Book Review: Fever by Lauren DeStefano

Fever by Lauren DeStefano
(Chemical Garden, #2)
Release Date: February 21, 2012
Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 341 pages

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.

What to say about FEVER...the question should be more like what not to say about this book. I loved it. Though, the beginning kind of dragged, slightly...I still couldn't put the book down. I fell in love with WITHER and I have been dying for FEVER, dying I tell you. So I went out and bought it as soon as it was on the shelves. (Shockingly, our Barnes & Noble didn't even have it put out yet, slackers) I do not think FEVER disappointed in the slightest...unless you're a die hard Linden fan then maybe you disagree?

Rhine is someone I want to be friends with, I really do. I can relate to her a lot. We both like to take care of others and put their needs before ours. It usually screws us over in the end, as you see a lot in this book with Rhine (and even in WITHER) and I can say from experience for myself. She loves her brother so much; so much that I wish I could have that kind of relationship with any or all of my siblings. Basically her world is him and that is amazing to me. Suddenly she's out on her own with Gabriel, whose never really seen the world like she has and she even picks up another person along the way, one that she and Gabriel have to take care.

One thing I love about this book is we find out so much more about Jenna, who was one of my favorite characters in WITHER. She shared a lot of secrets with Gabriel and as much as Rhine thinks she knew Jenna, there were many sides to her that she didn't know. We get to see what Jenna's lifestyle before being gathered and taken as Linden's wife. I really really hope we find out even more about her in the next and final book!

Vaughn is a constant threat though never really there. He's always there, in the back of Rhine and Gabriel's mind's. We know and they know that he's not going to stop until he finds Rhine. He could care less about Gabriel - if he finds Gabriel we know what he'd do with him but who he really wants is Rhine. It's like a ticking time bomb. You know it's going to go off but you don't know when. I definitely think that is something that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. They're just anticipating when Rhine is going to get ripped back in to her kind of slavery.

Linden fans, don't you worry - he's in this book. Not for long but he's in the book. I wish I could say more than that but I don't want to risk giving anything away. Same goes with Rowan. We know she left the mansion to go back to Manhattan to find the only family she has, her twin brother but what we don't know is if she's going to be successful or not. You must read FEVER to find out. We're also introduced to a bunch of new characters, some whom I've come to love just as much as Rhine, Gabriel and Deidare (CHECK NAME SPELLING). Some I've come to hate just as much as Vaughn. (Didn't think that was possible, did you? I assure you, it most certainly is.)

If you read WITHER and loved it, you need to pick up a copy of FEVER as soon as possible. If you haven't even read WITHER than I ask you, "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" :)