Book Review: Fever

Title: Fever.
Author: Lauren DeStefano.
Series: Yes, The Chemical Garden #2.
Pages: 341.
Source: Purchased.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster.
Published Date: 2/21/12.
Links:
Goodreads
Barnes and Noble

Summary:

"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."

My Thoughts:

It's been a little over a year since Rhine was snatched off of the street, sold to Vaughn, married Linden, and watched two of her three sister wives pass away. After one failed attempt of escaping the mansion during a wind storm, Rhine was nervous to try again. But with time she gained Linden's trust, and teamed up with Gabriel, one of Vaughn's household workers (slaves? who Rhine had more than a friendship with), to finally break out.

Out of the mansion, both of them can easily call their own private hell, the two are on their journey to Rhine's childhood home in Manhattan, to find her twin brother, Rowan. But Rhine and Gabriel don't get too far before they run into a very odd and mysterious carnival. There aren't families here spending quality time together, and there aren't kids running from one ride to the next. But instead this carnival is filled with tents, girls, and men willing to spend their money on sex.

For some reason, Rhine can't get away from Vaughn. She can't believe her own ears when she hears his voice at the carnival...She didn't want to stay anyways, but with Vaughn so close by, she knows that its time for her and Gabriel to leave. While escaping the mansion took over a year, escaping the carnival took only a few days. With the help of a girl in the carnival Rhine and Gabriel, make it out without being caught. But now they have another travel companion named Maddie.

Maddie is the daughter of the girl who helped Rhine and Gabriel escape. As a mother, the girl knows this carnival isn't the safest and most secure place to grow up, especially with her daughter being malformed; she doesn't speak a single word.

Besides the carnival the three run into a few other bumps in the road, including the night they spent in a First Generation couple's house. And finally arriving to Rhine's home, just to realize that it's been burnt down. Unsure of what to do next, Rhine, Gabriel and Maddie head to the orphanage that has flyers posted all over the neighborhood.

But once again, Rhine can't seem to get away from Vaughn when he shows up in a car, and forces her to come back with him to the mansion. She knows she has no other option, she doesn't want Gabriel or Maddie to get hurt, so she gets in the car with Vaughn.

Her life doesn't go back to the way it was when she arrives, instead she is locked up and drugged, down in the basement. Rhine has no idea how long she's been here, because she's drugged so heavily, she only wakes up for a few delirious minutes at a time.

Rhine is scared. She's worried that she'll never see Gabriel again, that she'll never see her brother again, and that she never get out of here. Rhine knows that she's become another one of Vaughn's science experiments, and that the chances of her getting out of this basement are low....

Final Verdict:

The Chemical Garden trilogy is one of my favorite series of books, there is no doubt about it! Wither was so different from anything I've read, action packed and heartbreaking, I LOVED it! Lauren DeStefano created a whole new world! And while I wouldn't want to live in it, I COULDN'T read enough about it!

I know a lot of other people felt that the story was slow, and that she should have tried to escape much much earlier, instead of spending the entire first book stuck in this mansion. But I didn't feel that way! The time Rhine spent in the mansion was necessary to successfully escape. She needed time to gain the trust of Linden and Vaughn; she was being smart. If she would have tried to escape earlier, she would just have been caught.

With so much love for the first book in this trilogy, I was dying to finally get to the second and third one. Fever didn't take place in the mansion, it was much more active than Wither was. One of the things I looked forward to the most and enjoyed the most was seeing Rhine and Gabriel together, without being under the constant worry that someone will catch them.

Rhine was still the same girl I was rooting in Wither. She was smart. She didn't rush through or do anything without first thinking about it. Gabriel was sweet, and understood what Rhine has been put through, and takes his time with her. I liked just seeing them together, especially taking care of Maddie. *SWOONS*

Linden in this book, just like in the last one is completely oblivious. He doesn't see everything that his father is doing to him, and the people around him, including his wives. I understand that Linden might not want to believe what his father is being accused of...but if the evidence is thrown right in front of your face by one of your wives and the other is in the hospital, you should come to terms with all the crazy stuff your father's doing.

I have to admit that the ending to Fever wasn't as explosive, as the ending in Wither, but I still enjoyed it! I liked that Vaughn is finally being exposed of who is really is. And that Linden can't continue pushing the topic to the side, and ignoring it.

Lauren DeStefano has created this absolutely CRAZY world, with such AWESOME characters, and beautiful writing! And if I didn't already indulge in the third book, Sever, I would be telling you just how EXCITED I was to be reading it! If you haven't picked this trilogy up yet, you should!!!...now...do it.