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emilyusuallyreading 's review for:
Fever
by Lauren DeStefano
What I Liked
Lauren DeStefano has a lovely writing style. Her voice is clear and poetic. She is a wordsmith for the YA genre, and I am frequently struck by the beauty in her sentences when I read her works. Although I have some problems with this story, I take so much enjoyment from her writing.
There is better world-building than what was offered in Wither. We encounter a bit of the outside world beyond Linden's mansion, as well as a glimpse into the government structure.
What I Didn't Like
The cover. If I wasn't so curious about the fate of Rhine and Gabriel, I would have never picked up a book with a cover like this one, even though it's YA. It is the ideal MySpace profile picture from 2005. I took off the paper cover in an embarrassed attempt to hide the silly design, but the cardboard cover was a gaudy, hot pink. Yikes.
The first half of the book is long and a little dull. I actually set the book down for a month. Wither builds up the forbidden romance between Rhine and Gabriel, but he spends the entire first half of Fever sick in bed and virtually unable to speak or do anything meaningful. Their relationship was wrapped in more and more romantic tension, but as soon as Fever began, it disintegrated. I was disappointed with the lack of life in Gabriel's character in this book.
DeStefano struggles to write from the perspective of young people. Deirdre, age 9, has the articulation of a college student. Even if she is decently educated and intelligent, here is an example of a 9-year-old's average conversation in Fever:
The plot of Fever was a tangle. I had trouble ascertaining the climax of the story, as it seemed like a loosely woven knot of subplots instead of a forward-moving main plot. I enjoyed the glimpse into Rhine's tortured world, but I found myself frustrated by the lack of movement in the meaningful parts of her story.
Lauren DeStefano has a lovely writing style. Her voice is clear and poetic. She is a wordsmith for the YA genre, and I am frequently struck by the beauty in her sentences when I read her works. Although I have some problems with this story, I take so much enjoyment from her writing.
There is better world-building than what was offered in Wither. We encounter a bit of the outside world beyond Linden's mansion, as well as a glimpse into the government structure.
What I Didn't Like
The cover. If I wasn't so curious about the fate of Rhine and Gabriel, I would have never picked up a book with a cover like this one, even though it's YA. It is the ideal MySpace profile picture from 2005. I took off the paper cover in an embarrassed attempt to hide the silly design, but the cardboard cover was a gaudy, hot pink. Yikes.
The first half of the book is long and a little dull. I actually set the book down for a month. Wither builds up the forbidden romance between Rhine and Gabriel, but he spends the entire first half of Fever sick in bed and virtually unable to speak or do anything meaningful. Their relationship was wrapped in more and more romantic tension, but as soon as Fever began, it disintegrated. I was disappointed with the lack of life in Gabriel's character in this book.
Spoiler
Aside from his reaction to the man trying to rape Rhine, he was passive and two-dimensional.DeStefano struggles to write from the perspective of young people. Deirdre, age 9, has the articulation of a college student. Even if she is decently educated and intelligent, here is an example of a 9-year-old's average conversation in Fever:
Spoiler
"Soon he'll try artificial insemination. From what I understand, the Housemaster thinks he's found a way to speed up fertility and gestation, so girls can bear children before natural puberty" (p. 290).The plot of Fever was a tangle. I had trouble ascertaining the climax of the story, as it seemed like a loosely woven knot of subplots instead of a forward-moving main plot. I enjoyed the glimpse into Rhine's tortured world, but I found myself frustrated by the lack of movement in the meaningful parts of her story