Fever by Lauren DeStephano

Description: 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 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.

Review: Uuuuuuugh. That’s the only word I can use to describe my feelings about this book. Ok, not the only one. There’s also WHY and a lot frustrated noises. This book was a huge waste of my time. Everyone has those books where they feel like nothing happens. They’re usually full of characters wandering around and doing very little. This one is certainly no different.

I don’t like feeling like a trilogy should be a duology. So many times I see these second books that draw out the story just so it can make it to a third book. Many times, though not always. It’s the wrong decision. I think that’s what happened here.

This book spends a lot of time on a couple with little to no chemistry. Sorry to say it, they’re dull. The first half of the book is like a sad acid trip. Whacked out circuses, drugs, and I didn’t care. The second bit is a bit more interesting, though not enough to save it.

I think what makes this book so disappointing is that the first book exceeded expectations and this book then failed so miserably. It certainly suffers from the dreaded second book syndrome. more often than not the second book wanders, leaving the third book to redeem the trilogy.

Overall, it’s pretty clear that I did not like this book. I’m really hoping. That book three can pick up where this left off and take it back to the level the first book reached or higher. There is potential for a really spectacular end here. Now whether the book can meet that potential? Well only reading will tell.

What do you think of this book? Agree or disagree? Share in the comments.

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Erin