Finished Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning. This is the first book in her popular Fever urban fantasy series.

MacKayla Lane thinks her life is pretty good — until her sister is murdered in Ireland. Determined to find the killer, Mac travels to Ireland where she learns a startling secret — she’s a sidhe-seer, or a person who can see the Fae in their true forms, the good, the bad, and the monstrously ugly. Mac finds a mentor of sorts in Jericho Barrons, who is searching for a book that contains evil, evil magic. Since her sister was also searching for the book, Mac decides to help Jericho find it, hoping that she’ll discover her sister’s killer along the way. But it looks like the Fae might get Mac first …

Mac is an interesting character. She’s young — something like 22 or 23 — and she acts like it, plunging feet first into whatever adventure comes her way without really thinking of the consequences. Mac knows enough to be scared of the new world that she’s been thrust into, but she’s not one to back down from a fight either. And you really feel her grief over her sister’s murder and her confusion over these powers that she never knew she had. Overall, I really liked Mac.

But I had some problems with the rest of the book. All through the story, Mac gives these little asides to the reader, like she’s looking back on this time in her life. I would come to learn later that … and other things like that. It was a weird kind of tense to read in places.

Also, I have to say that I didn’t care for some of the world building in this one. In Moning’s world, there are some Fae who are so beautiful that humans immediately want to have sex with them — to the point of taking off their clothes in broad daylight, like Mac does on two occasions. I thought that was extremely icky. Plus, at one point, another sidhe-seer stands by and almost lets Mac be raped by one of the Fae. Not cool. I just don’t like magic/world building where people feel compelled to have sex, whether they really want to or not.

Also, be warned that this book ends on a cliffhanger. From what I’ve read on other book blogs, this is meant to be a five-part series, and all of the books end on a cliffhanger.

As much as I liked Mac’s bravery and her determination to find her sister’s killer, I disliked the world building just as much. So thumbs down.

Up next: Bad Luck and Trouble by Lee Child.

Books in my TBR pile: About 20.