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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
Spoilers for Wither and Fever within-be warned!
I loved the cover for first book Wither. Seriously, I talked about it a lot. I didn't love the story within quite as much but I was still eager to know what came next for Rhine and Gabriel as they broke out of the compound.
However I realized fairly quickly that I did prefer the setting at the mansion where Rhine was confined with her father-in-law Vaughn, her forced husband Linden, and her sister wives. I don't really like stories where they're constantly on the run, away from something, in this case the threatening Vaughn who will never let Rhine permanently out of his clutches (Note: I do like quest novels where they're going toward something). However they do have a goal of reaching New York so that Rhine can search for her twin brother Rowan.
I don't want to share too much about this plot but I would say that I would break the book down into four parts: the carnival brothel (or as April humorously called it Cirque du Brothel), extended period journeying on the road, arrival in New York and settling down in an orphange, and finally Rhine returns to the basement of the mansion so that Vaughn can continue his experiments on her. For me, the book increased in interest the more I read with me vastly preferring the concluding location, which was haunting and gripping with Rhine on the brink of madness and almost always in pain. Then there was the ending, the last word in fact, which ensured that I will be returning. I was fearful as the pair fled but the menace increased one-hundredfold once Vaughn was a constant presence. We never knew when he would return to try out some other drug on Rhine and the days pass fitfully. It was great!
That is not to say that there weren't great moments throughout. There were some amazing descriptions with color and touch, for example. At some times, I felt the focus was more on the writing rather than the characters or plot which accounted for a bit of a lag. For people who like that though, this should be an amazing read.
Overall: Honestly I was neutral about reading this second book and only grabbed it because it happened to be on my library's shelf. Now that I am done, I am very glad I did because this was a roller-coaster ride for me and I am eager to complete the trilogy.
Cover: Part of the reason I took so long to read this book was that I found the cover less attractive than Wither. I *love* that purple and still enjoy looking at the cover. This one is kind of busy although if Rhine is holding a tarot card, that is relevant to the plot.
I loved the cover for first book Wither. Seriously, I talked about it a lot. I didn't love the story within quite as much but I was still eager to know what came next for Rhine and Gabriel as they broke out of the compound.
However I realized fairly quickly that I did prefer the setting at the mansion where Rhine was confined with her father-in-law Vaughn, her forced husband Linden, and her sister wives. I don't really like stories where they're constantly on the run, away from something, in this case the threatening Vaughn who will never let Rhine permanently out of his clutches (Note: I do like quest novels where they're going toward something). However they do have a goal of reaching New York so that Rhine can search for her twin brother Rowan.
I don't want to share too much about this plot but I would say that I would break the book down into four parts: the carnival brothel (or as April humorously called it Cirque du Brothel), extended period journeying on the road, arrival in New York and settling down in an orphange, and finally Rhine returns to the basement of the mansion so that Vaughn can continue his experiments on her. For me, the book increased in interest the more I read with me vastly preferring the concluding location, which was haunting and gripping with Rhine on the brink of madness and almost always in pain. Then there was the ending, the last word in fact, which ensured that I will be returning. I was fearful as the pair fled but the menace increased one-hundredfold once Vaughn was a constant presence. We never knew when he would return to try out some other drug on Rhine and the days pass fitfully. It was great!
That is not to say that there weren't great moments throughout. There were some amazing descriptions with color and touch, for example. At some times, I felt the focus was more on the writing rather than the characters or plot which accounted for a bit of a lag. For people who like that though, this should be an amazing read.
Overall: Honestly I was neutral about reading this second book and only grabbed it because it happened to be on my library's shelf. Now that I am done, I am very glad I did because this was a roller-coaster ride for me and I am eager to complete the trilogy.
Cover: Part of the reason I took so long to read this book was that I found the cover less attractive than Wither. I *love* that purple and still enjoy looking at the cover. This one is kind of busy although if Rhine is holding a tarot card, that is relevant to the plot.
This one just didn't grab my attention the way the first book in the series did. Rhine is extremely irrational in this book, and Gabriel seems flat and two dimensional. I loved Maddie though, and I am hoping that we will see more of her in the next book.
Even slower than Wither...with stranger circumstances & less of a point. Hopefully the bridge between two better books. I am awaiting the sequel.
Fever is very much a middle book. It doesn't accomplish much on its own and more or less is the bridge between the starting point of book one and the finale of book three. I read it in two sittings, partially because I got a bad headache whilst reading and partially because the story was losing me a little. Still got through it without any real suffering though.
It's like a 3.5 stars overall because while I got through it and liked it generally, it doesn't leave me with strong feelings.
The story mostly involves Gabriel and Rhine on the run and the things that happen to them along the way. Several of the story points are a little too similar to the previous book; like how them being trapped at and needing to escape a carnival where a madame pimps out girls is akin to Rhine being trapped at the mansion and figuring out how to free herself and how Rhine once again finds herself very ill and at Vaughn's mercy.
In this regard, there's not particularly a singular goal or arc; Rhine and Gabriel made it to Manhattan and find that Rowan is gone about halfway through and the remaining half focuses on their time staying at an orphanage run by a kindly lady, Rhine's illness, and subsequently Vaughn showing up and taking Rhine back to the mansion to hide her in the basement to use her in his experiments. Mostly, the story seems to be "it was all in vain, it seems, because she ends up where she began, but in even worse circumstances than before."
The plot advancement is also only slight; more mentions of the pro-naturalism vs. pro-science tensions in the world and Vaughn's reappearance in the story to drag Rhine back into a world of experiments in an effort to find a cure for the virus that kills its younger generations in their 20s.
Like with Wither, there's a heavy focus on Rhine's thoughts and emotions, the conflicts and hardships she endures.
I like how the author nicely maintained a sort of grayness when it came to Rhine; how she's both glad to be free but some part of her still misses the comfort of her life in the mansion, how her ties to Linden an Cecily and Jenna didn't just vanish because she left, her struggling with all the feelings of regret and shame about how escaping has affected and hurt Gabriel because she didn't think everything through, and how despite it all, she's still sure that having a choice about her life and the freedom to die or be unhappy if that's what she chooses is more important than the comforts of a a life in a cage.
The writing is very nice; I like the author's style a lot and think she's pretty good at characterization of Rhine and really nails down the complexity of her emotions and thoughts.
Again, however, the romance isn't especially appealing because while Gabriel is sweet and loyal, he isn't a well fleshed out character, and because we spend so much time dealing with Rhine's thoughts about everything else, her relationship development with Gabriel isn't really focused upon. They kiss, they sleep beside one another, they take care of each other, they work alongside one another. Even in this installment where Linden only appears in person within the last like 30 or so pages, he's still the more developed character.
Now that I've read the first two books again, I'm starting to recall the third book a little better and I'm not especially thrilled for it, but we'll see when I've finished it up.
As a trigger warning, there's attempted sexual assault, drug use/addiction/withdrawal, a certain level of vague gore/horror with experiments and medical treatments, sexual slavery, death/murder, pregnancy in children, etc. I wouldn't say anything is super explicit or graphically depicted, it's still in the realm of teen literature, but just a general warning about the atmosphere of the story and what not.
It's like a 3.5 stars overall because while I got through it and liked it generally, it doesn't leave me with strong feelings.
The story mostly involves Gabriel and Rhine on the run and the things that happen to them along the way. Several of the story points are a little too similar to the previous book; like how them being trapped at and needing to escape a carnival where a madame pimps out girls is akin to Rhine being trapped at the mansion and figuring out how to free herself and how Rhine once again finds herself very ill and at Vaughn's mercy.
In this regard, there's not particularly a singular goal or arc; Rhine and Gabriel made it to Manhattan and find that Rowan is gone about halfway through and the remaining half focuses on their time staying at an orphanage run by a kindly lady, Rhine's illness, and subsequently Vaughn showing up and taking Rhine back to the mansion to hide her in the basement to use her in his experiments. Mostly, the story seems to be "it was all in vain, it seems, because she ends up where she began, but in even worse circumstances than before."
The plot advancement is also only slight; more mentions of the pro-naturalism vs. pro-science tensions in the world and Vaughn's reappearance in the story to drag Rhine back into a world of experiments in an effort to find a cure for the virus that kills its younger generations in their 20s.
Like with Wither, there's a heavy focus on Rhine's thoughts and emotions, the conflicts and hardships she endures.
I like how the author nicely maintained a sort of grayness when it came to Rhine; how she's both glad to be free but some part of her still misses the comfort of her life in the mansion, how her ties to Linden an Cecily and Jenna didn't just vanish because she left, her struggling with all the feelings of regret and shame about how escaping has affected and hurt Gabriel because she didn't think everything through, and how despite it all, she's still sure that having a choice about her life and the freedom to die or be unhappy if that's what she chooses is more important than the comforts of a a life in a cage.
The writing is very nice; I like the author's style a lot and think she's pretty good at characterization of Rhine and really nails down the complexity of her emotions and thoughts.
Again, however, the romance isn't especially appealing because while Gabriel is sweet and loyal, he isn't a well fleshed out character, and because we spend so much time dealing with Rhine's thoughts about everything else, her relationship development with Gabriel isn't really focused upon. They kiss, they sleep beside one another, they take care of each other, they work alongside one another. Even in this installment where Linden only appears in person within the last like 30 or so pages, he's still the more developed character.
Now that I've read the first two books again, I'm starting to recall the third book a little better and I'm not especially thrilled for it, but we'll see when I've finished it up.
As a trigger warning, there's attempted sexual assault, drug use/addiction/withdrawal, a certain level of vague gore/horror with experiments and medical treatments, sexual slavery, death/murder, pregnancy in children, etc. I wouldn't say anything is super explicit or graphically depicted, it's still in the realm of teen literature, but just a general warning about the atmosphere of the story and what not.
It literally took me half a year to read this book. Basically nothing happened, the MCs were mostly drugged, feverish and hallucinating all the time. This book was practically composed of Rhine's remembering insignificant stories from her past. I was bored the whole time and can't believe I've actually finished it. The last five chapters were slightly better but not enough to salvage this book to me.
This book was a non-stop anxiety attack for me. The entire story had my heart racing and breath catching. I think I must have burned 2000 calories just reading it. Cannot wait for the next one!
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Total surprise when I opened the poofy envelope from S&S Canada! It made me exclaim out loud, which excited both my dogs, resulting in me having to give them a treat (since they didn't think the book was all that exciting, which made me a silly human).
True story.
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Total surprise when I opened the poofy envelope from S&S Canada! It made me exclaim out loud, which excited both my dogs, resulting in me having to give them a treat (since they didn't think the book was all that exciting, which made me a silly human).
True story.
I rally enjoyed Wither, but Fever was simply okay. There wasn't enough of Linden in this book and I did not care for some of the content. It is well written, but I felt like a few scenes drug on WAY longer than they needed to. My full review is on my blog. http://jacquesbooknook.blogspot.com/2013/04/fever-by-lauren-destefano.html