Fever by Lauren DeStefano {Review}

Publisher: Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing

Publish Date: February 21, 2012
Source: Library

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.

Now, I love a good series, but I’m also not a fan of change, so sometimes the books following the first can be difficult since there’s always something different whether it be a character, the setting, etc. That being said, once I overcame my fear of change I really enjoyed Fever.

Once Rhine managed to escape we were left with a big What Now and boy do we get answers in Fever. There’s quite a lot of adventure to be had outside the mansion walls, but none of it is really the good kind. We do meet some nice people along the way, but Gabriel and Rhine mostly face gobs of horrid people and situations. But we wouldn’t have a story if it was all sunshine and happy endings, now would we?

Once again, DeStefano weaves together a story that is beautiful in all its heartbreaking glory. Everything flows together so well that I found myself completely pulled into the story. I loved meeting all the characters from the terrible Madame to the warm and gentle Claire. Rhine spends a lot of the story in some state of haze, but it’s not at all boring.

We get a few more answers, but not many. I’m hoping the last book in the trilogy answers everything.

Also, I really love the cover. As you read you can identify things from the story on the cover which I didn’t quite get with Wither.

The Nutshell: Fever is almost an entirely different story than Wither, but not in a bad way. It’s full of adventure and new people. DeStefano’s writing is a gorgeous as ever, but despite the haze that Rhine often finds herself in it doesn’t have the same languid feel of Wither. I think that’s due to the fact that we’re following Rhine and Gabriel as they escape up the coast, though. If you loved Wither then you’re sure to be satisfied by Fever.

Pages: 341

Series: The Chemical Garden #2

Rating: Direct Hit