Kingdom of Shadow and Light

<blockquote> <a href="https://nastygalbookreviews.wordpress.com/" rel="nofollow noopener"> <img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1523631205i/25371894._SX540_.png" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> </a> </blockquote>henlo issa me again! I did a read-through of this book as promised. SOOO....yeah this book is essentially what you would expect. I reckon if you are hardcore macxbarrons super stan 10000 you will love this book. <br><br>If you are a Dani/Ryodan person I reckon steel yourself and lower your expectations for how much the book will be mentioning them. Going into the book I had low expectations for how much screen time they'd receive, but they had even fewer interactions than I thought they would. <br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1614270694ra/30924548.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br>I think they legit had a total of 2 words exchanged between them lmao. <br><br><b>The Plot</b><br>Yeah Idk, it was ok. Like I see what KMO was trying to do. I think I was just hoping the storylines would all collide gloriously at the end. But they all sorta just were clinically separate for the most part. Like Dani once again is in an entirely separate storyline, removed from any fun interactions with characters. It's very much just the Mac show. <br><br>The first half of the book was basically just people being <input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="cc061b5b-e3b5-40f3-bf17-8a1ece99e688" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="cc061b5b-e3b5-40f3-bf17-8a1ece99e688">naked and twinning.</label> And was it just me or was Cruce lowkey just defeated by the power of <input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="35f0e1c0-120b-4f96-93db-851cbefcee54" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="35f0e1c0-120b-4f96-93db-851cbefcee54"> Macs naked bewbs?? Like instead of being super villainous or doing anything cool when he's confronted he's just turned into a lustful bimbo panting after Mac's vagine??</label> <br><br>Also, some of the new names in this book are wilding, is kmo taking inspiration from Grimes in naming characters. lyryka and lxcythe both sound like the siblings of elon musks baby X Æ A-XII. I did actually like lyryka, she was cute! Her dialogue was actually kind of fresh and fun to read. She reminded me of a cute genie in the bottle type hehe. <br><br>BUT the pairing of <input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="5f215a29-f576-456c-a69c-9c76a679f800" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="5f215a29-f576-456c-a69c-9c76a679f800">Christian and her was made super cringe by the continuation of the highlander virgin tradition. Like it's not the 1900's no more, the focus and glorification of the chaste woman/virginity shit for all the chicks ending up with highlander dudes is so regressive and weird. <br><br>Like I don't understand did the McKeltars make a bros before hoes virginity pact or something??? Will they die if they get with a non-virginal woman???? I was lowkey super happy she up n bounced away into the silvers at the end. You go get that dick + adventures queen!</label><br><br>This book also felt weirdly tensionless. One thing that kept making me roll my eyes was the fact everything and everyone somehow perfectly rolled into place/no real sacrifices had to be made/the stakes were very obviously never high. It's hard to build real tension or drama in the book when everything is getting tied up in neat highly convenient ribbons. cough cough like <input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="43dba47c-4d05-4741-86a8-ae0ffc0ab893" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="43dba47c-4d05-4741-86a8-ae0ffc0ab893">mac's daddy conveniently being healed by <s>Deus ex machina</s> Rae. KMO really expecting us to care about Macs dad when we all know at the last minute someone will come n save him lol.</label> The saccharine sweetness vibes are too much for me! <br><br><b>Mac and Barrons:</b><br>Mac's as flowery and oversexed in her pov as ever, Georgia n her daddy are front and center for this book. I reckon if you love that ish, you will love the Mac and Barrons part of the book. Also maybe it's just me but it always annoys me that thru mac's pov all she ever thinks about is how everyone is either hot and fuckable/or that they obvs find her hot n fuckable.<br><br>I personally can't take more than two Georgia and daddy mentions so I couldn't physically read through her chapters in their entirety as the repetition b too much for my spirit to handle. If you similarly find Mac annoying you might also wind up skimming through her chapters. <br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1614276442ra/30925228.gif" width="200" height="200" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br><b> Ryodan and Dani: </b><br>Ryodani legit barely interacted in this. The few mentions of them in the book even underline that they've barely spent time together. I did appreciate however that Ryodan <input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="2c9a2b7f-3c5c-4248-9676-059171a031b1" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="2c9a2b7f-3c5c-4248-9676-059171a031b1">was consistently worried/looking for/getting the group to find Dani. </label><br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1520409262ra/25173920.gif" width="400" height="250" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>Look being straight up Dani barely even had 3 chapters in this book. While I didn't mind her plotline I just wish she had reconvened with the group earlier! I don't understand why Dani couldn't have had more interactions with everyone else in this book. I really wanted to see her have some fun interactions with Lyrka and Lor. :( <input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="69212aaf-dba6-4451-8abb-7fe67d6f3ae4" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="69212aaf-dba6-4451-8abb-7fe67d6f3ae4"> It felt as though not only was she abducted by the hunters but she was also abducted from the book. However, I did enjoy the setup of the hunter trials with the ever adorable Shazam. <br><br>Also if all Mac had to do the entire time was sift to find her, why did it take half the book to do it. &gt;:( She literally knew how to go n find her the entire time lmao, but nooo she's too busy sitting on her sofa n journaling and napping. </label> Overall, Dani's pov this book, was far closer to normal Dani, compared to the Mac/Dani hybrid nightmare pov in HV. So yay to small victories I guess.<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1520409262ra/25173922.gif" width="400" height="300" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>Meanwhile, Ryodan's trajectory in the book was in theory cool, but in reality underwhelming. It felt like KMO wanted to shut up everyone that was saying she was making Ryodan into Barrons simp and show that he had big bad powers too, but she did that in the most simp way possible. #ryodansasimp2021<br><br><input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="e7adcfa9-1b75-4a99-a925-9184d432fe9c" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="e7adcfa9-1b75-4a99-a925-9184d432fe9c"> Ryodan's reveal as the Unseelie King felt so random. Her trying to set Ryodan apart from Barrons is still in the context that literally everyone else rejected the UK powers so stupid Ryodan got everyone's leftover scraps lmao. Even when he gets the big boi powers he's made into a simp! </label><br><br>Ryodan coming in at the end having done nothing but acting like he really did the most like <br><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1614139395i/30916102._SY540_.jpg" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>Also wtf Dani/Ryo/Shazam never had a scene where the three of them properly interacted/conversed??? This is legit such a missed opportunity! <br><br>My real consternation is why was there no Dani/Ryo/Shazam epilogue?? Even Lyxgchfsdjk and lfutswefvdst #2 got an epilogue! The disrespect. Idk I just thought in the final book of the series, surely there'd be a proper goodbye for two of the biggest characters???? Was this revenge for all the Dani/Ryo ppl complaining about HV lmao? <br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1614274404ra/30924954.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><b>Overall:</b><br>Idk guys, I feel old and weary after reading this book. The book is more of the same stuff I have grown tired of previously. My love and hopes for the fever series have dried up. This series used to be full of such life, it felt so real. <br><br>Now it feels so dreary and dull, bogged down by mindless monologues, and lengthy paragraphs telling rather than showing the plot. Look I'm glad KMO got to write her vision for the series but just sad it didn't align with the things that used to make me genuinely love and excited for this series.<br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1613071133ra/30849981.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>Before Reading<br><input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="53bfc046-2794-4fa4-9741-63d3cb632a5a" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="53bfc046-2794-4fa4-9741-63d3cb632a5a">...even tho the last book was wild and literally ruined all my hopes and dreams, i know i'm trash so i'mma still be waiting for the next book hoping it fixes everything hohoho<br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1524690174ra/25433389.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"></label></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]>

I'm most probably in the minority here but I'm happy we're back to Mac and Barrons. Never liked Dani and her relationship with Ryodan lacks chemistry and fire.

Back to Mac again? Like, why? Isn’t it time to bring someone new to the front?<br /><br />But I know I won’t be able to resist it even though the chances of this book being good are close to zero.

<b>3.5 stars</b><br /><br />Darkfever: ★★★★★<br />Bloodfever:★★★★★<br />Faefever:★★★★★<br />Dreamfever:★★★★★<br />Shadowfever:★★★★★<br /><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1408414857?book_show_action=false&amp;from_review_page=1" rel="nofollow noopener">Iced</a>: ★★★★<br /><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1408414881?book_show_action=false&amp;from_review_page=1" rel="nofollow noopener">Burned</a>: ★★★<br /><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1408414926?book_show_action=false&amp;from_review_page=1" rel="nofollow noopener">Feverborn</a>: ★★<br /><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1866309012?book_show_action=false&amp;from_review_page=1" rel="nofollow noopener">Feversong</a>: ★★★<br /><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1896128509?book_show_action=false&amp;from_review_page=1" rel="nofollow noopener">High Voltage</a>: ★★<br /><br /><br />The fever series was my introduction to the Urban Fantasy genre so it’ll always have a special place in my heart. Everyone who’s been following the series knows the quality dramatically dropped after book 5. While I rated this one higher than the previous book, it’s more because of its sentimental value and the fact that KMM wrote this while suffering from chronic illnesses. I’m glad she was strong enough and gave us closure to this series dear to many.<br /><br />This book introduced new characters but also wrapped the story and gave us a closure. It was told from several perspectives, Mac’s mainly. Christian, Dany, Kat, Cruce, well most of the major players got a POV somewhere along the line. As well as Ix and Lyryka, two new characters.<br /><br />I honestly had a difficult time getting into the book so I listened to the audio of the first few chapters and then basically finished reading the rest in a day. I certainly forgot how complex the world is so the glossary provided was very helpful. I won’t retell the story of this book and simply move to the pros and cons like I was doing in my previous reviews of these books. <br /><br /><b>Pros:</b><br />- Lyryka! She was truly the highlight of this book for me. Although I think she was created for Christian in a way, I certainly liked her character. Full of life and optimistic, a huge bookwork, and sees magic in everything (she was confined in a bottle all her life).<br />- Mac wasn’t annoying, she was getting on my nerves in the latest books but I finally saw a spark of the old Mac in this book. Also, I’m back to shipping Mac and Jericho! But yes too much of them, here wish the book focused on other characters more.<br />- I just love the characters so much?? It was nostalgic reading about those characters that I grew to care about.<br /><br /><b>Cons:</b><br />- So much talk about sex/sexuality/horniness, especially in Christian’s and Mac’s parts. It annoyed me a lot since this series is so much more than that. To be clear I’m not talking about smut scenes (not many/not graphic), but for example, how Christian wants so much to have sex. I got tired of hearing about it.<br />- Ryo and Dani’s arc was only okay, I was expecting more of them. They were separated most of the book and Ryodan’s part specifically was pretty much useless in this book. I love Dany I’m sad to see she’s lost a bit of her voice and sounded more like Mac.<br />- Although we had some too long monologues, they weren’t as abundant as before. But still there needlessly. <br />- Not much was happening throughout this book and it wasn’t till the end that we saw some action.<br />- I think the new characters kind of outshone the old ones? Sure I love everyone here but Lyryka, Ix, Azar were more interesting<br />- I expected more of Mac being the queen? Like this part wasn’t developed as much as I would’ve liked.<br />- I also didn’t like all of the ending especially <input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="154303fa-4d51-48ac-8530-4ff1e6d84428" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="154303fa-4d51-48ac-8530-4ff1e6d84428">that Ryo and Dani didn’t get any prologue, Mac’s father living uhm like why? And no one dying... the ending was too neat.</label><br /><br />Overall, this wasn’t a bad book but it had its share of its flaws. I was nostalgic reading KOSAL and I’m glad honestly this series was wrapped up at last. I would’ve preferred a Dani spin-off much more since Mac and Barrons were never the same since Shadowfever.

<b>⤅ <u>This is the way the (Fever) world ends: not with a bang, but with a whimper.</u></b><br><br>What the hell is this? It reads like fanfiction of the original Fever series, and not even good fanfiction at that. The crappy kind where everyone is drop-dead beautiful, there's no tension, the WRITING IS BAD (whatttt KMM you were a good writer before!) and the main couple makes you sick to your stomach.<br><br>But yeah. Let's rewind a little. This is the very last book in the Fever series, and IMO should never have been written. There are people who say anything after book 5 should never have been written, but I'm not actually one of them since I love Dani and Ryodan. (Which is why <i>High Voltage</i> was such a letdown, but even that was better than this). This book, though, has absolutely no redeeming qualities. To take it from the top:<br><br>❌ ALL THE CHARACTERS EVER THINK ABOUT IS SEX. In Mac's case, it's having sex with Barrons, not having sex with Barrons, how sexy she is... if I had to hear one more time how beautifully perfect and gorgeous and f*ckable she is, I would have thrown up. And in Christian's case, it's having sex with Mac... or anyone, he's not fussy. Even Lyryka, some random fae woman who ends up as his love interest, LITERALLY is Mac's doppelganger for most of the book! The pages were saturated in so much 'sex-sex-sex- and try-hard eroticism that it felt like KMM was a debut author who thought 'talking about sex' would make her book feel grownup, or whatever. And what makes it so weird is that I KNOW she's a good writer. So why is she doing this?<br><br>❌ Zero tension to the plot. It reminded me of Stephen King's <i>Dr Sleep</i>, in that there was no fear factor at all because he'd made his protagonists so powerful I never worried they'd die. Same here. Mac is literally the Faerie Queen and Barrons is the big bad whatever, it's hammered into us that they're the power couple, nothing can stand against them... I'm not interested in reading a book where they just bulldoze over everyone else. I never felt for a single second like they'd have to undergo any losses (and I was right).<br><br>❌ FFS, the villains are so trite. Cruce has lost his dynamism to a really big extent, and he's been turned into yet another Mac-groupie. As if we needed more of those. By this point, KoSL was really reading like a self-insert fanfic, with the number of major characters who had a hard-on for Mac. <br><br>❌ DANI AND RYODAN. They're basically not even in the whole book!!!! Despite being 80% of the reason I even started reading, because I was hoping to get something better than HV. That did not happen. They got like two seconds of page time.<br><br>❌ Shockingly, the actual writing was awful. Mac's 'dualism', how she's apparently both fiery and frosty and that's why everyone is attracted to her, is mentioned SOOOOO many times. So, this dualism thing... is that not literally just being a well-rounded character? I.e. human? We rabbit on all the time about having multidimensional villains, why is Mac being praised to the rafters for basically being a normal person with more than one character facet? (Not that she really showed more than one simplistic facet in this book).<br><br>❌ Dude... I'm so over Mac and Barrons. So over them. They're actually so boring by now. Basically, pretty much everything about this book sucks.<br><br>I ended up DNFing about 30% in, because when four days passed and I had no desire to pick the book up again, I realised it was time to call it a day. What a disappointing end to one of my favourite series. Up until now, I've always extolled KMM and Holly Black as being the only people who write fae the way I think they should be written, but I'm going to have to seriously reconsider keeping KMM on that list now.<br><br><a href="https://theliteraryinvertebrate.wordpress.com/" rel="nofollow noopener"> <img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1612613212i/30822051.png" width='50"' height="50" alt="Blog" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> </a><a href="https://www.instagram.com/theliteraryinvertebrate/" rel="nofollow noopener"> <img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1612612826i/30821970.png" width='45"' height="45" alt="Bookstagram" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> </a><br><br><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1612614228i/30822101._SX540_.png" width="500" height="120" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy">

I'm going to be completely honest. Up until a few weeks ago I had no idea that this book hadn't already come out. It was only after I found out that it was going to be released this month that I gained back some motivation to read it. <br /><br />I'm also going to freely admit that my rating is higher than it should be for a mixture of reasons. For a start, this series will always have a special place in my heart even though it should have probably ended with book 5 (yes, even though I have rated some of the later books 5 stars). Also, having read the acknowledgments at the end, I am ever so thankful that this book was able to be written and released and that I've had the opportunity to see how the series ends.<br /><br />I should have really done a reread of the series since it has been an awful long time since I've read the previous books and so much has happened over the course of the series. It was hard going reading <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/34472927.Kingdom_of_Shadow_and_Light__Fever___11_" title="Kingdom of Shadow and Light (Fever, #11) by Karen Marie Moning" rel="noopener">Kingdom of Shadow and Light</a> at first, largely due to the fact that I was lost despite there being a handy note at the beginning setting out how the Seelie and Unseelie courts were looking currently. <br /><br />There were multiple storylines going on throughout this book with Mac, Dani, Kat, Christian, etc. but at the same time it also felt like not much was happening. <br /><br />It is nice to finally get an ending and I can move on in peace knowing that the remaining characters will all hopefully get their happy endings and be able to relax and enjoy life for a while.<br /><br />Thank you Fever series, it's been (mostly) fun! &lt;3<br /><br />PS. Ryodan and Dani still creep me the fuck out. <br /><br /><br />***<br /><br /><br /><b>Original thoughts - April 2018</b> I should probably walk away from this series before it gets really bad but I CAN'T. I'm too invested.

After avidly reading this series (and re-reading I might add), this last and final instalment, for me, was disappointing! A great read but lacking the gripping nature of its predecessors ? ...

LORD HAVE MERCY! WAITING FOR HIGH VOLTAGE NEARLY ENDED ME BUT OOOH! SO MANY MORE BOOKS LEFT IN THIS SERIES! <br /><br />Thank you God! <br /><br />Favorite series of all time.<br /><br />For the “I might be losing interest”, for the “another book? When does it end?” , please check out my review of Book 10. I don’t understand how people think this series is even close to finishing. KMM has written this series with so much depth. I could see this series expand every which way like the Hall of Days. My review has questions I had before and after High Voltage. <br /><br />Read my 5-star review of High Voltage by Karen Marie Moning<br /><a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2257676808">https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...</a><br /><br />OMFGGGG THE TITLE!!! I screamed. YES YES YES YES YES YES! I WANT MORE MAC. I hope this book is over 600 blessed pages! Let us see Dani and Mac in the beginnings of an ultimate warrrrr! Gosh, this made my day! [April 24]

Great news! Mac is back ?

I'm anxiously awaiting another. I'll forever be #teambarrons