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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
More reviews at Rondo of a Possible World: YA Book Reviews
Emotions, emotions, emotions. Feels, feels, feels. Lauren DeStefano really knows how to get a hold of me and never let go until the final page. Fever takes Wither to the next level and leaves me shivering, exhilarated, and overall exasperated. After the events of the first book we follow Rhine and Gabriel on their escape from Housemaster Vaughn and the demons that lurk in the world as the two tread back to Manhattan to fine Rhine's brother, Rowan. And when I say demons, I am true to the nonreligious word. This dystopian world is one hell of a scary place.
Rhine as a character was beautifully constructed yet again in the second installment of the Chemical Garden Trilogy and I couldn't have asked to read the point of view of any other character in this novel. She's strong, pursuing, and brave. From one hell to the next, through endeavor after endeavor, she pulls through again and again with nothing stopping her until she finally gets to her destination. With multiple roadblocks and Vaughn high on their heels, Rhine uses memories and trinkets, words and dreams to get her through the mess that the world has become and with Gilbert by her side, facing hell together and regretting bringing him down with her, we see the flaws that congregate Rhine, that with strength comes weakness.
The vivid world that DeStefano paints for the reader is breathtaking. Her vocabulary and sentence structure, the descriptive language and imagery present really brought this book to life for the characters to walk, run, and stumble through. I couldn't have asked for a better sequel, because Fever really was a nice piece of cake. Aside from the fluorescent pink hardcover under the jacket, the writing style was purely intoxicating. I loved it.
Final Summation: For those who enjoyed Wither or need a dark dystopian with characters to root for, the Chemical Garden Trilogy and this second installment to it is something that should be checked out and purchased pronto. I am excitedly waiting the final book and how Rhine's story is going to play out now with such a gripping ending that DeStefano gave.
Emotions, emotions, emotions. Feels, feels, feels. Lauren DeStefano really knows how to get a hold of me and never let go until the final page. Fever takes Wither to the next level and leaves me shivering, exhilarated, and overall exasperated. After the events of the first book we follow Rhine and Gabriel on their escape from Housemaster Vaughn and the demons that lurk in the world as the two tread back to Manhattan to fine Rhine's brother, Rowan. And when I say demons, I am true to the nonreligious word. This dystopian world is one hell of a scary place.
Rhine as a character was beautifully constructed yet again in the second installment of the Chemical Garden Trilogy and I couldn't have asked to read the point of view of any other character in this novel. She's strong, pursuing, and brave. From one hell to the next, through endeavor after endeavor, she pulls through again and again with nothing stopping her until she finally gets to her destination. With multiple roadblocks and Vaughn high on their heels, Rhine uses memories and trinkets, words and dreams to get her through the mess that the world has become and with Gilbert by her side, facing hell together and regretting bringing him down with her, we see the flaws that congregate Rhine, that with strength comes weakness.
The vivid world that DeStefano paints for the reader is breathtaking. Her vocabulary and sentence structure, the descriptive language and imagery present really brought this book to life for the characters to walk, run, and stumble through. I couldn't have asked for a better sequel, because Fever really was a nice piece of cake. Aside from the fluorescent pink hardcover under the jacket, the writing style was purely intoxicating. I loved it.
Final Summation: For those who enjoyed Wither or need a dark dystopian with characters to root for, the Chemical Garden Trilogy and this second installment to it is something that should be checked out and purchased pronto. I am excitedly waiting the final book and how Rhine's story is going to play out now with such a gripping ending that DeStefano gave.
3.5, reeally, but giving it the extra half because I've been left dying for the 3rd.
adventurous
challenging
medium-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:
Complicated
My original rating was 4 stars, but I’m updating to 3 stars. I felt the plot was more bloated in the middle than I remember, which dragged the story out, though I’m not sure what was gained. I’ll see how I feel after book 3.
J'avais eu un gros coup de coeur pour le premier tome, mais j'avoue avoir eu un peu peur de ce que cela pouvait donner une fois Rhine échappée du manoir, et que cela devienne un peu trop "facile". Mais non, rien n'est facile avec Lauren DeStefano, et c'est tant mieux d'un côté ! Ce tome-ci est légèrement moins bien que le premier, je pense que c'est l'effet "original" qui est passé. Il est déprimant, sombre, mais on ne s'ennuie pas (du moins c'est mon avis). Les rebondissements s'enchaînent au fur et à mesure que Rhine et Gabriel avancent pour se retrouver à Manhattan et tenter de retrouver Rowan, le frère de Rhine, mais ce n'était pas sans compter sur son beau-père machiavélique, Vaughn, qui ne compte pas l'oublier et la traque.
Ils attérissent d'abord dans un manège abandonné, puis un restaurant de bord de route, puis enfin l'orphelinat à Manhattan. Et on se rend alors bien compte que le monde idyllique et les rêves de liberté qu'elle avait décrit à Gabriel n'ont rien de réels et qu'ils ont été bien embellis par sa mémoire, effaçant tous les aspects sombres que pouvait compter le monde. On se retrouve plongés dans un monde vraiment sombre, pour ne pas dire glauque. Mais j'ai adoré cette ambiance, on étouffe en lisant le livre, on a qu'une envie, qu'ils s'en sortent, qu'ils atteignent enfin Manhattan et retrouvent Rowan, mais ce serait trop simple si ça arrivait. Rowan n'est plus là à leur arrivée.
La fin était géniale, et j'ai encore plus envie de lire la suite maintenant, alors vivement ! Vite vite !
Ils attérissent d'abord dans un manège abandonné, puis un restaurant de bord de route, puis enfin l'orphelinat à Manhattan. Et on se rend alors bien compte que le monde idyllique et les rêves de liberté qu'elle avait décrit à Gabriel n'ont rien de réels et qu'ils ont été bien embellis par sa mémoire, effaçant tous les aspects sombres que pouvait compter le monde. On se retrouve plongés dans un monde vraiment sombre, pour ne pas dire glauque. Mais j'ai adoré cette ambiance, on étouffe en lisant le livre, on a qu'une envie, qu'ils s'en sortent, qu'ils atteignent enfin Manhattan et retrouvent Rowan, mais ce serait trop simple si ça arrivait. Rowan n'est plus là à leur arrivée.
La fin était géniale, et j'ai encore plus envie de lire la suite maintenant, alors vivement ! Vite vite !
Was kind of bored at the beginning, and middle too. Got good towards the end. Interested to see what will happen next, but didn't really enjoy this book much.
2.5 stars
Honestly, I have no idea what to rate this book. It was really more of a filler and wasn't necessary to the series at all. I swear, for the first 200+ pages, nothing really happened. Sure, DeStefano does an excellent job of portraying the desperation of a dying world and she's good at writing evil, creepy, manipulative characters like Madame and Vaughn who should be burned at the stake or something, but as I said before, nothing important happened in this book. The prose is certainly beautiful but I simply didn't get the point of having this filler book. Nothing is resolved, either:. So yes, I was really disappointed in this book. I'll read the final one, but that'd better have some resolution in it.
Honestly, I have no idea what to rate this book. It was really more of a filler and wasn't necessary to the series at all. I swear, for the first 200+ pages, nothing really happened. Sure, DeStefano does an excellent job of portraying the desperation of a dying world and she's good at writing evil, creepy, manipulative characters like Madame and Vaughn who should be burned at the stake or something, but as I said before, nothing important happened in this book. The prose is certainly beautiful but I simply didn't get the point of having this filler book. Nothing is resolved, either:
Spoiler
Rhine doesn't find Rowan until the end, nothing's explained about the importance of her twin or their heterochromatic eyes, and she just ends up back in Vaughn's clutches
I rarely enjoy the second book in a series as much as I had the first. It happens, but not often. In this case, I ate this book up! I finished it in a day (another rarity for me) and was sad it was over. I knew what the ending had to be and I couldn't get there fast enough but I didn't want it to stop!
I think part of my enjoyment is that the author creates these characters who are flawed, who can be stupid and ridiculous and even annoying, but who are trying so hard. I just have to cheer for them, try to help them get to where they need to be (which I can really only do by reading, right?).
Rhine was bugging me at the beginning, having escaped with Gabriel and then getting all mopey because the world wasn't what she thought and she felt bad for Gabriel but not enough so to really care about him because she was too busy worrying about everything else. On one hand, that made sense. On another, I really felt she should have Gabriel's best interests at heart. But the story progressed and the surrounding characters became more real and the environment became more hideous and then I was done with the book and wondering, How the heck is she going to wrap everything up in just one more book? It's impossible! (it's not, I know, but it feels like it should be because so much needs to happen!!)
DeStefano has a turn of phrase here and there that just hits me the right way. For some reason, the line about orange blossoms about to be born struck me because the way it was written seemed both sweet and grotesque, much like this story has been so far.
There were a few things that didn't sit right with me; a couple of easy outs and vaguenesses. I was never sure if Rhine/Goldenrod and Gabriel were being forced to have sex for the pleasure of voyeurs or if they were just making out and people paid money to watch teens make out. Not that I wanted graphic detail, but a "Yes, this is what is happening, you are correct" or a "No, we're keeping this PG-13, just hand up the shirt type of stuff" would have been nice, especially since you'd think they'd just go ahead and continue to have sex later on, having already established a physical relationship and since they didn't...really...I don't think...made me wonder.
Still, those moments weren't enough to drop the story any stars.
I will be very happy when the final book is released!
I think part of my enjoyment is that the author creates these characters who are flawed, who can be stupid and ridiculous and even annoying, but who are trying so hard. I just have to cheer for them, try to help them get to where they need to be (which I can really only do by reading, right?).
Rhine was bugging me at the beginning, having escaped with Gabriel and then getting all mopey because the world wasn't what she thought and she felt bad for Gabriel but not enough so to really care about him because she was too busy worrying about everything else. On one hand, that made sense. On another, I really felt she should have Gabriel's best interests at heart. But the story progressed and the surrounding characters became more real and the environment became more hideous and then I was done with the book and wondering, How the heck is she going to wrap everything up in just one more book? It's impossible! (it's not, I know, but it feels like it should be because so much needs to happen!!)
DeStefano has a turn of phrase here and there that just hits me the right way. For some reason, the line about orange blossoms about to be born struck me because the way it was written seemed both sweet and grotesque, much like this story has been so far.
There were a few things that didn't sit right with me; a couple of easy outs and vaguenesses. I was never sure if Rhine/Goldenrod and Gabriel were being forced to have sex for the pleasure of voyeurs or if they were just making out and people paid money to watch teens make out. Not that I wanted graphic detail, but a "Yes, this is what is happening, you are correct" or a "No, we're keeping this PG-13, just hand up the shirt type of stuff" would have been nice, especially since you'd think they'd just go ahead and continue to have sex later on, having already established a physical relationship and since they didn't...really...I don't think...made me wonder.
Still, those moments weren't enough to drop the story any stars.
I will be very happy when the final book is released!
eh....
I expected much more from the second book...
The First book was very nice. At first I was skeptical of the skeptics themselves because they pointed out a few flaws that seemed minor to me at the time.But Lauren DeStephano didn't really bring it all together as I thought she would.
For instance:
The girls live to be 20, yes? Then why are they so abundant, are girls just more genetically likely, or something? Because the fact that they live shorter should make them in short supply compared to males.
I still didn't receive an explanation for this, however miniscule, because it still adds to the reader's understanding of a novel...
I expected much more from the second book...
The First book was very nice. At first I was skeptical of the skeptics themselves because they pointed out a few flaws that seemed minor to me at the time.But Lauren DeStephano didn't really bring it all together as I thought she would.
For instance:
Spoiler
The girls live to be 20, yes? Then why are they so abundant, are girls just more genetically likely, or something? Because the fact that they live shorter should make them in short supply compared to males.
I still didn't receive an explanation for this, however miniscule, because it still adds to the reader's understanding of a novel...
This sequel to "Wither" was not promising at the beginning, picked up in the middle, and then spiraled right past awful towards the end. DeStefano seems to confuse repeating-herself with thoughtful-character-development as Rhine rearticulates the same ideas, expressions, and behaviour time and again. Another middle-book in a trilogy that is on a journey to nowhere.