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incredibletheyhulk 's review for:
The Fervor
by Alma Katsu
I haven't read a book as quickly as this one since [b:Mexican Gothic|53152636|Mexican Gothic|Silvia Moreno-Garcia|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1607462569l/53152636._SY75_.jpg|73647361]. They aren't similar at all, except that they both grabbed me and I couldn't stop reading.
The Fervor takes on a part of the United States' shameful, racist past: The internment of Japanese Americans during WWII after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Katsu does not shy away from comparing internment to the treatment of Jews by the Nazis, or to point out that America's behavior was equally atrocious to that of the bad guys. As an alternate history, The Fervor includes sf and horror elements (beyond the historically accurate horrors) from Japanese folklore. As an arachnophobe, the Jorōgumo is one of the scariest monsters to me ever. It all combined to make a book I could not stop reading.
All Katsu's characters are incredibly well developed; even the one I wanted to hate was sympathetic and had a redemption arc (you'll guess who pretty quickly, I reckon). The story is told from many characters' points of view, slowly revealing the history of these characters' lives and their relationships to each other. I enjoyed how many of them were imperfect but doing their best.
I would recommend this book to all lovers of sf and horror, as well as historical fiction. If you love stories of yōkai or other monsters, you'll like this book. Of course, if you've read enough horror, you know the scariest thing isn't the monsters, but rather something else, like racism. The author's epilogue makes the direct point that this story is not just about the past, but also the present racism that allows for violence against Asians to be ignored.
I was provided an ARC from Netgalley for a fair and honest review.
The Fervor takes on a part of the United States' shameful, racist past: The internment of Japanese Americans during WWII after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Katsu does not shy away from comparing internment to the treatment of Jews by the Nazis, or to point out that America's behavior was equally atrocious to that of the bad guys. As an alternate history, The Fervor includes sf and horror elements (beyond the historically accurate horrors) from Japanese folklore. As an arachnophobe, the Jorōgumo is one of the scariest monsters to me ever. It all combined to make a book I could not stop reading.
All Katsu's characters are incredibly well developed; even the one I wanted to hate was sympathetic and had a redemption arc (you'll guess who pretty quickly, I reckon). The story is told from many characters' points of view, slowly revealing the history of these characters' lives and their relationships to each other. I enjoyed how many of them were imperfect but doing their best.
I would recommend this book to all lovers of sf and horror, as well as historical fiction. If you love stories of yōkai or other monsters, you'll like this book. Of course, if you've read enough horror, you know the scariest thing isn't the monsters, but rather something else, like racism. The author's epilogue makes the direct point that this story is not just about the past, but also the present racism that allows for violence against Asians to be ignored.
I was provided an ARC from Netgalley for a fair and honest review.