All here. Interesting premise, breakneck pacing, the return of favorite characters, new nasties to battle, comedy, suspense, character development...and not one sigh of relief.
...There be Spoilers ahead...
Dani - We are finally allowed into the deep places that generate her attitude and chosen lifestyle. Finally out of the cage, off the collar (literally) and unencumbered by Rowena's suffocating influence, she is giddy with freedom and in a headlong rush everywhere... because she can. And because she wants to "superhero" everyone to safety. Nobody gonna starve in a cage on her watch.
Kat/Sean/Cruce - The chapters from mentally tortured empath Kat's POV are...well, torturous. "Soul mate" Sean - blah. Kat's attempt to withstand Cruce's mental seduction - admirable but waaaay too drawn out. Kat seems to have morphed from the no-nonsense warrior who fought back-to-back with Mac, into a nunnish, funereal, hand wringing wreck. OK. Going will-to-will against War can take a lot out of a person. I get it. But still, too much ink on this. The only interesting Kat moment occurs when she discovers she can't "see" Ryodan on her empathic radar. She speculates there is nothing there to see. Ryodan points out that it might be her lack, not his. (Ya think?) Also, seems odd that he constantly touches her during their encounters, taking her hands, kissing her cheek, stroking her arms, holding her gently. Seduction? Manipulation? Soothing? Just wondering...
Christian - Ah. Gorgeous, scary, erotic, horrifying, almost Unseelie Prince Christian. No older-guy-hot-for-barely-teen-girl "ick" factor here at all. IMO, Christian isn't actually in love with Dani. In the Fever books, he was literally saturated in the love tale of the Unseelie King and the Concubine while trapped in the White Mansion, and that is the framework for his attentions to Dani. The more Unseelie Prince he becomes, the more connected he becomes to the tale. To him, Dani is an ideal, his "princess", "damsel", "angel", a shining light in his growing darkness, not the souped up 14 year old street urchin she still is at this point. Or not. We'll see. Ironically, some of the best comedic moments in Iced result from Christian's quirky, ongoing transformation.
Dancer - A likeable character who would seem the logical front runner as Dani's eventual love interest. Or not. KMM is tricksy, and Dancer is a complete question mark. He is depicted as a mostly laid back, somewhat geeky 17 year old, but surprizes us with his complete lack of fear of Ryodan and Christian (even taking command and barking at them on occasion), and we are given hints of dark secrets-yet-to-unfold. Read: Fasten our seatbelts when KMM delivers on those hints.
Lor - The member of The Nine least likely to know what century it is. This beastie is a keeper. Love his sense of humor and am intrigued by his affectionate, avuncular treatment of "the kid".
Kasteo - There are only brief mentions of him in Iced, but how is it he reported anything to Ryodan about childhood-Dani when he allegedly has not spoken a word to anyone in 1000 years? (A little matter of his brethren killing the love of his life...)
"Shadow" - Hellooooo, number six! So far we have been allowed to know Barrons, Ryodan, Lor, Fade and Kasteo. Hoping the introduction of "Shadow" foreshadows (pun intended) additional detail, more back-story and greater focus on each of these guys, including the three who are still unnamed. These creatures are IMO the most delicious mystery and the true beating heart of Fever world...and of their own series if we should be so lucky.
Ryodan - Several reviews have remarked on what an abusive brute Ryodan is. Brute, yes. An animal, in fact. Just like everyone's beloved Barrons and the other seven. Not men who turn into a beasts, but beasts wearing the skins of men. Abusive? Ryodan does not damage Dani any more than she damages herself by freeze framing into things. He seems to be all about putting Dani on his "Mine" list, being her exclusive trainer, assigning one of his guys to baby-sit her, fending off the advances of supposed suitors, musing about what a magnificent woman she will be and, most significantly, NOT including her in the outsiders-must-die-if-they-learn-we-are-immortal thing. So here's a thought - Perhaps Dani is allowed to live because, after watching her since age 9 and testing her capabilities with this frost mystery, Ryodan determines she is, at least partly, one of them. Part beast. Let's review - Mom was a pleasure loving bumble bee with many casual liaisons, but who was dad? Where did Dani get her super hearing, sight, speed, et al? Just like Barrons and his guys. Just like Ryodan. Granted, she hasn't gone all horned and fanged yet, but there was that interlude during which we got to follow her into her internal "cave" and meet the very Nine-like creature within. And the business of Dani and Ryodan thinking so alike in battle. And that exchange between Dani and Ryodan in which she insists she wants to be immortal like him...and he says to ask again when she's older, rather like a father saying "we'll see." A father. Maybe this isn't Ryodan waiting for a prospective mate to grow up, but rather tempering a daughter while she grows up. Which brings us back to Ryodan's right hand guy, Lor, treating Dani in such an avuncular manner, like a protoge. An insider. And to Ryodan's attentions detouring to Jo. (More about that travesty below.)
On the other hand, arch sorceress KMM might bring us back full circle in later books to Dani and Ryodan as an eventual mated pair. (Would vastly prefer that. Equal juice and all.) If so, a word about the age difference issue. When Dani is a few years older and, hopefully, wiser, a liaison with Ryodan would be no different than the one between Mac and Barrons. Mac - 20 something, Barrons- in the thousands. Dani - 20 something (or late teens - she's a bit of a prodigy), Ryodan - in the thousands. Same/same.
The only deal breakers on this series for me would be if KMM allows Ryodan to be "K'Vrucked" - or - diminishes him by leaving him in a "relationship" with Jo. In Iced, that pairing is the definition of anticlimactic. It would be characteristic for Ryodan to enjoy a mutually satisfying sexual interlude with Jo (The Nine apparently use sex both to calm down and to recharge...ergo that "shaking" scene after Ryodan gets nearly-frozen-to-death Dani back to Chester's), while he uses Jo as an information conduit about Abbey doings, per her starry eyed remark to Dani that she and Ryodan are a couple and "tell each other everything".(Uh huh) He does seem to be protective of her, but as a permanent couple? No. Ryodan is epic. Jo is not. An imbalance of that magnitude would be a total waste of one of the most complex and tantalizing alphas KMM has ever written.
Am I over-thinking all of this? Sure. Anything to do with Fever World calls out for it. That is the genius of KMM's work. We get so involved with and proprietary of her characters/worlds that, even when she takes things in a direction that infuriates or disappoints, we're still with her. Celebrating, speculating, dissecting, griping, analyzing, and always, always anticipating the next anything. Might as well go ahead and buy the book. And the next. And the next. Got to.
***Correction*** Have dodged the Rhyodan/Dani father/daughter thing. Found an interview with KMM in which she indicates they are NOT related. Let the games continue...
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AlphaGirlReviews
An Uncool Love Triangle Ruins This Teen Heroine’s Story
Reviewed in India on September 25, 2018
AlphaGirlReviews
Reviewed in India on September 25, 2018
Author Karen Marie Moning has set the bar so high with the first five books in the Fever series that even she finds it difficult keeping up with it let alone surpassing it. Though Iced reflects Moning's exceptional style of writing and is also gripping to a certain extent, it still lacks gravity. The plot is thin and has limited scope for stretching. Also, the characters are not strong enough to keep you invested in their lives.
Yes, the two old men Ryodan and Christian lusting after the teenaged Dani is indeed an issue as pointed out by several readers. It especially becomes an issue when Dani keeps reminding the reader of her tender age. Had she not been mentioning the fact that she is barely 14-years-old, readers for once could have ignored that one important detail and tried to go on with the love triangle or rectangle.
All in all, Iced is not a good pick. However, even I feel disappointed by this one, I will still continue with the Fever series hoping to get more of Mac and Barrons.
Full review on AlphaGirlReviews.com.
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