Monday, January 21, 2013

Book Review- Fever

I just finished Fever (The Chemical Garden Trilogy #3) by Lauren DeStefano.

From Goodreads:

Rhine and Gabriel have escaped the mansion, but danger is never far behind.

Running away brings Rhine and Gabriel right into a trap, in the form of a twisted carnival whose ringmistress keeps watch over a menagerie of girls. Just as Rhine uncovers what plans await her, her fortune turns again. With Gabriel at her side, Rhine travels through an environment as grim as the one she left a year ago - surroundings that mirror her own feelings of fear and hopelessness.

The two are determined to get to Manhattan, to relative safety with Rhine’s twin brother, Rowan. But the road there is long and perilous - and in a world where young women only live to age twenty and young men die at twenty-five, time is precious. Worse still, they can’t seem to elude Rhine’s father-in-law, Vaughn, who is determined to bring Rhine back to the mansion...by any means necessary.

In the sequel to Lauren DeStefano’s harrowing Wither, Rhine must decide if freedom is worth the price - now that she has more to lose than ever.


I enjoyed the first book in the trilogy, Wither, that I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book.  Unfortunately, I feel like there was a completely different tone in this book.  It was much darker (I know Wither wasn't a "light" book by any means but this one was just so dark).  And so many scenes like the carnvial and the basement were creepy and disturbing.  There was no hope in the book.

And the characters didn't really do it for me either.  Rhine didn't seem as likeable to me as she was in the first book.  Maybe it was because of the setting and the plot but I saw her as weaker.  And Gabriel still doesn't do it for me.  He's no better in this book.  I did like Maddie however.  I really liked how special she was.  I just wish I knew how old she was supposed to be (I don't know if I missed that part or what but it would help the image in my head).  I liked the orphanage scene though.  So many times, orphanages are portrayed as lacking and neglecting.  But in this story it was loving and warm. 

There was definitely another cliffhanger at the end and it did leave me wondering what was going to happen.  I have the next book, Sever, sitting right here for me to read.  But I'm a bit weary of it.  If the tone is like the first book, then I think I'll like it.  But if its the same tone as Fever then I'm dreading it.

I gave this book a rating of 3/5.

This book fulfills items in the following challenges:
2013 150+ Reading Challenge: 6
2013 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 5
What's in a Name? 6 Challenge: Fire

*FTC Disclosure: I traded this book with a friend.

1 comment:

  1. Hi! I popped over from the What's In a Name Challenge. I think I'll skip this book, but it's cool that it's a title that you could use for the challenge.

    Joy's Book Blog

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