ARC Review : Fever by Lauren DeStefano

Title : Fever (The Chemical Garden #2)
Author : Lauren DeStefano
Expected Publication : February 21st 2012 by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

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.

*ARC courtesy of Simon & Schuster Canada




Fever, the second book in the Chemical Garden series picks up where Wither left off.  Rhine and Gabriel have run away from the mansion but their troubles are far from being over. Through their journey to freedom and to reunite Rhine with twin brother we are introduced to fun new characters. Some friends, some not. Rhine's father in law is still on the hunt and will do anything to capture them.


In this second installment, Lauren DeStafano's writing gets increasingly morbid.  She creates a nightmare you just never want to wake up from. Even though how brutal the subject is you become quickly addicted and you find yourself racing to the last few pages where you'll be left craving for more. We're not left with a major cliffhanger but it will make you want to read the next book immediately.


The characters and descriptions are so vivid and real that I had to keep reminding myself that it's not reality. One of my favorite new characters is Maddie. She can't talk but proves to be a great help to Rhine and Gabriel. The carnival scene is amazingly horrifying and kept me on the edge of my seat. 


In Fever some questions are answered and we get to learn more about the hauntingly dystopian world but we're left with new ones. I honestly can't wait to read the final installment. Lauren DeStafano has proven she's an amazing author and I'm sure the next book will be nothing but incredible. I never thought I'd be so engrossed in this series!

A must-read!

4 out of 5 stars!