cruce, Kat, Lor, Unseelie King and the Seelie Queen...so many fab things to get excited about. I just hope have a more interesting main POV. 


Grade: 3.5/5