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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
OK. Now we understand why Dani sometimes sounds like an annoying kid and others like a Rhodes Scholar. I didn't see that coming. Not sure I like the development but I understand it. Also, what was up with the Unseelie King creating these fecked up things? The Crimson Hag? The Gray Man/Woman? Ugh!
Originally posted on Three Little Birds Book Blog
Oh, Burned, Burned, Burned…I waited for you for so long, dreamed of you, hungered for you, and now that I’ve consumed you, I want more!!
Karen Marie Moning’s seventh installment in the Fever series was busting at the seams with action, stories, and characters, and when it exploded, I was left with many, many pieces of a very enthralling puzzle, but no clear picture in sight.
I can’t say that I loved this one. I really, really liked it, and I’m not necessarily dissatisfied, but I’m in that furrowed brow state, head tilted to the side, as I try to make sense of what I just read. One thing is certain: I liked Burned more than I liked Iced. A lot more. But I think that because of Iced, I didn’t love Burned as much as I could’ve. That doesn’t make a lot of sense, so I’ll try to explain:
STOP READING IF YOU HAVEN’T READ ICED.
If you’ve read Iced, then you know that there were a lot of characters with their own storyline going on, with Dani O’Malley’s being the most prominent. A lot of shit happened, and there were many questions unanswered when it ended – which is completely understandable with a series. That story ended with Dani at 14-years-old, facing off with her nemesis, trying to figure out how to save an Unseelie Prince who’s in love with her, while confounded by the inhuman, ageless beast who is obsessed with her. Burned picked up exactly where Iced left off, with Dani and Mac having a showdown, but then everything got a little weird, and shall I say unbelievable? Maybe not unbelievable (this is fantasy after all), but definitely, to me, unconvincing. Without giving anything away, I’ll say that Dani’s age dilemma was solved (somewhat), and I wasn’t feeling it.
I’ll admit that I was a fan who was crying foul when I found out that Dani would get three books before the series returned to being more Mac and Barrons centric. Dani annoyed me, and I couldn’t deal with being in her head for three whole books. No way! I also didn’t like the fact that she was so young, and couldn’t imagine living through any more cringe-worthy scenes involving her and Ryoden and Christian. So I was overjoyed when KMM announced that she’d be condensing Dani’s story to fit along with Mac’s in three books. Right now, I feel like I need to apologize if my negative response added pressure to KMM and her publishers, which resulted in the twisted knot that was Burned.
In my opinion, Burned had too much going on, and at the same time, not enough. The vast amounts of storylines paralleled and intertwined with each other, causing the Fever plot to resemble a complex mess similar to the LA highway system. Lately, I haven’t had the most focused attention span, so the multiple POVs made it very easy for me to get distracted. I never became very invested in the story, because I don’t think I was given the time to. I loved catching up with Mac again, but at the same time, after Iced, I wasn’t ready to let go of Dani. I felt like in trying to give us what we wanted, she sacrificed too much of Dani’s story. I didn’t love her, but throughout most of Burned, I kept wondering what the hell happened to her, and it prevented me from enjoying the other stories. I felt the same about Mac’s story as well. Since the end of Shadowfever, Mac has been struggling to control the powerful Sinsar Dubh, and I couldn’t get enough of reading about her antics as she fought to contain the dark power. Yet, I wasn’t 100% there with her, because I was being pulled in so many directions.
I still loved each character, I mean, every POV was entertaining – particularly Lor’s (yum!), and I am still gaga over KMM’s writing style, and her sheer creative genius, but in the end, I felt like she made herself smaller in order to please her fans. Similar to the Unseelie King, her imagination is larger than the cosmos, but she had to fit it into something small enough for us to understand it.
Honestly, I had such high expectations with this one, and I knew exactly what I wanted. And I got exactly what I wanted, but then after reading Burned, I realized that maybe that wasn’t what I wanted at all. In essence, I am impossible to please. Seriously though, I’ll just trust the artist from now on, and go with how they envision their work. That being said, if this is what KMM wanted, then I’m rolling with it. I did love the story, and any Fever fan will enjoy catching up with our beloved characters, so I will recommend it to those who haven’t read it yet. I am definitely going to read the rest of the series (how could I not?), because in essence, my biggest gripe was that I wanted more, so I’m going to sit and wait for more.
Oh, Burned, Burned, Burned…I waited for you for so long, dreamed of you, hungered for you, and now that I’ve consumed you, I want more!!
Karen Marie Moning’s seventh installment in the Fever series was busting at the seams with action, stories, and characters, and when it exploded, I was left with many, many pieces of a very enthralling puzzle, but no clear picture in sight.
I can’t say that I loved this one. I really, really liked it, and I’m not necessarily dissatisfied, but I’m in that furrowed brow state, head tilted to the side, as I try to make sense of what I just read. One thing is certain: I liked Burned more than I liked Iced. A lot more. But I think that because of Iced, I didn’t love Burned as much as I could’ve. That doesn’t make a lot of sense, so I’ll try to explain:
STOP READING IF YOU HAVEN’T READ ICED.
If you’ve read Iced, then you know that there were a lot of characters with their own storyline going on, with Dani O’Malley’s being the most prominent. A lot of shit happened, and there were many questions unanswered when it ended – which is completely understandable with a series. That story ended with Dani at 14-years-old, facing off with her nemesis, trying to figure out how to save an Unseelie Prince who’s in love with her, while confounded by the inhuman, ageless beast who is obsessed with her. Burned picked up exactly where Iced left off, with Dani and Mac having a showdown, but then everything got a little weird, and shall I say unbelievable? Maybe not unbelievable (this is fantasy after all), but definitely, to me, unconvincing. Without giving anything away, I’ll say that Dani’s age dilemma was solved (somewhat), and I wasn’t feeling it.
I’ll admit that I was a fan who was crying foul when I found out that Dani would get three books before the series returned to being more Mac and Barrons centric. Dani annoyed me, and I couldn’t deal with being in her head for three whole books. No way! I also didn’t like the fact that she was so young, and couldn’t imagine living through any more cringe-worthy scenes involving her and Ryoden and Christian. So I was overjoyed when KMM announced that she’d be condensing Dani’s story to fit along with Mac’s in three books. Right now, I feel like I need to apologize if my negative response added pressure to KMM and her publishers, which resulted in the twisted knot that was Burned.
In my opinion, Burned had too much going on, and at the same time, not enough. The vast amounts of storylines paralleled and intertwined with each other, causing the Fever plot to resemble a complex mess similar to the LA highway system. Lately, I haven’t had the most focused attention span, so the multiple POVs made it very easy for me to get distracted. I never became very invested in the story, because I don’t think I was given the time to. I loved catching up with Mac again, but at the same time, after Iced, I wasn’t ready to let go of Dani. I felt like in trying to give us what we wanted, she sacrificed too much of Dani’s story. I didn’t love her, but throughout most of Burned, I kept wondering what the hell happened to her, and it prevented me from enjoying the other stories. I felt the same about Mac’s story as well. Since the end of Shadowfever, Mac has been struggling to control the powerful Sinsar Dubh, and I couldn’t get enough of reading about her antics as she fought to contain the dark power. Yet, I wasn’t 100% there with her, because I was being pulled in so many directions.
I still loved each character, I mean, every POV was entertaining – particularly Lor’s (yum!), and I am still gaga over KMM’s writing style, and her sheer creative genius, but in the end, I felt like she made herself smaller in order to please her fans. Similar to the Unseelie King, her imagination is larger than the cosmos, but she had to fit it into something small enough for us to understand it.
Honestly, I had such high expectations with this one, and I knew exactly what I wanted. And I got exactly what I wanted, but then after reading Burned, I realized that maybe that wasn’t what I wanted at all. In essence, I am impossible to please. Seriously though, I’ll just trust the artist from now on, and go with how they envision their work. That being said, if this is what KMM wanted, then I’m rolling with it. I did love the story, and any Fever fan will enjoy catching up with our beloved characters, so I will recommend it to those who haven’t read it yet. I am definitely going to read the rest of the series (how could I not?), because in essence, my biggest gripe was that I wanted more, so I’m going to sit and wait for more.
I am all over the place with this one. Love and hate it. I am sucked in enough to read the next one though.
WHAT! That reveal at the start, oh my gosh. This was a great book building up to the epic fight that is certainly coming! It was great to see more develop between Mac and Barrons.
Loved this book! LOVE the series! Love the world KMM has created. It's my favorite alternate reality, by far! Can not wait for the next one!!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
“What I know, brother, is you break every goddamned rule for Mac.”
“Back at you, Ry. Difference is, I’ll help you do it.”
“Lor has never been Pri-ya.” Ryodan shakes his head in disgust. “The princess can’t turn us. Son of a bitch, Mac’s ass is—”
“Mine,” Barrons says flatly. “You will never go there. You have a problem with Mac, you work it out with me. I am her shield, I am her second fucking skin.”
Better not cross Barrons! I could not get enough of Burned, there were three big twists that had me shell-shocked and I'm still reeling from them. There's so much action and drama when it comes to these characters that it never gets boring. Can't wait to see what Karen Marie Moning has up her sleeve for the next one.
“Back at you, Ry. Difference is, I’ll help you do it.”
“Lor has never been Pri-ya.” Ryodan shakes his head in disgust. “The princess can’t turn us. Son of a bitch, Mac’s ass is—”
“Mine,” Barrons says flatly. “You will never go there. You have a problem with Mac, you work it out with me. I am her shield, I am her second fucking skin.”
Better not cross Barrons! I could not get enough of Burned, there were three big twists that had me shell-shocked and I'm still reeling from them. There's so much action and drama when it comes to these characters that it never gets boring. Can't wait to see what Karen Marie Moning has up her sleeve for the next one.
4.2 fairly content stars
My preconceptions about the book:
I was quite skeptical about a return to Macs POV, but I never had the many, many problems people love to point out about Mac; that she's 'whiny' and that 'you hated her as the main character', and other things along those lines.
I really wanted it to be from Dani's point of view, not because of my 'burning hatred for Mac' but because I really liked the way things were progressing with her which we got to know in 'Iced', so that also slightly coloured my judgment of the book
My thoughts when reading the book:
It feels kinda like this book is slightly disjointed from the rest of the 'Fever' books for a number of reasons:
1.The Dani I saw at the beginning of 'Burned' did not feel entirely like the one I left at the end of 'Iced'. Mentions of Ryodan and dreams I didn't really think she would be having, and something about the language was just...off
2. The 'Nine'. In the previous books they were steamy, as well as intimidating and mysterious. This book mostly shows the steamy. On one hand, their behavior being more 'human' makes them more easy to get a read on and makes it easier for me to like them, but on the other hand that element of unpredictability is gone, and I'm no longer feeling that sense that they're unfeeling, cold, ruthless or morally dubious and I'm not longer finding myself questioning their actions.
3. The 'creepy' factor. I don't know what it was about the other books, whenever I read them I felt pulled by something dark, sensual and...creepy. 'Burned' had the sensual (oh yes it did) but less of the other two
Another thing I've got to say is, although I didn't really mind the numerous POVs, I feel like they should have been utilized more, rather then having Mac acting as a voyeur on all these interesting altercations. And Mac's anecdotes; there were too many. Some of them I just skipped through entirely in order to get to the gritty bits of the story.
My thoughts about the plot:
Too short
There were some answered questions, and many more new ones I found whilst reading this book and I'm looking forwards to learning the answers. My heart is aching for Dani and I'm glad Jo got to the point she did. I also loved the glimpses we got into Christan's past, and how it connects with his own choices. I loved the tension between Mac and Barrons, whilst knowing that they still have each others backs regardless. I loved learning about the Nine's relationships and interactions with each other. I loved Ryoden. I loved the peeks we had of the Unseelie King and his concubine.
I am very much looking forward to the next book, no matter the direction KMM wants to take it.
If you can't handle the heat prepare to get burned sorry that was waaay too cheesy, but I couldn't resist
My preconceptions about the book:
I was quite skeptical about a return to Macs POV, but I never had the many, many problems people love to point out about Mac; that she's 'whiny' and that 'you hated her as the main character', and other things along those lines.
I really wanted it to be from Dani's point of view, not because of my 'burning hatred for Mac' but because I really liked the way things were progressing with her which we got to know in 'Iced', so that also slightly coloured my judgment of the book
My thoughts when reading the book:
It feels kinda like this book is slightly disjointed from the rest of the 'Fever' books for a number of reasons:
1.The Dani I saw at the beginning of 'Burned' did not feel entirely like the one I left at the end of 'Iced'. Mentions of Ryodan and dreams I didn't really think she would be having, and something about the language was just...off
2. The 'Nine'. In the previous books they were steamy, as well as intimidating and mysterious. This book mostly shows the steamy. On one hand, their behavior being more 'human' makes them more easy to get a read on and makes it easier for me to like them, but on the other hand that element of unpredictability is gone, and I'm no longer feeling that sense that they're unfeeling, cold, ruthless or morally dubious and I'm not longer finding myself questioning their actions.
3. The 'creepy' factor. I don't know what it was about the other books, whenever I read them I felt pulled by something dark, sensual and...creepy. 'Burned' had the sensual (oh yes it did) but less of the other two
Another thing I've got to say is, although I didn't really mind the numerous POVs, I feel like they should have been utilized more, rather then having Mac acting as a voyeur on all these interesting altercations. And Mac's anecdotes; there were too many. Some of them I just skipped through entirely in order to get to the gritty bits of the story.
My thoughts about the plot:
Too short
There were some answered questions, and many more new ones I found whilst reading this book and I'm looking forwards to learning the answers. My heart is aching for Dani and I'm glad Jo got to the point she did. I also loved the glimpses we got into Christan's past, and how it connects with his own choices. I loved the tension between Mac and Barrons, whilst knowing that they still have each others backs regardless. I loved learning about the Nine's relationships and interactions with each other. I loved Ryoden. I loved the peeks we had of the Unseelie King and his concubine.
I am very much looking forward to the next book, no matter the direction KMM wants to take it.
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious