From #1 New York Times bestselling author Karen Marie Moning comes the first book in her hotly anticipated new urban paranormal trilogy, set in the world of her blockbuster Fever series.
The year is 1 AWC—After the Wall Crash. The Fae are free and hunting us. It’s a war zone out there, and no two days are alike. I’m Dani O’Malley, the chaos-filled streets of Dublin are my home, and there’s no place I’d rather be.
Dani “Mega” O’Malley plays by her own set of rules—and in a world overrun by Dark Fae, her biggest rule is: Do what it takes to survive. Possessing rare talents and the all-powerful Sword of Light, Dani is more than equipped for the task. In fact, she’s one of the rare humans who can defend themselves against the Unseelie. But now, amid the pandemonium, her greatest gifts have turned into serious liabilities.
Dani’s ex–best friend, MacKayla Lane, wants her dead, the terrifying Unseelie princes have put a price on her head, and Inspector Jayne, the head of the police force, is after her sword and will stop at nothing to get it. What’s more, people are being mysteriously frozen to death all over the city, encased on the spot in sub-zero, icy tableaux.
When Dublin’s most seductive nightclub gets blanketed in hoarfrost, Dani finds herself at the mercy of Ryodan, the club’s ruthless, immortal owner. He needs her quick wit and exceptional skill to figure out what’s freezing Fae and humans dead in their tracks—and Ryodan will do anything to ensure her compliance.
Dodging bullets, fangs, and fists, Dani must strike treacherous bargains and make desperate alliances to save her beloved Dublin—before everything and everyone in it gets iced.
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Iced: A Dani O'Malley Novel (Fever Series)
I wasn't quiet sure how I'd like this book. From KMM's mouth, "It's not a YA book" yet the central character is 14 years old. I was totally willing to give it a try though because I love, love, love the Fever series and would do anything to get back into that world, seeing as how the last book in the series, Shadowfever was supposed to be the last but never say never *grin*. Anyways, like I said, the central character is named Dani "Mega" O'Malley and is only 14 but has an extraordinary power for getting into major major trouble along with the power to move super fast. As the story begins, we dive right back into the Fever world almost immediately where the last book left off. Dani thinks that Mac wants to kill her, she's lost everything and doesn't know which end is up. As it kicks off, we find her ease dropping on the Abby girls because of course they think she's too young to hear all the gory details of what's going on, yet they want her to continue to battle the Unseelie. She's been approached by Ryodan to come work for him, which she turned down at the end of the last book and she's sort of at a crossroads right now. Her new BFF (seeing Mac is trying to kill her), is the enigma Dancer. We met him also in the last book but knew nothing about him. He just sort of showed up and Dani was all gushy about him and how fab he was. If I haven't said it before, I definitely recommend that you read the Fever series before tackling this book, it will just make the read that much more easy and enjoyable. The world that KMM has built is very complicated with lots of characters and back story. You might as well look at this book as #6 in the series, just from a different POV and not an off-shoot from the original. All the characters are interwoven with the current storyline and I think it could be a stand alone book but probably will take more time then you want trying to figure out what the heck is going on. One thing that KMM does so well, is keep you in the dark about what is going on but in a nice way. You literally cannot foresee what twists and turns will happen or even guess at them. You are along for the ride as it all unfurls. So Dani is a bit lost and unbeknownst to her, she has 3 men looking to court her, when she's a bit older but they want to stake a claim now (creepy, I know but don't worry nothing sexual happens in this book to her, it's just setting the future scene).
First we have Dancer, her BFF (I think he's 17ish, if I remember properly), she is totally gushy about him and he's totally brilliant (in a scientific way). We learn a bit more about his history but then it's later alluded to the fact that he may not be all he appears to be. Out of all her possible future suitors, I like Dancer the best. He's more her age and totally gets her as she is now, not what she will be in the future. He's there for her not only in times of crisis but there emotionally and they have fun together. She totally relies on their friendship as being the only "real" thing in her life and doesn't want to mess it up. She feels a bond with Dancer that she doesn't have with anyone else, not even Mac.
Next we have Christian, the human hybrid who's turning into an Unseelie prince. For whatever reason, Christian has become obsessed with Dani. He thinks she will eventually become his princess and is bound and determined to keep her safe, so she can grow into the woman he knows she'll become and who's going to become his bride (so he thinks). Just as an FYI to those Christian lovers who've read the previous books, he's totally lost his freakin' marbles, so be warned!
Lastly we have Ryodan. Again we have a suitor who is falling for Dani's future possibility. He also sees what her potential is and has decided he wants the woman of the future and is more then willing to wait for her to grow up while pressing his claim on her. He also wants to help mould her and teach her, so she can become the warrior she's meant to be. He wants to give her that structure he thinks she needs as well as a home although I don't see Chester's as a very nurturing place. See, told you it's all a bit creepy but KMM promises that nothing will happen to Dani sexually before she's ready but the fact that Dani has 3 men lusting over her current and future self is a bit on the ick factor, seeing their having lusty thoughts about a 14 year old although KMM does do a fine job at balancing the thoughts of the men between lusting after the woman she will become and trying to keep the innocence of the kid. Even though they are suitors, they all know she's a kid and will not cross that. They only want to protect her so she can become the woman they want, in like 10 years or so. To the two immortal males, this is merely a blink of an eye and well worth the wait, according to them and neither want to wreck their chances with the future woman by harming her younger self (OMG my head hurts just explaining it). The reason I point all this out is because even though there is a few secondary stories going on, this story is the foundation and will be for the 2 books after this one, so if you're not prepared to accept that these are Dani's HEA books and she's only 14 in the first one, you probably don't want to start reading Iced.
So with all that being said, I did go with the audiobook version of Iced and I highly recommend all audiobooks for this series. Phil Gigante (Narrator) and Natalie Ross (Narrator) are brilliant as the readers and really give a depth to the characters you won't find anywhere else. It is read more like an old radio play, each reading the male and female roles. Even if you have read the books, i highly recommend listening to the audiobooks done by the two of them. They are by far the best audiobooks I've listen to and I listen to a lot of them. Its not just because I like the books but how its read, I just can't describe it better but I digress.
As for the book itself, I did actually enjoy it. I know a lot of people had very high hopes for the book and reading some of the reviews, people are annoyed with Dani. She does say "dude" a ton and she is totally self-centered and selfish but come on, she's 14 and has no boundaries, structure, parental figures or anything anymore. She's a 14 year old on her own with no one willing to take responsibility for her. She did have The Abby, Ro and Mac but they have all turned their back on her, so she's running amuck and playing super hero. This is again where I would suggest listening to the audiobook. For example, people are complaining that she uses "dude" too much in the books bu I think that people don't realize that the word "dude" can have so many meanings and be used in so many different ways. Now, if you're just reading the word, you will get sick of seeing it over and over again but if you are listening to it, you will get all the nuances where it's used anywhere from a greeting to an exclamation. Like I said, I did enjoy the book and will probably give it another listen. If you like the Fever series or just want a good albeit creepy read, go for it!
4 out of 5 books
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