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A review by agnesgailx
Fever by Lauren DeStefano
2.0
Fever is not the best follow up book, to be honest. It took me a ridiculously long time to finish this book. The story is extremely slow, and the book is full of characters who don't make much of an impact on the readers.
One of the first things that you will notice in this book is the complete change of scenery. In Wither, we were given a place so beautiful, a mansion with endless gardens and swimming pools with holograms. But in Fever, Rhine has escaped with Gabriel and they have gone into the real world. And the real world is pretty much a wasteland. It was almost a little difficult and somewhat depressing reading about it.
The whole story pretty much takes place in just two settings - Madame's "carnival", and then the orphanage that Gabriel and Rhine come to find eventually. We meet some different characters, but they all feel insignificant. I did not feel a connection with any of them the way I did with Rhine's sister wives in the first book. Even Linden is more interesting than any of the new characters we meet in this book.
Another thing I really disliked was how repetitive the story felt. Over and over it was the same thing, especially towards the end. I felt like this whole book could have been just a few chapters in the next book or something. Nothing significant happens in the first half of the book. It doesn't help that I'm not feeling Rhine and Gabriel together. I thought Rhine had more chemistry with Linden.
I think the problem with DeStefano's writing is her lack of ability to amp up the thrill factor. She writes beautifully, but somehow I just don't feel much even when it came to the climax in the story. These first 2 books in her trilogy have failed to make my heart beat so fast in the way that most dystopian novels do. I felt no excitement whatsoever.
I should have taken a cue from the ratings. Most 2nd and so on books in a series usually garner a 4+ rating, but Fever only has a 3.81 rating (as of this writing). I thought I'd give it a chance anyway, because the story seemed really interesting. So yes, I am pretty disappointed. But I've already bought the complete trilogy, so I will have to finish reading it. I am usually an optimist when it comes to books, but for now I will not expect too much from the finale. I'd hate to be disappointed twice.
One of the first things that you will notice in this book is the complete change of scenery. In Wither, we were given a place so beautiful, a mansion with endless gardens and swimming pools with holograms. But in Fever, Rhine has escaped with Gabriel and they have gone into the real world. And the real world is pretty much a wasteland. It was almost a little difficult and somewhat depressing reading about it.
The whole story pretty much takes place in just two settings - Madame's "carnival", and then the orphanage that Gabriel and Rhine come to find eventually. We meet some different characters, but they all feel insignificant. I did not feel a connection with any of them the way I did with Rhine's sister wives in the first book. Even Linden is more interesting than any of the new characters we meet in this book.
Another thing I really disliked was how repetitive the story felt. Over and over it was the same thing, especially towards the end. I felt like this whole book could have been just a few chapters in the next book or something. Nothing significant happens in the first half of the book. It doesn't help that I'm not feeling Rhine and Gabriel together. I thought Rhine had more chemistry with Linden.
I think the problem with DeStefano's writing is her lack of ability to amp up the thrill factor. She writes beautifully, but somehow I just don't feel much even when it came to the climax in the story. These first 2 books in her trilogy have failed to make my heart beat so fast in the way that most dystopian novels do. I felt no excitement whatsoever.
I should have taken a cue from the ratings. Most 2nd and so on books in a series usually garner a 4+ rating, but Fever only has a 3.81 rating (as of this writing). I thought I'd give it a chance anyway, because the story seemed really interesting. So yes, I am pretty disappointed. But I've already bought the complete trilogy, so I will have to finish reading it. I am usually an optimist when it comes to books, but for now I will not expect too much from the finale. I'd hate to be disappointed twice.