Review ~ Fever ~ Lauren DeStefano

Title: Fever

Author: Lauren DeStefano

Published: 21th February 2011

By: Harper Voyager

First line: We run, with water in our shoes and the smell of the ocean clinging to our frozen skin.

Last line: Sorry, would be a spoiler!

Fave Line: “You children are flies. You are roses. You multiply and die."

Had I read Wither prior to writing my ‘most anticipated books of 2012’ post, I think I can say with some certainty that Fever would have been part of that list. One added bonus of course of only reading Wither at the beginning of this year was that I didn’t have to wait so long for Fever as I’m sure plenty of other fans of the series have.

Fever picks up almost where we left off in Wither. Rhine and Gabriel have escaped from the confines of the mansion where she had been forced into a polygamous marriage, stolen a boat and travelled further up the coast. Their aim now is not only to get away from her husband Linden and Vaughn his tyrant of a father but also to go back to Rhine’s home in Manhattan and to find her twin brother.

Their joy is short-lived however as they find themselves captured and made to work in what I can only describe as brothel that exists within the confines of a bizarre carnival and even there they find they are unable to evade Vaughan. With the help of the residents of the carnival de l’amour they escape, taking a new companion with them in the form of Maddie, daughter of one of the residents. The story follows their journey back to Manhattan and it is a journey which is often fraught, leaving Gabriel feeling disappointed at the new world that he has entered and Rhine wondering whether leaving the mansion was the right decision after all given the risk that she has placed herself and Gabriel in.

I love the way that DeStefano has built the relationship between Rhine and Gabriel. It isn’t all passion and hearts and flowers, but rather it is solid, trusting and utterly devoted even when everything seems to be against them and things certainly are against them. There are so many unexpected twists in the plot (not that I’m giving any of them away here!) and they kept me turning the pages eager to find out what was going to happen next. As for the ending, well... You read it, you’ll see...

The plotline makes this a much faster paced book than Wither and I thought that the writing flowed even more smoothly than its predecessor. DeStefano describes things beautifully, allowing you to form such detailed images in your own mind that you can picture every place, character and action she creates within this world.

Fever is a more than worthy follow-up to Wither and where the middle book in a trilogy can sometimes almost be seen as a filler this one certainly is not. The plot speeds along and you begin to get an idea of the magnitude of the battle that awaits the characters in the final book of this trilogy. I can’t wait to get my hands on it!

Rating: 4/5. I loved it! Can’t believe I have to wait a whole year to get closure!