Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Fever King

The Fever King was chosen for my book club and is not something I would usually read, especially during a pandemic. That said, I was pleasantly surprised. While Fever King absolutely has its dark, morally grey moments (and a LOT of them), and was realistic in the ways people treat each other, it was unrealistic enough about the pandemic itself that I was able to appreciate it. The magic in this world isn't as developed as I would prefer, but perhaps how magic works is better explained in the sequel.
Character wise, I struggled with Noam. There were many times where his angst absolutely read like a YA novel, even though there's plenty going on in the story itself that begs the attention of an older audience. That said, the confusion and uncertainty his character goes through was very realistic and imaginable if a kid similar to him found themselves in the positions he's put in throughout the novel. I just wanted MORE from him.
I won't be reading the sequel, but for a YA fantasy dystopian novel I was pleasantly surprised that I finished the book and didn't hate it.

Content Warnings

xoodlebooks's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

azrah786's review

Go to review page

4.5

[Don't ask why this took me a whole month to write up but this full review can also be found on my BLOG]

So I’m just going to put it out there that this book has probably been my favourite read of the year so far! Labelled as an urban fantasy, this debut in my opinion falls more into the science fiction/dystopian category. Think The Darkest Minds meets the X-Men but at the same time it's something totally new! Also it definitely sits more towards the adult end of YA.

The Fever King takes place in the 22nd century where a virus known as Magic has caused many civilisations to be wiped off the planet. However, this virus is also the key to awakening a range of magical powers if you happen to survive the outbreak. If you survive you become a Witching.

With crisis comes evasion, and the virus has driven many people from their homes. The story unfolds in the city of Durham, capital of Carolinia – one of the remaining and authoritative nations of what used to be the United States. However, certain ethical and political hostilities between the remaining nations, means the attitude towards refugees in Carolinia is not very welcoming. It is a future society which has some startling parallels to the world we live in today.

At the centre of the story is Noam Álvaro - a Jewish biracial and bisexual 16 year old and son of undocumented immigrants, who resides in one of the city’s refugee slums. Following in the footsteps of his father he has grown up to become a strong activist for immigrant rights, predominantly putting his skill with computers to use. He is passionate and strong willed to the bone.

When an outbreak of the virus spreads through the area where he lives, Noam’s life is changed forever when he wakes up having survived the virus and his “presenting power” draws the attention of Calix Lehrer, the Minister of Defence. Instead of sending him off to the standard Witching training location, Lehrer brings him to the main government complex of Carolinia to join Level IV, the highest rank of the Witching training programme, and offers to train Noam himself. Noam sees this as his chance to fight for what he stands for.

He was finally where he needed to be. Where he could use whatever powers the witchings taught him to undermine the foundations of their world and rebuild it into something new. Something better.

Lee voices Noam’s passion and teenage naivety beautifully. Even though his own decisions in the book turn out to be quite rash at times he is a character who is always questioning the reliability and incentives of those around him. Through his eyes we are introduced to a range of beautifully complex yet flawed characters who are each passionate for what they believe is right but all seem to have an air of mystery about them. In particular Calix Lehrer and Dara Shirazi.

We are fed titbits of information about Lehrer through snippets of stolen government files which have been slipped in throughout the story. For the most part however, Lehrer’s secrets are his own. His relationship with Noam is interesting, a mix of awe and apprehension that both intrigued and frustrated me as a reader. The masked nature of Lehrer’s character and agendas constantly had me on edge.

The same goes for Dara, Lehrer’s adopted son who alongside Noam, is trained privately by Lehrer. His backstory is undisclosed and he is very reserved but the relationship that develops between him and Noam is equally compelling. It’s full of wittiness and angst and is slow-burn which I loooooooved. I am such a sucker for hate to love relationships and I wanted to protect them both SO BAD!!!

Though I will say despite the overall ambivalence I did find certain elements of the story to be predictable but this did not hinder my enjoyment of the story in any way.

Along with the character relationships and reveals, the political intrigue also becomes more and more captivating as the story progresses. Lee has intricately woven together the history and current affairs of this fictional world and its fictional conflicts, to not only give us an immersive story but also effectively touch on issues that are really relevant in society today.

That was the whole point. Governments didn't have to listen to the people until the people made it hurt not to listen.

I do however, wish that we had gotten a clearer backstory of the world of The Fever King. The previously mentioned government files helped to lay the fundamentals of the history and politics behind the story but I still feel there were a lot of pieces missing. I was constantly eager to know more about this “catastrophe” that made the world the way it is; more about Lehrer’s involvement with it and his past; and most of all more about Witchings!

I found Noam’s technopathy powers unique and fascinating! I really appreciated how the narrative was infused with actual scientific and technological knowledge when it came to the powers. There’s a great scene where Noam is learning to use his powers and is basically going through the theoretical physics behind it all which I really loved!!! This not only showed the effort and research Victoria put into this book but also honed the portrayal of the characters and added to that sense of realism.

What the story lacked I guess was more action since we didn’t really get to see many Witchings (other than Noam, Dara and Lehrer) train or put their powers to full use. I really hope more time and attention is given to this in the next book.

Overall I really enjoyed this efreshing take on the dystopian genre. If you love anti-heroes or morally grey characters I’d advise you to pick this book up! I can’t way to see how the rest of the story unfolds in The Electric Heir!!
Final Rating - 4.5/5 Stars

Content Warnings

More...