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A review by imaginary_space
Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
I originally gave this 2 stars a few years ago and wanted to try it again because I read a lot of articles, posts etc. telling me this book series is "not like the other urban fantasy series" and "does not have such a dumb and questionable romance" etc.
I don't particularly enjoy romance in my urban fantasy, but I am on a constant quest to find a good urban fantasy series and those usually come with romance, so I want the romance to at least be believable and not creepy.
Based on the articles, and because I couldn't remember much about the book, I thought maybe I missed something the first time around and wanted to try again.
Well ... my rating went from 2 stars to 1 star.
The protagonist is your typical "I'm just a normal southern girl but I'm not like the other girls" girl - seriously, what is up with all those "southern girl" protagonists!? At least she's not religious. To be fair, she was a little more clearly characterized than other protagonists in similar series, I appreciate that.
The guy is your typical "I'm dark and brooding and bad for you and also kinda rapey" love interest. He also does this annoying thing where he tells her what he's like, but then doesn't do it ... e.g. warning her about how impatient he is, while being extremely patient with her bratty ass. Oh, and of course he constantly violates her personal space and he hurts her, but he's hot so it's okay.
The writing is ... not that great. In fact, it's bad.
Most conversations between the two protagonists are probably supposed to be witty banter, but they just drag on and do not reflect the actions of the characters - they will say they are one thing, but then go on and actually show the complete opposite.
The constant descriptions of how the protagonist looks, how she does her nails, what she is wearing... just stop already!
The author is weirdly fascinated by race and just racist. We learn what exact "mix" certain characters are when it's supposed to be something bad. One time the protagonist comments on the heritage of a character "there cannot be a more barbaric mix of genes", another time it was important that a character had "something dark, one of those dangerous arabic genes" and I just found that repulsive. You can't tell me it's supposed to be the main character's prejudices, because it's never adressed later and never challenged. So yeah ... that's a writing choice I guess.
The setting seems interesting and I do think the author could craft a good story, it just wasn't the focus of the book. There was a lot of exposition and I think the book would have benefited from some editing. I did read the first book is supposed to be the worst in the series, so I'll give the second one another chance.
I don't particularly enjoy romance in my urban fantasy, but I am on a constant quest to find a good urban fantasy series and those usually come with romance, so I want the romance to at least be believable and not creepy.
Based on the articles, and because I couldn't remember much about the book, I thought maybe I missed something the first time around and wanted to try again.
Well ... my rating went from 2 stars to 1 star.
The protagonist is your typical "I'm just a normal southern girl but I'm not like the other girls" girl - seriously, what is up with all those "southern girl" protagonists!? At least she's not religious. To be fair, she was a little more clearly characterized than other protagonists in similar series, I appreciate that.
The guy is your typical "I'm dark and brooding and bad for you and also kinda rapey" love interest. He also does this annoying thing where he tells her what he's like, but then doesn't do it ... e.g. warning her about how impatient he is, while being extremely patient with her bratty ass. Oh, and of course he constantly violates her personal space and he hurts her, but he's hot so it's okay.
The writing is ... not that great. In fact, it's bad.
Most conversations between the two protagonists are probably supposed to be witty banter, but they just drag on and do not reflect the actions of the characters - they will say they are one thing, but then go on and actually show the complete opposite.
The constant descriptions of how the protagonist looks, how she does her nails, what she is wearing... just stop already!
The author is weirdly fascinated by race and just racist. We learn what exact "mix" certain characters are when it's supposed to be something bad. One time the protagonist comments on the heritage of a character "there cannot be a more barbaric mix of genes", another time it was important that a character had "something dark, one of those dangerous arabic genes" and I just found that repulsive. You can't tell me it's supposed to be the main character's prejudices, because it's never adressed later and never challenged. So yeah ... that's a writing choice I guess.
The setting seems interesting and I do think the author could craft a good story, it just wasn't the focus of the book. There was a lot of exposition and I think the book would have benefited from some editing. I did read the first book is supposed to be the worst in the series, so I'll give the second one another chance.