Burned is book seven in the Fever series, an overall excellent urban fantasy series. I think every Smexy girl reads it, although May, Sheena and Mandi slammed through it on day one and are here to share our thoughts. I think we all loved Iced, the previous book in this series (I did a top ten reasons to read post). We were all unsure of how we would like 14 year old Dani as our narrator, and she surprised the hell out of us in a good way. So then we waited for Burned and her story to continue. And we waited a long time to find out, most of Burned’s narration would be from Mac. And there was a collective groan. Not that we don’t love Mac, but we thought this was Dani and Ryodan’s trilogy. Then we read the blurb and there is a hint that there would be conflict between Mac and Barrons. And we groaned louder. I asked May and Sheena to share their thoughts along with myself – and here are our initial reactions.
Please note there are SPOILERS below!!
Mandi: There some things I really liked about Burned. There are some things I really did not like about Burned.
Karen Marie Moning knows how to write an alpha male. She wrote the hell out of The Nine – Ryodan, Lor, Kasteo, Fade. I love them. They are fierce, they made me laugh, their brotherhood is intense. They are SO sexy. If they each had a book, I’d die of happiness. I’m a proud “Level Four Ho”
I liked Jo and Kat. Kat’s story is barely scratched but she has a lot of growth happening right now with Kasteo. I think she will play a big part in the next book. Jo – you go girl. Dumping Ryodan and jumping into Lor’s arms. I was so happy to see they are still getting it on even after she learns he isn’t Pri-ya (And Lor as Pri-ya was PRICELESS)
Jada/Dani. Ummmmm what? Dani is no longer Dani? Maybe it’s because it’s such a 180, but I’m not a fan of Jada. Nope. I’d rather her still be 14 with a future HEA with Ryodan, than this. I did like how Ryodan has watched over her and that moment she laughed, after life threw her so much horrible stuff – he decided she was worth living. That touched me. But this Jada girl??? No thanks. (maybe she’ll grow on me in the next book). I feel a little cheated. Maybe if we had a glimpse of the FIVE years Jada/Dani spent in the silvers, I’d like her more? I don’t know.
Mac/Barrons – *BANGS HEAD FOREVER* – Remember when we all learned that Burned was going to be mostly Mac’s POV, and the blurb hinted at drama between Mac and Barrons and we were all worried?? Yeah – for good reason!! Why do we need this forced conflict between Mac and Barrons?? Why? There is plenty of conflict with Mac and her book baby inside of her and everything else that is happening. We were TORTURED for book after book as Mac and Barrons fight and finally get together – now to be bickering, again??? No hot sex??? Come on. Let us feel the sexual tension and angst with Ryodan or Lor – let Mac and Barrons be HAPPY.
Daegues – I almost had a heart attack when KMM broke every HEA rule there is and Daegues died. But not shocked he is now alive and Ryo and Barrons have something to do with it. Not sure it’s that shocking…kind of a predictable end?
Speaking of the end – this book didn’t really have a focus. The whole point was to kill the Hag? I’m glad Christian isn’t being tortured anymore (and the hag scene was great to read – she does so well describing and setting up a scene). But this book felt like a bridge/filler to the next book – where I assume we will get into Mac actually trying to remove her book baby? Will she have to birth the book baby out of her vag like Melisandre on Game of Thrones with her black smoke baby???? While I liked Mac invisible living out her own soap opera/reality show, did we really need all of that? We get to know Ryodan a lot better which I liked. But now paired with Jada – I don’t know. I feel let down.
I know it sounds like I’m complaining a lot – well – okay, I AM complaining a lot. I did like this book – I devoured it in one day. I LOVE this world and KMM’s characters. Love. Can’t get enough. She is an amazing writer. I’m just frustrated with the Mac and Barrons stuff and Dani. Maybe I need to give Dani a little more time. Maybe in the next book things will come together. But let’s hope Mac is visible and can actually show some affection to Barrons. No more of this wishy-washy Mac. I need her back to being bad ass!
May: Iced was a fantastic book, that opened up so many questions and such a great story plot about what happens AFTER the big bad is defeated. Answer? Sometimes there’s a lot more gritty hard work, new evils to face, and a whole fresh set of problems. Dani was a wonderful narrator – I loved every minute in her wild teenage shoes. Due to her circumstances and past, she’s nowhere near normal teenager she’s mature way beyond her years. Ah, but so many questions raised and so many things to ponder. What big adventure would Burned take us on?
I enjoyed Burned tremendously as a complete addict fangirl who swore she would NOT read this book (then caved last minute and HAD to read it immediately!) due to all the delays, pushing back of publication, and general lack of trust in this author’s vision for the continuation of the series. What I enjoyed was the walk down memory lane. Seeing these characters (and so much nekkkid 9 action! Heyyyy Lor!) and getting to spend the day with them as they continue to try and battle out of seemingly impossible odds was lovely. That said, it was an incredibly weak book and my fears that perhaps this author doesn’t have as firm of a grasp on this world (or where her story is heading) seem to be confirmed. Burned is a rambling tale with many narrators, mostly told by Mac. I never hated Mac or found her annoying, now I really do. KMM managed to take one of my favorite characters and make her so useless, whining, and utterly annoying that I just wanted the book to end. Aside from this, the book doesn’t have a strong plot and the “oh no she didn’t!” moments what few we find are so heavy handed and obviously going to happen that I was not once surprised. In fact every time I muttered a prediction, sure enough it came true. More than once in reading this book I wondered if the reviews and evaluations of Iced came in and the author decided to address all our reader concerns and interests in this book to sweep them out of the way. For me, it read more like that had been done rather than a firm hand was guiding us through this part of the epic story.
By the time 2020 rolls around and the next book releases, will I cave and get it, hoping to recapture some of that Fever magic? Well yes, most likely. But at this point it will be more because I’m morbidly curious if this trainwreck can be salvaged, if this was meant as a dreaded “bridge” book, or if we’ll just get more of the same random hodge podge of scenes and characters smashed together into a book.
Sheena: Lor. Lor saved Burned from being in complete shambles. Where do I begin? The plot holes, the manufactured drama between Mac and Barrons? Seriously, Mac is hung up on some old douche bag shit that Barron’s did after knowing her less than 24 hours? GTF over it Rainbow Girl, Black Mac, Mac 2.0 -whoever you are these days. I knew I was in trouble 1/2 way through, when I realized how damn bored I was and wondering for the upteenth time, where the hell is Dani? Then when we finally get Dani she is…Jada. Are.You.Kidding.Me. I get it. Dani had to age. I figured it would be in faery, via the silvers. What I did not expect is this fragmented personality business. No no no no no no no no. Just NO! I do not like Jada at all. Why absolutely ruin Dani as a character!!!!???? She could have come back just as kick ass- but still as HERSELF. Ugh.-
(Pardon me, damn near broke my ankle in another one of those pesky plot holes that plagued Burned. I’d do a better job of avoiding the gaps in shit-that-makes-no sense, if it were not for the tears of abstract boredom blurring my vision).
Kat, meh, I was disinterested for the most part, though I like her situation with Kasteo. He is one of the nine who I feel so sorry for. Talk about falling in love in the wrong century. He must want to kill Barrons and Ryodan daily. Need more of him.
Jo. Look who cares, really? I’m just glad she is not climbing the stairs for Ryodan any longer.
Lor is the man of the hour. KMM gets nothing but kudos from me when it comes to this male, he steals every scene. I completely agree, Moning is near unmatched when it comes to her alpha males.
Invisi-Mac was also a highlight. The best thing she ever did was watch Ryodan unguarded. For sure.
I haven’t read Moning’s Highlander series so I am far less OMG about Daegues being alive. I suppose that’s great *shrug.*
Overall, it was very meh and a miss for me. I absolutely loved the Fever series, I have read them ALL several times over. The world building and writing was so damn amazing. Iced was fantastic. It felt trans-formative and fresh and I was super excited for Burned-the second Dani O’Malley book…and then I got this Burned which did an about face from Iced and freeze framed sprinted in the opposite direction. Burned just feels like something that was forced so badly it is puckering at the seams.
I hope Feverborn does not suffer the same pitfalls as Burned. I already know I can’t take a full book of Jada and more faux Mac/Barrons strife. I also know that whether it be this fall or 5 years from now, I will be waiting like a freak at midnight for Feverborn to hit my e-reader on release day. Gads!! I know right. But hey, fangirls unite…right!!!!????!!
(mandi will once again set her alarm for 4am. I can’t help myself!)
I am sad at the direction this series is taken. I read the first 5 fever books back to back. I thought of those books as the Mac series and thought these next several books would be the Dani series. I haven’t read Iced or Burned yet because I figure I would wait until they were all finished like I did with first 5. Now I am not sure what whether I will read this series, I was looking forward to Dani’s story and a Mac/Barrons rehash holds no appeal.
Iced IS all Dani and Ryo – Mac appears at the very end. I’m bummed that it’s now Mac and Barrons again. Iced was such a good book
Jada/Dani. Ummmmm what?- Yes
Mac/Barrons – *BANGS HEAD FOREVER- AND YES.
WTH, ladies.
And Sheena, your whole first paragraph is genius. You took the words right out of my mouth.
I finally finished it and *YAWN* Disappointed doesn’t even begin to address my issues.
If it wasn’t for Lors and the other 8/9/whatever, I would have bailed. Mac has always annoyed me but now? Now I want her to have a fatal accident. Nothing worse then spending eternity with a whiner. Dani/Jade is the consequence of listening to hard to your “fans” and not following your gut. I will never understand this plot device. NEVER! Daegues…OMG…I died right along with him. If they hadn’t brought him back I would have declared myself officially done. Ok, I’m lying, but I would have held tight to that lie till the next release.
Great recaps ladies. Needless to say, the wait for me was not worth the result.
First I have to say the whole Lor with the princess bothered me a lot. How long it took Mac to decide to help and then watching even when Lor asked Mac to get her off him. If Lor had been a woman asking for help to get a man off her? Then they used it. I get Lor is other so his reactions may be different but I was surprised by Mac. Though I did like Lor & that nipples are his undoing.
Felt so cheated with Dani. Not a fan of Jada. I thought her age would be progressed and guess Jada is the way to progress her as fast emotionally to an adult? I just did not like as I loved Dani. I kind of hoped that the pacing of the books would be different sort of like Harry Potter were they age a year with in each one.
I’m guessing Mac’s music is the song of making? I hated how she didn’t follow up on any thing. Why does she black out with the spear? Ryo & Barron brothers? Those things that follow her? So frustrating.
Ok after all that rant I did love seeing the world again.
Still not a Jo fan. Curious who the baby father is.
Agree with Lor – that felt weird when the princess was molesting him. I too giggled with his nipple comment later on.
SO – are Ryo and Barrons truly brothers? You are right – it was floated by but not really confirmed and explained. That’s pretty big.
It’s like KMM forgot that Mac and Barrons are searching to get rid of the baby book…I wish the Hag had not been the culmination of the end – and we had more focus on getting rid of the book.
I come here to say one thing. Le Douche. FIRST!
Writer’s block, anyone?!?! That’s the only excuse I can come up with for this book. The first half was horrible. You can tell KMM had no idea where she was trying to go with the story. I think the series lost a lot of momentum by going back to Mac’s POV. Iced was SO good and Dani gave us such a fresh perspective and now I feel like we are rehashing old storylines. By the end it seemed like she was starting to pull things together so I’m going to keep my fingers crossed for the next book. It has to get better, right?
Couldn’t agree more with both of you: this book was a mess.
Mac’s, oh so many times mentioned transformation to Mac 2.0 was negated in this book. She is back to being annoying and tstl- bah, the way she blurted important stuff made me see red.
Jada/Dani- I am not sure about this solution to age issue,because to me it looks more like Dani was replaced with completely different character, than with a grown up,matured, experinced, appropriate-to-sex up version of herself.
I also wasn’t completely sold on Ryodan and other 8 watching over her all of her life because that implies they actually knew Rowena used to lock her up in a cage…and did nothing about it?
Lor was really fun, but I was not a fan of Mac’s proposition to Jo as a plot device to trigger Lor/Jo romance, (-_-)
I had issues with that to-Ryo and the scooby gang watching over her but doing nothing. It implies consent to what Rowena did to Dani. I was put off by that storyline. Their appeal dropped heavily.
I preordered this and it’s hanging out on my Nook, but I’m honestly thinking about waiting to read it until just before the next one comes out. I know that’s odd, but I’m a little disappointed in the Mac emphasis and I’ve mainly been reading m/m and contemporary lately anyway. I’m not sure if it’s disappointment in the turn of the story line or just m/f prn/ urban fantasy burn out.
Excuse my language, I am somewhat passionate about the few things that really irritated me with this book.
I agree with you ALL. My three top issues:
* The forced memory at the start to cause strife between Mac and Barrons was BULLSHIT.
* Jada was BULLSHIT. I could handle Dani getting lost in the Silvers as a way for her to return older, so she could pick up a romance with Ryo. But I cannot get on board the Jada train.
* The last line and the pseudo-cliff-hanger. REALLY? Dageus not dead is supposed to shock us somehow? HALF THE CAST already can’t die! Did she really think she actually believed Dageus was dead?
HOWEVER, give me Feverborn right now! And I STG Dani better be back! :)
PS: I don’t think *anyone* actually believes Feverborn will be released on October 20th of this year.
Maybe Oct 20 of 2017. I’m still holding out hope it is already written and she will shock us.
All these comments are exactly what I was feeling when I was reading it. I couldn’t understand what was different, I actually PUT IT DOWN and went riding on Tuesday and then on Wednesday I put it down again!!! NEVER has that happened with a FEVER book :((( Did she rewrite the whole damn thing to satisfy the masses and that is why it took forever? I’m so disappointed after this long wait. I always envy the people at the book signing Q&A, can you imagine it this time??
You all are preaching to the effing choir. The Jada Train needs to crash and burn. Like what did you DO to this poor story!??!!??
Then the blatant lies that Dani still had a strong point of view. Bullshit. Dani was on about 8 pages and then she was GONE.
This is driving me bonkers. Like are we just supposed to pretend that Dani absolutely did not have a strong POV in Burned? We were told over (and over) by KMM and her assistants that Dani was not relegated to the shadows BUT ta-daa she absolutely was. Jada is a fraud and does not count. I would rather have been told nothing or that yes Dani is next to nonexistent than to have hope that she was not snuffed out of her own book! Sheesh :-(
MAYBE, if she would have left Dani completely out of the whole book. Lost her in the silvers and we don’t hear from her again until the end of the book reflecting how tired and exhausted and effing pissed off she is to get back to Dublin. That would have been ok. No Dani vs this new weirdo!
OH! and the way the book would talk to Mac??? like a ten year old! Saying not left and right. really??? an olllllllllld powerful book saying NOT???
Yeah – if Dani had stayed lost and came back Dani – even still young – that would have been fine. Bring her back at 17 yr old but STILL Dani and let her grow up next book or something. I want Dani back.
Oh THANK GOD, I have been totally stalking your website for this review ever since I got the book on the 19th on my nook. When I started to read the book, I was all WTH is going on.
I can’t believe how incredibly disjointed each chapter was! I had to go back a couple of times and see which POV I was currently in. We all knew that KMM had to age Dani some how and I totally thought it would be with the silvers. But to have her come back as Jada….what the efff?
I am so glad that I am not the only one who was so incredibly disappointed in this book after waiting SOOOOOOOOOO long because her cat died.
And then to have 50 pages at the end of People, Places, things….I felt cheated. I wanted 400 pages of Ryoden and Dani (maybe some more 9 action) and a little snark from Mac and Barrons. The contrived strife between them was bonkers.
Thank you ladies for making me feel like I wasn’t the only one who was actually able to put the book down because my head hurt.
“I wanted 400 pages of Ryoden and Dani (maybe some more 9 action) and a little snark from Mac and Barrons.”
THIS 100%.
Here! Here!
my book ended at 90% on my kindle and then the people, places, and things started. 10% of the much awaited book on things I didn’t even care about at that point :(
May warned me it ended at 90% – I hate when kindle books do that.
Thanks for the heads up everyone. This book seemed questionable to me. I think the author should have done a bit of culling of the characters. Maybe it would have made for a tighter plot. Going back to Mac and Barrons doesn’t make much sense. They had their story arch, they should have been made more secondary to Dani and the plot. There was also no reason that I can recall why KMM needed to start Dani’s story in Iced as a 14 year old. It would have resolved a lot of problems.
The arc of the story still has to be told – with the book inside Mac and stuff…just wish Dani was still….Dani
Okay I finished this book today and I’m so bummed. I love the back/forth between Barrons and Mac but this was just redundant teenage BS. I do NOT like Jada and feel this ‘fractured’ or split personality thing is just wrong. I understand needing to adapt in order to overcome obstacles but she turned into the robot from Lost in Space. If she would have said “Danger Ryodan Danger Danger” I would have thrown my Ipad at someone’s head. Then again…I might have giggled at least once. Usually Dani’s antics make me laugh right out loud. This book was a total let down. But yes..I will wait for the other one too.
I miss Dani’s spirit – Jada (so far) does not encompass that.
Jada completely undermines and discredits how amazing Dani was. I am glad she is an adult, but part of Dani’s awesomeness was that she was so awesome. Why couldn’t we have seen her trauma in faery? Instead we just get this crazy ass Jada who I do not find interesting or the least bit necessary. Its just bad bad bad
Okay, I’m glad it isn’t just me. I struggled with this book and I haven’t finished. The first Fever books and Iced I devoured them within a few hours. I couldn’t get into this one. Seriously. I put it down and walked away from it. I never do that. For one thing, putting Mac back in focus feels odd. It feels like her story is done…except for the book thing. Which was irritating. I don’t like the Barrons/Mac conflict….I feel like they are settled. I wanted to know more about Dani/Ryodan. I’m glad Dani is no longer a kid. But Jada? No. Just no.
the more I think about it the more I think we didn’t even get a story in this book! We got facts about the nine if you can call them facts. The only resemblance to an actual story was the saving of Christian and really that was towards the end and only a few pages. Other than that it was just so many loose ends. the black blobs, Kat with the silence, Mac with the book( this is infuriating to no end, really she did not even TRY anything to figure this out) Cruce making all those changes, the king and queen.
Yep, I couldn’t agree more. With the focus off of Dani, it falls to Mac – who like you said, didn’t even try to investigate the book inside of her. All the while, I didn’t want another Mac story – I wanted a Dani story. And now we have a Jada and Mac story. :/
Thank god I’m not the only one – All three of you ladies are spot on where areas of this book failed. I about died waiting for this freaking book and am so disappointed.
I was absolutely in love with Dani after Iced, now I feel cheated we lost so many years of her amazing adventurous life! Jada doesn’t bother me too much but only because I am holding out hope that Dani will break through – but even still we lose so much of the Dani we love.
IMO, Mac and Barrons were pathetic characters in this book. Mac is listless, weak and effectively useless in Burned. They had no plot line other than Mac still having the book inside her.
The entire book is rambling with no direction. The situations meant to be climax events – Unseelie Princes killed, Deagus killed – fell totally flat. WHERE are the characters we all fell in love with? Where is the adventure, fire and risk?
As has already been mentioned, Lor was the only highlight of this book. I laughed out loud and feel in love with his character.
Hopefully this was just a filler/bridge book something great in the fall. *fingers crossed*
Totally agree with all the comments here. My main point of contention with the book is that Mac and Barrons left a 14 year old, abused, neglected child in the silvers. They couldn’t follow her – but why not setup a search party, tell Kat, Jo or Ryoden. Nope, just ignore it and lie to everyone for a month. What was KMM playing at? How am I meant to like Mac and Barrons as characters after that? Why should I care about their grief and misery after they abandon a child in hell.
That’s probably why Barrons and Mac are on Dani/Jada’s hit list. I expected more from Mac to be honest. Dani moved mountains just to rescue her when she was pri-ya.
Ah good point
Glad to commiserate with you gals. I can see where she is taking Jada and I actually might be okay with it. I was a little disappointed but it’s interesting. I think it leaves some interpretation on the background of Dani, maybe?
But all the plot holes already mentioned, the inconsistencies, the ridiculousness. I really do hope it was a bridge book on purpose.
I always had a standing argument with a book friend on how Fever as my favorite but Magic was 2nd… the way Ilona Andrews does Magic so well has made me switch that. I hope Fever can come back with a win!
I’m going to hold out a little hope that Dani breaks through Jada a bit in the next book. We didn’t get a ton of time to really meet Jada.
Magic is so well done – they are the best storytellers!
I absolutely agree that Burned was a huge disappointment. It almost seemed to me that a ghost writer contributed to this book (a la Janet Evanovich).
My other complaint was the quick drop in price. The Friday after Burned was released the price dropped to $6.99 for about 8 hours, bounced up to $9.99 for an hour, then settled at $9.79. What’s up with that? I returned my kindle copy to Amazon for a refund. If I ever want to reread it, which I doubt I will, I will check it out from the library.
Just finished and I’m not mad, I’m sad. Soooooo not good. No sexual tension- no tension at all. She makes Mac and Barron’s normal with an ok relationship, it use to be epic. She made Ryo nice- yuck. Jada- NOOOO! The first ones I couldn’t put down. This one I kept waiting for it to get better, I’m still waiting. I’m just Soooo sad!!! How did she go so wrong after being so right?
I don’t know. I hope she can turn things around in the next book.
I totally agree with you guys. Lor was the man of the hour and I completely enjoyed his P.O.V above everyone else. I didn’t care much for Kat’s or Jo’s P.O.V because I feel they’re completely irrelevant to this story. Although I did enjoy Mac’s P.O.V in Monings previous books, my desire for her opinion went down the drain and into the gutter once her new book Iced came out with Dani or “Mega” leading the story. I was really hoping for this next series to be about Ryodan and Dani, so overall I was completely disappointed in that category. I actually think Iced is my favorite book so far in this actual series. I mean, really!?!? Jada? I dislike where this story is going with the whole Jada is here forever and Dani is forever lost… Honestly, I don’t think you can get rid of that spite fire so easily. I hope Dani comes back soon, takes the lead again and save us all from this misery. The plot was all over the place once Dani jumped in that mirror and I really hope things get straightened out in this next book. Maybe there’s a back-to-the-future silver to throw Jada into and get Dani back… Because I don’t think Dani could take one day looking like a young teen girl to a sexy older woman. I couldn’t imagine all that sass in one women. Unless we’re at the Kardashian house or something. Or maybe keep the older woman thing that’s going on and somehow boot Jada into a different body or world to recover Dani. Overall I just missed Dani as the girl telling the story because to me, she’s the Queen of the show now… with Ryodan of course(; I really hope things get cleared up in all these areas and have Dani run the show again. I’m actually holding on to this idea of Burbed being some crazy dream of Dani’s and the next book comes out in October will be about Dani and Ryodan… But considering my luck that’s defiantly not going to happen because that would be a long ass dream. Or she see’s the future of everyone if she doesn’t leave the silvers or something. I don’t know. I just want Jada gone and Mac not as the main opinion.
Totally agree with everything you say!!! Mac has already had her story and Jada needs to GO.
Also this made me LOL
“I couldn’t imagine all that sass in one women. Unless we’re at the Kardashian house or something.”
:)
great! now you revived all the angst and anger I felt when I read the book. I was ALMOST putting it behind me! :))))
LOLOL
I am about to re-read Iced and I honestly mourn this series. Iced had SO much potential. It was a unique book compared to the usual UF genre books. I haven’t seen this since Darkfever and in my opinion I think that Karen decided to up it a notch in the romance dept. to be in the same category as other writers like Ward. Barrons changed a bit but still, the series was great. Iced however was my absolute FAVORITE. Dani was this fresh and interesting character. Same goes for Ryodan, Dancer, and some of the nine. I couldn’t even finish Burned. It was just that bad. And I lost some respect for Karen after hiding the fact that Dani will hardly be in the book.
Now what did I not like about Burned? Everything after Dani left. Every character got a personality transplant. Ryodan was a lap dog. Lor I can’t even talk about. Barrons was annoying. How do these thousands of years old beings all of a sudden want their HEA? Leave Mac and Barrons alone. She finished their story in Shadowfever. You can tell. Move on and stop listening to the readers. If this is what she originally planned to write then good for her. But we know that it wasn’t. What happened to the snippets of the first copy? She spent years basically erasing and apologizing for Iced. Shame. Now this book has even worse reviews than Iced did.
It is a shame. :(