Review: Fever - Lauren DeStefano

Release Date: February 21st, 2012
Hardcover: 341 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing


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.

Fever was a worthy sequel to Wither. It certainly was captivating at times and it provided more action that Wither did. I'm not so sure why but Fever was a really slow read for me. I started reading over a month ago and only finished it this week, which never happens for me! Probably what bother me so much was the relationship between Gabriel and Rhine; they spent so much time together but nothing ever happened with the both of them, romance-wise.

The plot: The plot provided us with more action and suspense than Wither yet I found that the relationship between Gabriel and Rhine could have been better; their relationship didn't develop the way I thought it would, so I'm really not sure how their relationship will turn out in the end, it really could go either way. But I do understand that the difficulties along the way were a bit of an obstacle for the both of them. Overall, the plot was very satisfying, full of action and kill-me-now moments.


The characters: Rhine got to be a bit annoying in Fever. She was still very determined and sweet but I had a hard time relating to her. Gabriel showed us different sides to him; he is not just that sweet guy we got to know in Wither. The new characters were very memorable and different and they brought more life into this novel. Some old characters also made an appearance: Cecily, Linden and unfortunately Vaughn, too.


Fever was a good sequel to Wither. I'm not saying it couldn't have been better but I certainly enjoyed reading it and the cliffhanger is enormous, indeed. I can't wait to get my hands on Sever now! I am most curious about the results of Vaughn's experiments on Rhine - did he discover something?

Lauren DeStefano (pronounced: de STEFF ano) graduated Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, CT in 2007. Her debut novel, WITHER, the first in The Chemical Garden Trilogy, published by Simon & Schuster BFYR, is out now. Website / Twitter