Release Date: February 21, 2012
Series: Chemical Garden #2
Age Group: Young Adult
Received From: Publisher
IBSN: 9781442409071
Blurb:
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.
I didn’t adore Wither as much as some. I mostly just thought it was okay. So I was a tiny bit wary going into Fever. Usually sequels aren’t quite as good as their predecessor, but I was pleasantly surprised with the first half of Fever. I even thought ‘Hey, this is better than Wither!’ I was really fascinated by the carnival and Madame. It was on the darker side and I do enjoy dark and twisty things, but unfortunately the second half of the book came about and I just didn’t like it as much.
The rest of the book just fell a little flat for me and I would even go so far as to say the last 100 pages were just a tiny bit boring.. It seemed like everything that happened at the carnival had no real purpose to the rest of the story.
Rhine also feels flat to me. I do think she was more developed in this one than in the first book. The thing that bothers me the most about her is that she never speaks up. She doesn’t take action until it’s too late and that is just tiresome. Also in book 1 I felt that the romance was pretty nonexistent, it was no different with this one. There no passion between Rhine and Gabriel. It seems like they are ‘together’ for convenience instead of any real feelings. I still feel like the most passion and personality in the entire book comes from Linden. There were some new characters introduced that I liked, Lilac, Maddie, and Silas. But they were a little irrelevant to the overall plot. I’ll be curious to see what kind of role they play in book 3.
This review sounds more negative that I would like, but I’m just being honest. I really want to love this series, but to me it’s only okay. I am definitely in the minority because most people love it.
This is a sequel that I have axiously been awaiting. I appreciate your honest review. I’m going to wait to see what a few other pople think before I commit to buy.
Tammy Dahle recently posted..2012 Challenge Update
I am one of the people that loved the first one
I’m about halfway through Fever and still unsure how I feel about it. It’s hard to transition from book to book sometimes.
Jackie recently posted..Review: Incarnate (New Soul #1) by Jodi Meadows
Yeah, I find Gabriel boring. I think her relationship with Linden is at least complex and interesting, so I am willing to stick it out for the third book. The best part of Fever for me were the new characters, especially Madame from the carnival. They added a flavor to the story that is missing between Rhine and Gabriel.
Kate- Midnight Book Girl recently posted..Confessions of a Neglectful Commenter
Yes, I think I like Linden a lot more. I also liked the new characters! Too bad they popped more than the main character…To me anyway.
Totally agree — I want to like this series, but it wasn’t a WOW for me in book 1, so I probably won’t continue to book 2. So many people love it though!
I still haven’t read Wither yet. I just got it in the mail the other day actually. I have heard so much hype about the series that I figured it’s time to hop on board. I am hoping that I enjoy it as many people do. Great honest review.
Amy Fournier recently posted..Waiting on Wednesday/ WWW Wednesday 1-25-12
I was a bit wary when I Got this in the mail since I haven’t even read Wither because of all the negative reviews. To bad that this isn’t as good as you’d hoped. I guess I will see next month I do plan to read them. But I’m nervous haha
Thank you for your refreshingly honest review! It’s nothing to be ashamed of to not be crazy about a book. We can’t all love EVERYTHING.
Kate recently posted..Why Writing is Like Sculpting
I wasn’t a giant fan of Wither either but I might give this one a shot. Glad to hear that the first half is better. Thx for sharing.
Jen
I really liked Wither, but I didn’t LOVE it. I do have Fever here waiting to be read so sometime soon we’ll see what I think. Sorry it fell a bit flat for you though!
Candace recently posted..Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
I still have an ARC of WITHER sitting on my shelf. I’m not a huge dystopian fan, but I still want to read it, if only because so many people raved about it. But good to know this one has at least a good beginning!
and I always appreciate an honest review!
KM recently posted..Waiting on Wednesday, Historical Edition: Wentworth Hall,Violins of Autumn, and The Academie
I’m of the same opinion as you. This one fell a bit flat for me. The whole time I was reading I was waiting for something to happen. This felt more like a transitional novel to me – one that was used to get Stefano to the next major plot hurdle – especially given that the biggest thing to happen in the whole book was the ending, which once again, was a cliffhanger. I’m telling you, I am so tired of cliffhangers in YA I could scream. Can’t authors write stand alone novels anymore? I mean, write a series, that’s fine, but the novels still need to be able to stand on their own and have some sort of resolution.
Beth Shaum recently posted..Young Adult Giveaway Hop
Aw I’m sorry you didn’t like this series as much as you were hoping to. I still have not yet read Wither but since many people rave about it I’m hoping to enjoy it.
Thanks for the great review, I wouldn’t worry if it sounds negative, sometimes the truth just must be explained.
Alexa recently posted..Young Adult Giveaway Hop
I always felt like Lindin had the most development out of a lot of the characters too. I always like reading marginal reviews because then they lower my expectations for the book which is always good, especially if a book has a lot of hype. Thanks for being honest.
Julia @ That Hapa Chick recently posted..Book Review: Pandemonium + Giveaway