Review - Fever by Lauren Destefano

Fever
The Chemical Garden Trilogy #2
By Lauren DeStefano
hardcover, 341 pages
Published February 21st 2012 by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Obtained: Library
Categories: Dystopian, romance, action,
Other books in the series: Wither
Where you can buy it: Amazon  | Barnes & Noble  | Book Depository
Author Info: Website  |  Twitter  | 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 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.

My Review Breakdown

Story/Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Writing: 5/5
Ending: 3/5
Cover: 4/5
Final Score: 18/25 = 4 Cupcakes

My Rating: Simply Delectable!!!

My initial thoughts (upon completing the book): I've been craving more Rhine & Gabriel (and Rhine & Linden!) since finishing Wither last year. When I finally had the book in my possession, I dove right in and devoured it. The writing that I loved in Wither was present in Fever, and the characters I fell in love with were still right where I wanted them to be; picking up the action right where Wither left off. When I finished the book, I wasn't sure if I was in love with it. I liked it, and enjoyed it, but I guess my expectations were too high, or I had something else pictured in my mind when I read the synopsis on Goodreads before the book was released. I guess I'm satisfied with the book as it is.

Story/Plot: I didn't hate the plot, but I wasn't as happy with it as I could've been. I liked that the book took place outside of the mansion because it gave a picture of what the world is like that Rhine has grown up in, and that Gabriel didn't know. It lets us see how others are living in the world that Rhine calls home. Seeing the world helps us see why Rhine is as she is; hard shelled and not easily giving her trust away.

Characters: It's always fun reading the second book in a series to see how our main character has grown after the events of the first book. In this case I didn't really find much of a change in Rhine. She is still strong-willed and determined, and very passionate. I do feel; however, that Rhine was confused and lost for the whole book. It's difficult as well because for most of the second half of the book, Rhine is in and out of consciousness so we only get snippets of her waking life, and a lot of nightmares and hallucinations she's experiencing.

As for Gabriel, I feel very disconnected from him. I think this has to do with the fact that he's just following Rhine like a helpless little puppy. I lost a lot of the connection between Gabriel and Rhine. There aren't many affectionate moments other than a kiss here or there.

Vaughn is as evil as always; Linden is battling the war that's been waging within himself since Wither; and Cecily seems to want to right her wrong against Rhine, but is still hiding something, or trying to keep Linden and Rhine apart.

Characters met in this book that I do not know if they will be seen or mentioned again in the 3rd book, such as Madame, Lilac, Claire Lottner, Maddie, and Silas played decent sized parts. I would say out of anyone, we are done with Madame and Lilac, but we could see more of Claire, Silas, Maddie and the others at the orphanage. Oh yeah, and Gabriel!!

Writing: I love DeStefano's writing. She has such a way with words that even if she wrote the worst book ever, I think I'd still enjoy it.

"He kissed back, all the pages spread out around us like riddles waiting to be solved. Let them wait. Let my genes unravel, my hinges come loose. If my fate rests in the hands of a madman, let death come and bring its worse. I'll take the ruined craters of laboratories, the dead trees, this city with its ashes in the oxygen, if it means freedom. I'd sooner die here than live a hundred years with wires in my veins."

"And then I wonder, does my brother think of me this way? We entered this world together, one after the other, beats in a pulse. But I will be first to leave it. That's what I've been promised. When we were children, did he dare to imagine an empty space beside him where I then stood giggling, blowing soap bubbles through my fingers?

When I die, will he be sorry that he loved me? Sorry that we were twins?

Maybe he already is."

Ending: I didn't want to write my review immediately after finishing the book because I really didn't know how I felt about it yet. Now, the day after closing the cover I still don't know how I feel about it. It wasn't awful, but I guess I wanted more from it. It left so many ways for book 3 to go.

Cover: There's no question that this cover is amazing. I prefer the model on the Wither cover; but the Fever cover shares the same symbolism that was found on Wither's cover. Here we have the carousel horse representing Madame's carnival; the crow symbolizing Vaughn, Rhine's wedding ring; and the random things and tarot card found in the fortune teller's home. It's gorgeous.

Author Spotlight

Author Spotlight

Lauren DeStefano

With her next book, Fever, the second of the Chemical Gardens Trilogy, due out in 2012 I decided to choose Lauren DeStefano as the first author for my Author Spotlight. So who is Lauren DeStefano? Per her website, www.laurendestefano.com, the twenty-seven year old hails from New Haven, CT and says that writing is just in her DNA. DeStefano credits T.S. Eliot, Francesca Lia Block, Vladimir Nabokov Madeleine L'Engle as her influences and credits her fifth grade teacher for showing her that writing can be more than just a hobby.

Majoring in English with a concentration in Cretive Writing from Albertus Magnus college, DeStefano learned how to expand her writing to cover new challenges. It was in college that DeStefano says she finally found the place to spread her wings and focus on her writing – her one, true passion.

And so from this creative, literary genius the world was blessed with her debut novel, Wither, with its sequel due out February 2012. Already read Wither, or looking to get into the series? Visit www.thechemicalgardens.com to read excerpts and learn more about the books.

Want to learn more about this talented young author? Check out the FAQ section on her website as well as the stories tab for some great additional writing available by her.

REVIEW - Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Wither - Book # 1 in the Chemical Garden trilogy

by: Lauren DeStefano

*

**~Warning: Review contains SPOILERS~

What if you knew exactly when you would die?

Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out. 

When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home. 

But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left.

“Love is not enough to keep any of us alive.”

I didn’t know what to expect when I first picked up Wither since initially I was attracted to the book by its cover…but I was happily surprised once I started reading. I wasn’t sucked in by the first page like I generally prefer in books. I’ve always stated if the first page can’t hook me – I probably won’t like the book. Wither proved me wrong.

I WAIT. They keep us in the dark for so long that we lose sense of our eyelids.

The story starts out trying to throw you right into the action, setting the story up to introduce the Gatherers to us, and how desperate life has become in the future. Do I think DeStefano succeeded? Eh, maybe. A lot is given away right up front on the summary on the back cover. The story develops over time though beginning slightly slowly for me.

I devoured the book in a matter of 48 hours. I couldn’t get enough. Chapter after chapter flew by and I found myself further involved in the lives of the main characters and couldn’t wait to see what would happen at the end.

What I loved...

Rhine’s character was one of the better strong, determined female characters I’ve seen in awhile. Her raw passion and will to live life on her terms was infectious. Often, Rhine is found fighting within herself against how she feels. While she loathes Linden for her being in the mansion, she also is a compassionate person and sympathizes because as the book goes on she learns that Linden is not the bad guy; he’s being used and manipulated by his father Vaughn, and Linden is clueless.

Cecily’s character was filled with love/hate moments. I love her innocence and naivety. Her vulnerability. I hated her telling Vaughn about Rhine & Gabriel. I hated her twisted take on reality. But is Cecily truly to blame for it? No. She craves, needs the love that Linden is so willing to give. Her mind believes that giving birth to Linden’s children, being at his every beck and call will provide her with that love that she needs.

Jenna also was a character so tragic it was hard not to feel sorry for her. Learning that her sister’s were killed by Vaughn, Jenna is determined to never fall into line and follow Vaughn’s rules. She remains aloof, to keep Linden at bay. However, she fulfils her marital duties since she made money welcoming men into her bed before being captured by the Gatherers. Jenna knows she will die in the house, but she will not die living a false life. In the end, Vaughn ends up being responsible for Jenna’s death. This is an unthinkable act that goes against the theory that Vaughn does everything he does out of love for his son.

Each character is so flawed that I love it! I hate when you read a book and the main character is so perfect, gets everything that they want happily ever after, that you finish and you wonder why you even bothered. Wither is nothing like that. DeStefano does wonderfully with the characters. Each is well developed. I several times found myself loving their imperfections and screw-ups more than when their strengths were displayed.

What I Disliked...

The ending; by far is the weakest link in this book. How cliché that the main character escapes and sails off into the sunset to conquer the world with her forbidden lover.

Ugh.

There is plenty still to read about in the next two final books of the trilogy however. There are many loose ends that will need to be tied up. It will be interesting to see how DeStefano writes the next books; if we will see what’s going on in the mansion with the characters left behind or if it will solely focus on Rhine and Gabriel, and Rhine’s search for her brother, Rowan.

Notable Scenes & Quotes…

One of my favorite scenes is when Linden and Rhine share their first kiss. Linden tells Rhine that he loves her, and before Rhine can stop it, the words “I love you” slip right past her lips as well. The love triangle between Linden, Rhine, and Gabriel is unlike any other I can think of. Here is Rhine, married to this stranger who she hates so much, but cannot help pitying. And then there is the servant, Gabriel, whom she’s immediately attracted to. You can feel that Rhine pities Gabriel as well, but for completely different reasons.

            Rhine’s pity for Linden lies in that fact that he views her as Rose’s replacement. She does everything she can to make it very clear to Linden that she is not Rose and never will be. 

"I wonder if she has figured out that I'll never love Linden, especially not in the way she does, and that he'll never love anyone the way he loves her. I wonder if she realizes, despite all her efforts to train me, that I can never take her place."

Rhine also pities Linden’s blindness to his father’s twisted lies. Rhine sees right through all of the demented things that Vaughn does but Vaughn believes he does it out of love for his son. This may be true; however, I believe that when Linden learns the truth about his father we’ll see another side of Linden we haven’t seen yet.

            Rhine’s pity for Gabriel lies in the fact that Gabriel doesn’t know anything of the outside world. He was born in Florida; an orphan; and has been a servant for the Ashby’s for as long as he can really remember. I feel like there is a lot we still have to learn about Gabriel and I feel that some of it will end up hurting Rhine. It may be things that even Gabriel is unaware of, but truths will be revealed.

…

"Tell me about yourself." 

"Myself?" He looks confused. 

"Yes," I say, patting the mattress. 

"You know all there is to know," he says, sitting beside me. 

"Not true," I say. "Where were you born? What's your favourite season? Anything." 

"Here. Florida," he says. "I remember a woman in a red dress with curly brown hair. Maybe she was my mother, I'm not sure. And summer. What about you?" The last part is said with a smile. He smiles so infrequently that I consider each one a trophy."

            When Jenna confides in Rhine that her sister’s were in the van that brought the girl’s to the mansion. Rhine remembers that the girls that were not picked – the girls that were not herself, Jenna, or Cecily – were herded back into the van and that’s when Rhine heard…

…the gunshots.

…

"Suddenly the clouds seem high above us. They’re moving over us in an arch, circling the planet. They have seen abysmal oceans and charred, scorched islands. They have seen how we destroyed the world. If I could see everything, as the clouds do, would I swirl around this remaining continent, still so full of color and life and seasons, wanting to protect it? Or would I just laugh at the futility of it all, and meander onward, down the earth’s sloping atmosphere?"

... 

Last Thoughts…

Simply put…I cannot wait for the second book…I’ve already recommended Wither to friends.

My Rating: 4 Stars