Book Review: Fever by Lauren DeStefano

Publish Date: February 21, 2012
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Pages: 352
Series: The Chemical Garden Trilogy, Book #2
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0907-1
Source: From publisher for honest review

Goodreads Synopsis:
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.

My Review:

Gorgeous cover! I really like it and have liked it since it's reveal. I've heard some people say it looks "fan-made"... a) what's wrong with it being fan-made? b) even if it was, kudos to the fan because it's eye catching for sure! And everything, right down to the last detail plays a crucial part in the book.

For starters, if you haven't read Wither yet, stop reading this and read that instead! Seriously, it's a great book. You can read my review here (when you've finished Wither, of course). Right where Wither's awesomeness ends, Fever's begins! It picks up with Rhine and Gabriel and their journey to "freedom". I quote freedom because to Rhine that's what it is, but to Gabriel, it's something completely new and different. For Rhine, her escape is freedom from her husband, her sister wives and more importantly, freedom from her father in law, Vaughn. But for Gabriel, the escape is something he believed he wanted with Rhine. Though as the story goes on, we can see how things and feelings change.

As Fever progresses, we expreience the thrill of running away. And for Rhine and Gabriel it's not just thrilling. It's a never ending journey of escape...run...hide...escape...run...hide. So for them, it's not easy. Unfortunately, on their escape to Manhattan, they run into a circus of prositutes run by a mad women. The two of them have to endure things that are unimaginable all while trying to escape yet again. During this time, enemies are made, but more importantly, friends are made. One friend made among them is Maddie, a young malformed mute (DeStefano's character description - not mine) ,who is more than just that. Maddie is such a great character, and it was nice to see another character with such importance be introduced. Rhine, the main character has changed since Wither. Not changed so much I guess, as grown. With all that she has gone through, and the moping she did at "home" with her husband, she has had to grow up, and toughen up and be the fearless girl Gabriel pictured. Gabriel has changed since Wither too, he used to be the quiet, respectable house worker. Now on the run with Rhine, he's seen things he's never seen and had to toughen up too. He heard Rhine talking about Manhattan, New York and how wonderful it was there. Rhine also always talked about Rowan and how things would be once she was home with him, so Gabriel has this preconcieved notion and boy, is he wrong. You can definitely see the toll it's taken on Gabriel, all of this escaping and troubles they encounter.

DeStefano's dystopian world is not one that I would ever want to live in. The world she writes about it crazy, really. Women and men only living to 20 and 25, the women being "Gathered" and sold into polygamus relationships, and everything else in this world is a little unbelievable, but the way DeStefano writes is enough to make it a good story. The ideas are so far-strecthed, but the actual writing isn't. Plot lines, characters, and the fast pace make Fever a great installment to The Chemical Gardens series, and I cannot wait for book #3.