The Best Reader + TIME

Fever — Lauren DeStefano

"I'm so in awe of the world that Lauren has created" — Miss Remmers

Release Date: February 21st, 2012
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Challenges: 75+ Challenge

"Rhine and Gabriel may have escaped the beautiful prison of Wither’s mansion, but they are far from escaping danger. First they’re chased for stealing a getaway boat, and then the fleeing pair ends up in the eerie den of Madame, an old woman who collects girls and sells them to the highest bidders. Worst of all, Vaughn, Rhine’s sinister father-in-law, seems to be on her trail every step of the way. Rhine remains determined to get to her brother in Manhattan—but the road they are on is long and perilous.Now that Rhine has finally regained her freedom, what lengths will she need to go to in order to keep it?"
IMM 1.21.12
"Squee" Moment 1.18.12
Wither 3.14.11
Book Mourning 3.12.11

Ladies and Gentlemen, that list of links right there ^ are the posts in which I have "squeed" over Lauren DeStefano, "Wither," and "Fever." I think it's almost safe to say that I'm completely obsessed. After receiving "Fever" I was almost too scared to read it. I ended up going to Twitter and asking people if Linden (my love) made an appearance and finally Cat (Beyond Elsewhere) told me that there would be "very little." I'd rather know than not — right?

Right.

Well, without Linden, I should be able to wait a few weeks to read it. Right? Wrong. After trying to get into a book for two days finally I just gave in and picked up the book that's been on my "most wanted" list for almost a year!

I immediately fell back into the plot and characters. While I was still ever hopeful of a "Linden Appearance," this never held me back from enjoying the story as it is. I'm still captivated by the setting and the dystopian atmosphere. Even though Gabriel isn't my favorite character, I enjoyed his and Rhine's journey. I liked their adventures and I loved the intrigue.

But something was missing for me.

Romance.

Call me stubborn and call me a fool for liking the polygamist over the poor server boy, but I just don't understand the romance between Gabriel and Rhine. I just don't feel it and I don't think Gabriel's feelings are as strong or as genuine as Linden's. But, I'm not the writer.

There was also a "twist" at the end that I'm not sure if I'm intelligent enough to get (apparently). I had to reread it like six times to make sure I was understanding the lingo. Overall, at this point in the series, I don't have any emotional connection to Rhine's twin brother Rowan and the twist did little to move me.

Bottom line: I enjoyed this book and I'm so in awe of the world that Lauren has created. When I book talk these books to my students they always shine away from the "polygamy" thing but after I explain that's it's more dystopia than anything their interests are peaked.

I do love Linden and I'm so excited to see where the third book will take us, even though I can guess it's not the direction that I'm favoring (because, really, when does the polygamist ever really win?). I'm going to be rereading "Wither" here shortly because I just can't get those feelings out of my head — as it was, I'm pretty sure, the most romantic novel I've ever read.

So, my question for you dear readers is this: am I crazy? Am I making a "romance" out of nothing? Out of one man's naivety and one girl's complete prison? Or do you feel it too?

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To the FTC, with love: ARC received from Publisher

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Fever — Lauren DeStefano + TIME