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kaitrosereads's review
5.0
SPOILER ALERT: If you have not read Wither, do not read this review!
I didn't think it was possible but Fever is even better than Wither. Fever was gripping and heart-pounding and I was hooked from the very first page. This series is so unique and I can't believe where Lauren DeStefano took the story in this book.
Rhine is a strong heroine. She does not sit by while people hurt her and the ones she loves. She takes action! Still, she isn't afraid to show weakness to the people she loves. She is smart, strong, courageous, and vulnerable. She is practically the perfect heroine and there is a lot of development of her character in this book. Gabriel is also a lot more developed in this book. He is brave yet scared, strong yet weak, and always great to Rhine. He grows so much throughout Fever and my heart broke for both him and Rhine at times. Some new characters were also introduced, both good and bad. And speaking of bad characters: daddy dearest is back and even crazier than before! Vaughn is one sick man with pretty much no redeeming qualities. He pretty much scares the crap out of me. Lauren DeStefano has done a great job making him a realistic villain.
The story in Fever is a lot darker than that of Wither. Rhine and Gabriel may have escaped but they are definitely not safe. The trials that face them in Fever threaten their lives, their sanity, and their love for each other. Things never turn out quite right for these two but I seriously hope there is a happy ending for them.
Lauren DeStefano's writing has only gotten better since Wither. Her prose is beautiful and lyrical and impossible to stop reading. Read this book for the writing, if nothing else.
Overall, Fever is by far, one of the best books I have ever read. It is dark and gritty but there is always a small ray of hope. Fans of Wither will not be disappointed by this one!
I didn't think it was possible but Fever is even better than Wither. Fever was gripping and heart-pounding and I was hooked from the very first page. This series is so unique and I can't believe where Lauren DeStefano took the story in this book.
Rhine is a strong heroine. She does not sit by while people hurt her and the ones she loves. She takes action! Still, she isn't afraid to show weakness to the people she loves. She is smart, strong, courageous, and vulnerable. She is practically the perfect heroine and there is a lot of development of her character in this book. Gabriel is also a lot more developed in this book. He is brave yet scared, strong yet weak, and always great to Rhine. He grows so much throughout Fever and my heart broke for both him and Rhine at times. Some new characters were also introduced, both good and bad. And speaking of bad characters: daddy dearest is back and even crazier than before! Vaughn is one sick man with pretty much no redeeming qualities. He pretty much scares the crap out of me. Lauren DeStefano has done a great job making him a realistic villain.
The story in Fever is a lot darker than that of Wither. Rhine and Gabriel may have escaped but they are definitely not safe. The trials that face them in Fever threaten their lives, their sanity, and their love for each other. Things never turn out quite right for these two but I seriously hope there is a happy ending for them.
Lauren DeStefano's writing has only gotten better since Wither. Her prose is beautiful and lyrical and impossible to stop reading. Read this book for the writing, if nothing else.
Overall, Fever is by far, one of the best books I have ever read. It is dark and gritty but there is always a small ray of hope. Fans of Wither will not be disappointed by this one!
daffz's review
3.0
I liked large parts of this book, but there were a few things that stood out to me as interesting and I thought would play a bigger role later in the story that all just seemed to fall away. Most of my reasons for being disappointed with this book are spoilery for the ending, so I'll put it in a spoiler tag.
Rhine also spends the entire book looking for her brother and then randomly finds him on the last page by watching tv and seeing him on there. I know there's a very small chance the two of them would just run into eachother on the street, but are the odds of her happening to see him on tv any bigger? I don't think so.
This book is just confusing to me. Unless the author brings back seemingly dropped plot points from this book in the sequel, I'm not sure what the point of 70% of what happened even is. It's not like anything made Rhine grow as a character either, it's all just filler until she's taken back.
I'm disappointed because I really liked the book up until the end. I even liked it more than Wither at first. I'm still invested in the story and I will read the third one because I have some hope that the strange set up in this book might make more sense after reading it. We will see.
Spoiler
At the end Rhine is back where she started, in the hands of the same people in the same position except even worse. It makes the entire book feel like it was just a bit of a waste of time. Even the interesting things and characters she meets along the way don't seem to matter because at the end she isn't anywhere near any of them.Rhine also spends the entire book looking for her brother and then randomly finds him on the last page by watching tv and seeing him on there. I know there's a very small chance the two of them would just run into eachother on the street, but are the odds of her happening to see him on tv any bigger? I don't think so.
This book is just confusing to me. Unless the author brings back seemingly dropped plot points from this book in the sequel, I'm not sure what the point of 70% of what happened even is. It's not like anything made Rhine grow as a character either, it's all just filler until she's taken back.
I'm disappointed because I really liked the book up until the end. I even liked it more than Wither at first. I'm still invested in the story and I will read the third one because I have some hope that the strange set up in this book might make more sense after reading it. We will see.
asteinke19's review
5.0
I want to start off to say that I love this series, apsolutly adore everything about it. So if your looking to read a negative review then you are not goinf to get one from me.
I finally got my hands on this in April and could not put it down. I did re-read bk 1 cause I always do in order to keep the story straight in my mind. I read so many books that sometimes I need a refresher. But I immediately was submerged back into the world. The book literally just picked up right from where Wither left off, with Rhine and Gabriel leaving the manor. Right off the bat they run into trouble and the trouble doesn't stop till u read the last line of the book. I'm a person who adores conflict and near-death experiences for characters so this book was prime. What was really special was the way that the conflict was perfectly intermitted with huge character development. Especially Gabriel, his character grew so much in my eyes. And not just himself but his relationship with Rhine. I thought it was absolutely beautiful.
Basically I could go on and on about how amazing this book is. So just please read it!
I finally got my hands on this in April and could not put it down. I did re-read bk 1 cause I always do in order to keep the story straight in my mind. I read so many books that sometimes I need a refresher. But I immediately was submerged back into the world. The book literally just picked up right from where Wither left off, with Rhine and Gabriel leaving the manor. Right off the bat they run into trouble and the trouble doesn't stop till u read the last line of the book. I'm a person who adores conflict and near-death experiences for characters so this book was prime. What was really special was the way that the conflict was perfectly intermitted with huge character development. Especially Gabriel, his character grew so much in my eyes. And not just himself but his relationship with Rhine. I thought it was absolutely beautiful.
Basically I could go on and on about how amazing this book is. So just please read it!
lostinafairytale's review
4.0
I have a love/hate relationship with this book. On one hand, I felt it answered a lot of questions from the first book and continued to build upon Rhine and Vaughan's characters, but it wasn't as good as the first book and the entire plot felt kind of circular.
The circus setting in the first half really served no purpose to the plot other than to remind us how bleak the world really is in Fever, and I felt Gabriel was criminally underused.
Still, I'm excited to see how things will all wrap up in Sever and how Linden will react to knowing all of his father's diabolical deeds.
The only thing I can't figure out is Cecily. Is she good, is bad? I can never really tell.
Overall Grade: 4.5 stars
The circus setting in the first half really served no purpose to the plot other than to remind us how bleak the world really is in Fever, and I felt Gabriel was criminally underused.
Still, I'm excited to see how things will all wrap up in Sever and how Linden will react to knowing all of his father's diabolical deeds.
The only thing I can't figure out is Cecily. Is she good, is bad? I can never really tell.
Overall Grade: 4.5 stars
acethirtynine's review
3.0
I really wanted to like this more, because I really enjoyed Wither. I think my lackluster feeling for the book had more to do with finishing A Discovery of Witches (which I thought was incredible and engaging and was sad when it was over) than with the book itself.
craftylibrarian10's review
3.0
Contains Spoilers... This book took me a really long time to finish, because it was so hard to follow and because the subject matter was so disturbing. Normally, I can enjoy a book, even with tough subject matter, but this one just didn't work. I had a really hard time with Rhine in this book. She was not the strong willed, young woman using all her power to earn her freedom. She allowed herself to basically become the victim of human trafficking. Sadly, that's probably accurate to that lifestyle, but it didn't align with this character. Also, I still don't feel that tight bond between her and Gabriel. I think we're supposed to root for them, but I don't. I want her to be reunited with her brother more than I care about these other men. Furthermore, when she finally revealed to Linden what a monster his father is, why didn't she also tell him the whole truth about her? Seriously, he needs to know how naive he is!
frawst_disasta_reads's review
4.0
The followup to Wither was surprisingly good. It sets up the world as bleak as the end of Wither. The new characters are interesting enough to hold our attention, but not so over powering that we don't hope to see former characters.
It's a quick read, but still creative and detailed.
It's a quick read, but still creative and detailed.
lilcarly's review
1.0
Unfortunately I didn't find this novel as good as Wither. The only time I truly became interested was near the end. I felt bored whilst reading majority of Fever, however I will hate myself if I don't read the last book so I guess we will see how that one turns out; Hopefully better than this one.
trisha_thomas's review
3.0
"Momentum," she repeats. "You can't just stand there if you want something to fly. You have to run."
wow,I don't think I've read such a sad, hopeless painful book in a very very very long time.
This one took all my willpower to finish. At some point, I want a win in the corner for the good guys..
I want grown men (the ones that are NOT going to die at 25) to want more from a young girl than just her body.
I want less drugs shoved, morphed and forced into people
I want less taken, more given. And love and affection.
and this...ugh, was....painful. and just left me feeling empty.
the line that broke me the most:
"If only we could be together, maybe we'd have an answer between us."
God, if only.....
wow,I don't think I've read such a sad, hopeless painful book in a very very very long time.
This one took all my willpower to finish. At some point, I want a win in the corner for the good guys..
I want grown men (the ones that are NOT going to die at 25) to want more from a young girl than just her body.
I want less drugs shoved, morphed and forced into people
I want less taken, more given. And love and affection.
and this...ugh, was....painful. and just left me feeling empty.
the line that broke me the most:
"If only we could be together, maybe we'd have an answer between us."
God, if only.....
lisamparkin's review
4.0
(Review originally posted on http://www.readbreatherelax.com)
I really liked Fever! There’s a lot that happens in the book – Rhine and Gabriel have quite the adventure. And when I say adventure, I mean horror-filled nightmare.
Where Wither was sort of dreamy and whimsical, Fever is gritty and harsh. Wither is about Rhine seeing the life she could have in the mansion with her sister-wives, carefully removed from the horror of the world where girls die in their 20s. In Fever, Rhine gets reacquainted with the life she left behind, which she has been away from for too long.
This book really lives up to its name – the plot, pacing and characters are feverish and sick. I was in suspense the entire novel, just waiting for the next terror to befall Rhine.
I really loved Rhine. She’s resilient and strong yet full of self-doubt and apprehension. I think she’s the type of person I would want to be in her dystopian world. (Although I sincerely hope I never live in a post-apocalyptic world).
Writing & Romance
I absolutely love DeStefano’s writing style. It’s just beautiful. The imagery she uses and the stories she tells are stunning:
“‘Things will get better before they get worse.’”
“This is a saying that first generations seem to have. My mother used to say it, her voice cooing and soft as she stroked my forehead when I was sick. Things will get worse before they get better. A little more agony before the fever will break. Of course they can say that. They live onto old age. The rest of us don’t have time to wait through the worse for the better.”
Although the steaminess level between Rhine and Gabriel is at a “light foam” in Fever, I definitely enjoyed seeing their relationship grow organically over time. Nothing rushed and instalove free.
The one negative thing I have to say about Fever is that through the first half of the book, I struggled. Things were stuck in place for Rhine – and it seemed a lot like being back in the mansion and it dragged a bunch. I think this is what kept me from loving the book instead of just liking it.
OVERALL:
DeStefano has done it again! Fever is a great continuation of the Chemical Garden series. I think there’s so much yet to be revealed and I’m anxiously waiting to read more about Rhine and Gabriel and Cecily and Vaughn. Fever left me feeling achy and emotionally congested – job well done.
I really liked Fever! There’s a lot that happens in the book – Rhine and Gabriel have quite the adventure. And when I say adventure, I mean horror-filled nightmare.
Where Wither was sort of dreamy and whimsical, Fever is gritty and harsh. Wither is about Rhine seeing the life she could have in the mansion with her sister-wives, carefully removed from the horror of the world where girls die in their 20s. In Fever, Rhine gets reacquainted with the life she left behind, which she has been away from for too long.
This book really lives up to its name – the plot, pacing and characters are feverish and sick. I was in suspense the entire novel, just waiting for the next terror to befall Rhine.
I really loved Rhine. She’s resilient and strong yet full of self-doubt and apprehension. I think she’s the type of person I would want to be in her dystopian world. (Although I sincerely hope I never live in a post-apocalyptic world).
Writing & Romance
I absolutely love DeStefano’s writing style. It’s just beautiful. The imagery she uses and the stories she tells are stunning:
“‘Things will get better before they get worse.’”
“This is a saying that first generations seem to have. My mother used to say it, her voice cooing and soft as she stroked my forehead when I was sick. Things will get worse before they get better. A little more agony before the fever will break. Of course they can say that. They live onto old age. The rest of us don’t have time to wait through the worse for the better.”
Although the steaminess level between Rhine and Gabriel is at a “light foam” in Fever, I definitely enjoyed seeing their relationship grow organically over time. Nothing rushed and instalove free.
The one negative thing I have to say about Fever is that through the first half of the book, I struggled. Things were stuck in place for Rhine – and it seemed a lot like being back in the mansion and it dragged a bunch. I think this is what kept me from loving the book instead of just liking it.
OVERALL:
DeStefano has done it again! Fever is a great continuation of the Chemical Garden series. I think there’s so much yet to be revealed and I’m anxiously waiting to read more about Rhine and Gabriel and Cecily and Vaughn. Fever left me feeling achy and emotionally congested – job well done.