Monday, April 17, 2017

Fever by Lauren DeStefano

Fever by Lauren DeStefano (Chemical Garden #2)
Release Date: February 12, 2012
Pages: 349
Rating: 💜💜💜💜
Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository

Rhine and Gabriel have escaped the mansion, but they’re still in danger. Outside, they find a world even more disquieting than the one they ran away from. Determined to get to Manhattan and find Rhine’s twin brother, Rowan, the two press forward, amid threats of being captured again…or worse.  The road they are on is long and perilous—and time is precious. Rhine must decide if freedom is worth the price—now that she has more to lose than ever.

This book continues on immediately after the first book, Wither. As Rhine and Gabriel try to find Rowan, Rhine's twin brother, we get to explore the dystopian world a little more. Even though I enjoyed this book, I think it fell into the second-book slump and wasn't quite as good as Wither.

The duo don't get far from the 'big house' when they are forced to join a kind of prostitution complex. Although there are no graphic scenes I couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable about the things that Rhine had to do. The lady in charge, Madame, was extremely creepy and obsessive whilst she forced the girls to do some horrific things. I do realise that Lauren DeStefano was world-building and showing us a different approach to the disease, but when it shows 10-18 year olds selling their bodies you can't help but wonder if it is necessary...

The character development from the start of Wither and end of Fever was incredible. Rhine had matured and began to realise that other people might get hurt by things she does. She also begins to have that wanderlust again, dreaming about all the places she wants to go now that she is out of the 'big house'. Gabriel stopped being a brain-washed rule follower and thought for himself, although he still blindly followed Rhine anywhere even now he had freedom. And Cecily...just wow. I have no words to describe the happiness I feel for Cecily's character development. We don't get to see much of her in this book, literally just the last couple of chapters, but what we do see is incredible.

My feelings for this book are very mixed. It wasn't as good as the first book for plot development, but it was better for character development. We get to see all the characters grow and become strong, independent people. There was also more world building throughout Fever as we get follow Rhine's journey through the poorer areas. It was interesting to see how the disease has affected poor people who needed as many children as possible to carry on the family line (and business).

I can't wait to read the next and final book in this series, Sever, and see where Rhine goes next!



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