Over the past few days, I have read this book, the next book (Bloodfever) and half of the third book (Faefever). While sitting down to write this review, my thoughts are a bit jumbled up and run together from book to book, so what I say will probably apply to all three. I have read so much, in fact, over the past few days of this world that I dreamed about Dublin last night and walking among the streets with Mac. I think I'm a girl obsessed... 
 Anyway... Long story short - this series is fucking fantastic. 
 It has been such a long time since I have become so engrossed in a book (or books in a series). I can remember be fascinated and obsessed with Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time and Ann Rice's world of vampires around the age of 15/16 years old... I can remember being in my early twenties and obsessing about and loving the Harry Potter series. Now, I'm 25, and this series is my new obsession. I am so happy that I have chose to read it. 
 This story has taken all those things that I hate about the Urban Fantasy genre and turned it on its head. Mac is the female main character I have been looking for for so long. She wants to be independent, she doesn't give up her morals, thoughts or convictions for a hot piece of meat, she knows what she wants (or wanted at least) and she has no shame of that (living in Georgia, getting married and having babies with her sister). I genuinely feel as if this character wishes to go back in time and not go through the things she has. I feel her pain. And even though she doesn't relate to me on a pure surface level (she like pastel and colorful things and she cares about her appearance whereas I am the opposite), I feel as she is a wonderful, beautiful character that I wouldn't be too afraid of introducing to a teenage daughter of mine (in the future). 
 She isn't a push-over like Bella and all those other thousands of female characters that you see in all those thousand dime-a-dozen novels coming out today. She is a breath of fresh air. 
 Barrens is also so much different from all the other men in this genre as well. He is genuinely mysterious, and he is scary. However, he is sexy at the same time. Moning has achieved what so many authors fail at trying to achieve: a believable mysteriously, sexy male character who is who he is and will also not give that up for a woman. I think it's great to see that "love" doesn't conquer all. 
 The story is engrossing. It's good to also see that Moning doesn't take the easy way out. She isn't afraid of the gory details, of the consequences (there are parents around... police show up and aren't just non-existant). It's great. 
 The best thing about this series is: I have no fucking idea what is going to happen next.