Published: February 21 2012
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Website: Author’s Website
Author's Youtube
*Fair Warning: I try to keep this as spoiler free as
possible but it is difficult!
Introduction
Gabrielle and Rhine have escaped
the gilded cage mansion and have washed ashore. They are promptly hit with the
realization that they are in their cruel dystopian world that is unkind to
people without a home. This installment is about them trying to make it back
home to Manhattan, to Rhine’s brother, Rowan. They pick up another character, a
girl without security in the world concerned with perfecting and correcting
genes. Together they travel to Rhine’s former home, until the fever hits. What
is it?
The Scarlet Carnival
The first place to take advantage
of them is Madame’s cruel carnival-a scarlet district prostitution ring. The
girls are haggard with teeth rotten and wearing dirty exotic dresses. Madame
takes a liking to Rhine and she falls into a dilemma: Vaughan cannot find her
in the circus, but she is being used by a woman who is a predator in the
business of selling pretty flesh until it is ruined.
Sound intriguing? I was bored.
Like the first book, Wither, the
circus is a confined space with a set domestic space and rules, like the
mansion. I was craving for them to just LEAVE and explore and have more agency.
I am supposed to be creeped out by the way Madame collects girls to sell their
flesh until they die. In reality, this happens in real life. It is scary,
though it is nothing new.
Perhaps I am what you consider
well-read, but I get the whole sexual enslavement issue. The whole scenario
about how she’s there but not as a full prostitute made me stick out my tongue
and go “PFFFT.” Yeah, right. As if she’d be kept there without having
the dirty experience. It’s just because DeStefano wanted to give us the
nitty-gritty inside of the sexual enslavement of the world AND keep her
character extremely pure. This world doesn’t keep anyone pure, by the way, so
this whole virginal main character concept is ridiculously unbelievable. If you
read Oryx and Crake
or The Year of the Flood
, both by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, you’ll get a more realistic sense of
what happens to women in a dystopian society that is driven by
gratification.
Ermahgerd guys, prostitution!
Characters
I found this installment lacked
the vibrant and complete cast of characters that its predecessor has. There are
a lot of fleeting characters because the duo are on the move. There’s Lilac,
the intelligent and beautiful prostitute, and her daughter, Maddie, a
“malformed” child who does not speak. Madame, the ring-master of the carnival
of tattered silk prostitutes. The rest
of the characters, to me, are replicas in different areas that serve the same
roles. Ally, enemy, abuser. I understand that it is difficult to give depth to
characters when you don’t spend much time with them because the characters are
going elsewhere.
Cover
I like this cover as a cover much better Wither’s cover. The model still has the
ring, she holds the card (part of a lame attempt at dramatic symbolism by the
author), and she looks unwell. The title is Fever,
and (surprise) everybody at some point feels unwell, but the model looks…not
attractively unwell. You might say, well,
duh, she’s supposed to be sick. But when you’re talking about modeling
something artistically, there are ways to convey the idea right…and better.
This girl looks…bored (oh hey it’s me when I was reading the circus passages!),
or like she’s high, or like (as pointed out on Goodreads) she has some bodily
functions to take care of. I think it would have been more effective to make
her pale or flushed, sweaty, and give her dishevelled hair. In the first book,
the rat’s nest was uncalled for. Here, it’s alright because she’s ill and has nowhere
to go and no brush to untangle her hair.
Story Progression
The story of Fever is both linear
and knotted. They are en route to Rowan. They get stuck in the carnival. The go
on their way, towards Rowan. Little blips happen, and they get untangled and
keep going towards their destination. It is not until the end when “stuff”
happens and the linear, planned plot goes away. I like the ending much more
than the whole first half of the book. It was hard to care too much when
everything is so planned. Yes, “stuff” happens and it is interesting. Yet I
found myself craving for when they are forced into something more unexpected. I
wanted desperately for the plan to unravel and throw something at me that would
make me squirm to read and turn the page. It does happen, but not until later.
When it happened, putting the book down was impossible.
Writing
Even when the plot isn’t terribly
engaging…the writing is always well-crafted. Now, what does that mean?
The writing brings the world into
reality: eerily dystopian and disgustingly beautiful.
Everything seems right in her writing this time. I wish I
can one day write something that conveys the world to be so multifaceted like DeStefano
does. There’s mansions, malls, pretty dresses, slavery, forced marriage, candy,
kidnapping, family, prostitution, murders, sister wives, drugs, love…all these
textures are weaved in the pages of the book.
Next Book: Sever
Yes please! I am reading Magisterium
by Jeff Hirsch (I ordered it in November from my library and it came in on July
30!) and then it’s off to finish The Chemical Garden Trilogy with Sever! I can’t wait! This trilogy is
honestly the hottest thing on my mind (book-wise) and in my mind, the highest
anticipated book in a series that I have encountered in a while.
Verdict
An
excellent sequel to the first book. It doesn’t quite deliver on the
expectations that you might hope for from the first book. Instead of an
adventure it is more like a boring road trip where you keep asking “Are we there yet?”. This book also lacks
profound moments because the author places her character in a world of
prostitution and squeezes her into an unrealistic role of purity there. Fever is excellently written, though the
book doesn’t take us very far story wise. There is advancement between
Gabrielle and Rhine, and some more characters that won’t mention to spoil it.
The first half was dead-boring to me, but the last 50 or so pages keep me
reading and excited for the next book.
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