Fever by Lauren DeStefano

Goodreads Description: "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: Wither was good, but it wasn't the best of the dystopians I've read out there. I'd compare it to Matched: It had a beautiful premise and wonderful writing, but it went pretty slow. That said, I didn't have high hopes for Fever. However...Lauren DeStefano TOTALLY BLEW ME AWAY. She totally had a sophomore comeback, and I personally thought that Fever was way better than Wither---and that it was an amazing book in general. The writing was beautiful---strange, but beautiful, which kind of describes the whole Chemical Garden Trilogy as a whole. The action was well-paced and kept surprising me, and I loved the plot twists and turns DeStefano threw at us (a demented circus? Yes please!). The descriptions of the circus painted this totally amazing picture of this place that seemed like it was full of sickness, but also sunshine, if that makes any sense. The descriptions of the circus totally amazed me, because the concept was so fresh and brilliant. Rhine was definitely a stronger character in this book. Gabriel was still kind of weak-seeming, but I didn't pay much attention to him anyway. I loved the medical descriptions in the book---they were beautifully-written, but at the same time, they were so disgusting that I felt nauseous. Now THAT is good writing. And the ending of the book totally threw me for a loop and left me DYING to see what happens next. Too bad I have to wait another year or two for the last book! All in all? A really wonderful sequel to Wither. 

Cover: The cover is so pretty it hurts. I love the colors in the theme of it---the shocking pink, acidic green, faded gold. And I ADORE the circus/carnival theme. I've always had a weird love of circuses, so this cover just kind of made my life. It's beautiful. 

Overall Grade: A+