Book Review: Fever by Lauren Destefano

Title: Fever 

Author: Lauren Destefano
Series: The Chemical Garden Trilogy, #2
Pages: 341
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Date of Publication: 16th February 2012
Source: Publisher*
Synopsis from Goodreads: 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 woman 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 this 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 Thoughts:
Wither was one of my favourite books of 2011, so when Fever arrived, I got stuck in straight away. I quickly remembered everything about Wither that I loved, and it was great to be back in the world of Rhine and Gabriel, and their struggles with living in a world where you know exactly when you're going to die.

Fever does not take place in the mansion where Rhine lived with her husband and sister wives in the first book, but out in the world. I liked that this gave the characters more freedom to do things, and because the possibilities were endless it was a lot more exciting. However I really don't like the world that they live in. I didn't like that the first part of the book was set in a brothel... And then everywhere else was poor and desolate and really depressing... And yeah, I know it's dystopian and that's what dystopian is, but it's never depressed me as much, or I haven't noticed while reading this genre before how awful it really is. Is that bad of me?

Anyway, I liked Rhine in this one - her determination to find her brother and just generally trying to help everyone around her without thinking about herself must have taken a whole lot of bravery and courage. I mean, for her to not once think about herself even though she was extremely ill and was possibly dying... And how she cared for Maddie, like she was the parent, even though she wasn't was adorable!

Talking of Maddie, I think she was possibly my favourite character. She's a malformed child that Gabriel and Rhine sort of adopt into their care, and while she doesn't talk and was pretty shy, she made me smile all the time because she still managed to seem happy in the awful world that she lives in.

The plot was good - I liked going on Rhine's journey to find her twin with her, though I preferred the plot of the first book. I missed reading about her relationship with Linden, and I missed Rhine's sister wives so much. I have to admit I was disappointed by the direction the story took, and I'm hoping that the third (and hopefully last) book in the series will have a better plot... I'm just being picky I guess but it annoyed me :/

While it might sound like I had mixed feelings about this book, I did really enjoy Fever and the end has left me itching for the next book. I can't wait to find out what happens to Rhine and I'm REALLY hoping something awful will happen to her evil father-in-law, Vaughn, because he's HORRID. Eugh. Anyway, if you like Wither you should like this - it's a good continuation of the story, and if you haven't read Wither yet, go read it!