Fever by Lauren DeStefano

The Iron Queen (The Chemical Garden #2) by Lauren DeStefano
Publication date: January 25th 2011
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Format: Paperback
Buy it here: Amazon, The Book Depository

Goodreads Description

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.

This book was a bit half-and-half for me. I'll start out by saying that I enjoyed Fever for the most part, but at the same time I feel a little disappointed. This book made me feel like I was on a children's roller coaster. Some aspects of it were quite disappointing and boring but the highs throughout this book didn't really make up for the disappointment as the action wasn't THAT thrilling. However, I did push through it and I managed to enjoy some of the book. Enough to feel satisfied, at least.

“Everyone should remember being born.

It doesn't seem fair that we only remember dying.”

It was interesting to learn about the outside world and finally see what it's like. The circus-like red district setting was quite enchanting and haunting at the same time. Although, not much happens here and I didn't get to meet many characters (I would have liked to have known more about the girls and men and how they felt about the whole situation). I mostly remember Rhine and Gabriel just sitting in a tent, and there's only so much description of a tent I can take. Madame is quite a character and she makes this part of the book humorous, but I eventually started to REALLY dislike her with a passion. I hope she doesn't come back in book three.

Maddie - She's a little gem and it takes a lot of talent to create such a massive personality for someone who never says a word throughout the entire book. I liked her from the very beginning. I felt like she was holding a lot of secrets. The only way I can explain it is when you look at your dog, you see this silent wiseness in his eyes. Maddie is like a faithful dog (in the best possible way of course, Maddie).

Rhine - She grows slightly more stronger throughout the book, but I didn't really see much character development there. She stays pretty neutral, and then gives up hope a little nearer the end (this turns around once the cliffhanger comes into place, as we see in lots of books).

Gabriel - Don't even get me started with Gabriel. What a boring character! This is probably the character I don't like the most so far, even Vaughn has a more interesting personality than Gabriel. It feels like he is the designated love-interest character, but then it stops there. He has no special presence, and he hardly says anything (I mean, he has his moments, but then it all suddenly stops and he turns back into the boring love-interest again).

I can't wait to meet Rowan, he sounds quite interesting.

Hopefully this trilogy will end with a bang!

So far, so good, DeStefano.