Fever by Lauren DeStefano

[Fever is the sequel to Wither, so it is suggested that you read Wither before reading this review so nothing is spoiled for you!]


"But there's no such thing as free. There are only different and more horrible ways to be enslaved."

 
Rhine and Gabriel have escaped the mansion, but danger is never far behind. 

Running away brings Rhine and Gabriel right into a trap, in the form of a twisted carnival whose ringmistress keeps watch over a menagerie of girls. Just as Rhine uncovers what plans await her, her fortune turns again. With Gabriel at her side, Rhine travels through an environment as grim as the one she left a year ago - surroundings that mirror her own feelings of fear and hopelessness. 

The two are determined to get to Manhattan, to relative safety with Rhine’s twin brother, Rowan. But the road there is long and perilous - and in a world where young women only live to age twenty and young men die at twenty-five, time is precious. Worse still, they can’t seem to elude Rhine’s father-in-law, Vaughn, who is determined to bring Rhine back to the mansion...by any means necessary.

 

I adored Wither, so I was super excited when I won a copy of Fever from the lovely Alice Marvels. I actually can't believe I took as long as I did before I read it.

I don't know how much time I spent raving about DeStefano's writing in my review of Wither, but it's safe to say it wasn't nearly enough. I could quote any sentence in the book as an example of her style; that's how pretty it all is.

One thing I loved was that, even though it has been a few months since I read Wither, and my memories of how the world in it worked were a little fuzzy, I had no trouble at all picking up Fever and reading through it. That's a big plus to me, because I read a lot of series, and when you're reading a book, it saves a whole lotta time if you don't have to read every book that came before it just to keep up with the new one.

I have to say again how much I love every character Lauren DeStefano creates. In this book, especially, I loved Maddie and Lilac and Simon, and I'm still a big fan of Rhine and her sister wives. It was definitely nice that there was more Gabriel in this book, so he was fleshed a little more.

Lastly, I love how action-packed this book is. I never knew what was coming up next in Rhine and Gabriel's journey, but I loved how you got to explore all these parts of the world DeStefano created.

I really don't have any complaints for this one; I give it five big hearts of approval! 

If you enjoyed Wither, chances are Fever will be a win with you, too. Don't miss this sequel—it continues a captivating trilogy, and I'll be thinking about this one until the last book comes out next year.

Read more reviews for Fever at:

The Readable Kingdom and Stuck in YA Books