Fever by Lauren DeStefano

Release Date: Out now!

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Pages: 341pgs

The Story

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 this 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.

The Review

If any of my readers have read my book review on Lauren DeStefano's debut novel Wither, you would know how much I adored it. Not only did I want to marry it (I know that's illegal in most cases and can only exist in my dreams, well, as far as I know) but I also thought it was one of the best stand-out books for 2011 and one I wouldn't forget in a long, long time. With FEVER being the second most anticipated installment of The Chemical Garden trilogy, the sequel had a lot to live up to in expectation-wise and while I firmly believe the book had its nice, rare moments now and then, and also answered a couple of my questions from the previous book, but unfortunately this book was yet another disappointing sequel that was more a filler than a thriller!

FEVER picks up immediately after Wither finished off at, with Gabriel and Rhine narrowingly escaping the mansion. Normally at this point of the book, readers would rejoice for this attempt of freedom and hope for the best for these two main characters, which I wished for in the beginning of this sequel since Gabriel and Rhine deserved some true happiness for once in their short lives. Even briefly. But instead of cherishing those happy moments together, their new freedom collides with something much worse than they first expected - strangers capture the two of them and forcing them into a carnival brothel under the fierce woman known as Madame. Appropriate name, right? Faced with a situation that so terrifying and unable to find an escape, Gabriel and Rhine will need to make a plan as soon as possible before Rhine's father-in-law catches up to them first!

The problem I had with this book and the main reason why I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would, if not at all, was mostly due the abrupt events that occured throughout the book. Again and again. Take for example the Madame's carnival brothel, which was rather a very different direction and setting for a young adult book . . . I must admit. While it offered a similar situation that Rhine had experienced in the previous book, Wither, where Rhine was kidnapped and forced to marry a boy with several other wives and forced to do many things against her will, however I found in this book in particular, adding a brothel was a little bit irrelevant and quite unnecessary. I don't know why it was suddenly introduced but I think it was merely a shock factor to add to the storyline - you know, to drive the book further into the dark side of this crazy new world even though there was no clear purpose for doing so. I might be the only reader here who'd thought about this when it came to FEVER but that's how I felt. Even when I was reading more and more of this book, other events that I found were quite unnecessary just kept coming around the corner. But when it comes down to it I get why the author did what she did, but there was far more shocking plot twists rather than further book progression in the storyline, which, as you can see, didn't appeal to me.

In addition to the dragging and slow-pacing plot of the book, the characters - ones of which I adored and was obsessed with from Wither - had also lost the initial spark that I'd previously felt. In the first book, Wither, it was all about the main character and her relationships with her sisters, and it was even about her estrange relationship with her new husband whom I found also appealing in a strange, weird-ish sort of way. I mean, with every single one of the characters there was this strong pull towards them - this strong connection I felt no matter the evils they'd possessed. But as push came to shove and in mix with rushed events, in FEVER the book just didn't allow me to reconnect with those beloved characters. Rhine, for one, was in this strange daze for the majority of the book and not even my beloved character Gabriel who goes along with her was using his head . . . after all . . . he was drugged out most of the time too. Yes, really he was. He was. Drugged. So with many other 'interesting' characters introduced, I just missed that same old feeling I had with Wither and I really hope there's enough love for this series to go around when it comes to the third and final book in the trilogy. I hope until then it will win me over!

Overall, no matter what I've said above in this review, FEVER wasn't a bad book. Not at all. Certainly there was certain things lacking in the storyline and didn't appeal to me, but the prose of the book was still beautifully written as done in Wither and for sure it might not have been my favourite book in the series, which was a real shame since I had high expectations and all, but . . . the ending finished off with a bang and I'm definitely still looking forward to the third and final book Sever which I'm sure will sway me back to Team Wither once more!

The Rating2 1/2 / 5 stars

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Release Date: 22nd March, 2011

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Pages: 358pgs

The Story

What if you knew exactly when you would die?

Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb - males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.

When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape - to find her twin brother and go home.

But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left.

The Review

If WITHER was a person, I think I would marry it. With its beautiful cover and its very creative world, I wouldn't care less what others thought about it because I'm obsessed with it! Man it was just so very . . . AWESOME and UNIQUE! I admit, when I first heard about the book and what it entailed, I thought it wasn't my kind of read . . . what with a boy with a lot of wives that were treated like cattle. That alone didn't appeal to me. But after reading the first chapter and then many chapters after that, it was highly addictive and I wanted more! While there's no words to describe what WITHER is actually like, I can definitely say if you turn away from this book right now, you'll deeply regret it!

In WITHER, a sixteen-year-old girl named Rhine lives in a world where the 'virus' spreads and kills youth. Males are expected to live until they're 25 while the females only live until they turn 20. With illness killing so many, the remaining population of males must marry so many young teenage brides (random girls who are kidnapped) and those brides must carry their children, even though the parents of such children will die anyway. This is a screwed up world I tell you . . . but such a great one too. The story of WITHER was told like a Victorian novel and that's exactly the vibe I got from it. It would've made such a GREAT Victorian novel, but I do love my dystopian worlds . . . even the screwed up ones. Anyway, with scientists working on a 'cure', it's still a long way to go before they actually find one which doesn't help Rhine's case.

Now let's talk about lovely Rhine. Rhine was a such an awesome character! She was kidnapped and torn away from the only person she truly cared about - her twin brother, mind you - and then she basically got presented like breeding stock where only the best of three girls are chosen to be brides while the others are disposed of like garbage. Despite this awful thing that happened to her, she didn't kick and scream - no. Throughout the novel she remained strong, true to herself, and mostly, she stayed determined. Unlike the other girl brides you meet in WITHER, Rhine was the smart one. The moment she sees her surroundings, Rhine already forms a plan to escape, how to be the good wife, and how she'll win the heart of her new husband. But she knows it'll take time, but Rhine is the girl to never give up. And I love that about her!

There are many other character you'll meet in WITHER. First you have Linden, the boy manipulated by his scientist-of-a-father to become the husband of many wives. Readers will probably hate Linden and what he's doing to these girls . . . but as you begin to learn more about his character and how his father uses him . . . you will sympathize for him. Deep down, he's actually a nice guy full of his own emotions and affections. Even if his actions are still wrong but that's because he's still young at heart, vulnerable, and frail in some respects. But then you have Cecily. What's even more disturbing than the situation itself is that Cecily is only thirteen and yet she's married, and expected to carry Linden's baby. *shivers* That's just not right. For me, Cecily was a very hard character to like because she's immature, naive, pushy, demanding, and horribly craving for Linden's attention. But then you have to remind yourself that's she's still a child who is now living in a grow up world . . . still I didn't like her. Then there's my favourite Gabriel, the servant boy of Linden's household. Awwwww I love this guy! The whole relationship that blossomed between the servant boy and the prisoner wife thing was so beautiful and so innocently developed. With everything crazy going on in WITHER, I was glad to see something real and honest come through in a relationship and that's what you get between Gabriel and Rhine.

Overall, with dystopain worlds full of explosives, rebellions, and big adventures that you wouldn't think were possible, WITHER deals with its dystopian world in a quiet, subtle way that shines all by itself! It's a novel that get's you thinking, it's a novel that you would want to read again and again, and it's a novel that could survive as a standalone . . . but I don't want that because I demand its sequel RIGHT NOW! Lauren DeStefano is such a brilliant debut author and I'm pleased her book is something a little different. Hot damn! The year of 2011 has rocked the book boat so far!

The Rating

5/5 stars