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quillbot's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, Chronic illness, Torture, Child abuse, Incest, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Dementia, and Suicidal thoughts
literallygriffin's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
the characters are incredible and unique and so so fucked up. the plot is very compact, especially considering its like, what, 500 pages? or at least my ebook copy was lol, but anyways thats a pro for me because it shows that the author had a point and knew how to get there!
the main flaw isnt so much of a flaw as it is a personal preference. i hated the ya dystopia novel prose so much. which, obviously yes its ya dystopia the prose is gonna be befitting of the genre. that ones on me ! but you could see various glimpses of the authors ability to write genuinely good, sensorially & thematically resonant, creative prose shine through at moments before being swiftly crushed by genre and publishing expectations
Graphic: Death of parent, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, War, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Deportation, Alcohol, Racism, Terminal illness, Classism, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Colonisation, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Police brutality, Xenophobia, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Abandonment, Antisemitism, Sexual content, Rape, Police brutality, and Physical abuse
Minor: Eating disorder and Domestic abuse
yedikedi2k03's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Graphic: Hate crime, Racism, Religious bigotry, Torture, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Child abuse, Murder, Police brutality, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Confinement, Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Vomit, Violence, Classism, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, War, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Genocide, Xenophobia, Addiction, Alcohol, Child death, Death, Medical content, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Deportation, and Eating disorder
owenblacker's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
In the former United States, 16-year-old Noam Álvaro wakes up in a hospital bed, the sole survivor of the viral magic that killed his family and made him a technopath. His ability to control technology attracts the attention of the minister of defense [and founding revolutionary leader of the state] and thrusts him into the magical elite of the nation of Carolinia.
The son of undocumented immigrants, Noam has spent his life fighting for the rights of refugees fleeing magical outbreaks — refugees Carolinia routinely deports with vicious efficiency. Sensing a way to make change, Noam accepts the minister’s offer to teach him the science behind his magic, secretly planning to use it against the government. But then he meets the minister’s son — cruel, dangerous, and achingly beautiful — and the way forward becomes less clear.
Caught between his purpose and his heart, Noam must decide who he can trust and how far he’s willing to go in pursuit of the greater good.
I quite enjoyed the book — the storyline was interesting enough and the characters are engaging and faceted without being too irritating, which I can sometimes find a problem with YA if I’m not in quite the right mood. But it definitely suffered from me reading it immediately after Mira Grant and I had forgotten quite how much I love her work.
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, War, and Xenophobia
CN list from the author: violence, intergenerational trauma and genocide, immigration, abuse, parental death, death of a child, mental health and suicide, slut-shaming, ableist language, drug and alcohol abuse, emetophobia. More details on her website: https://victorialeewrites.com/the-fever-king-content-warnings/cindythenerd's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, Genocide, Death of parent, Child death, Mental illness, Vomit, Drug use, Alcohol, Body horror, Murder, Cursing, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Xenophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Torture, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Body shaming
Minor: Addiction and Suicide
xoodlebooks's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Violence, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Grief, Death, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Xenophobia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Kidnapping
Minor: Antisemitism, Torture, Medical trauma, Ableism, Chronic illness, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Racism
azrah786's review
4.5
So I’m just going to put it out there that this book has probably been my favourite read of the year so far! Labelled as an urban fantasy, this debut in my opinion falls more into the science fiction/dystopian category. Think The Darkest Minds meets the X-Men but at the same time it's something totally new! Also it definitely sits more towards the adult end of YA.
The Fever King takes place in the 22nd century where a virus known as Magic has caused many civilisations to be wiped off the planet. However, this virus is also the key to awakening a range of magical powers if you happen to survive the outbreak. If you survive you become a Witching.
With crisis comes evasion, and the virus has driven many people from their homes. The story unfolds in the city of Durham, capital of Carolinia – one of the remaining and authoritative nations of what used to be the United States. However, certain ethical and political hostilities between the remaining nations, means the attitude towards refugees in Carolinia is not very welcoming. It is a future society which has some startling parallels to the world we live in today.
At the centre of the story is Noam Álvaro - a Jewish biracial and bisexual 16 year old and son of undocumented immigrants, who resides in one of the city’s refugee slums. Following in the footsteps of his father he has grown up to become a strong activist for immigrant rights, predominantly putting his skill with computers to use. He is passionate and strong willed to the bone.
When an outbreak of the virus spreads through the area where he lives, Noam’s life is changed forever when he wakes up having survived the virus and his “presenting power” draws the attention of Calix Lehrer, the Minister of Defence. Instead of sending him off to the standard Witching training location, Lehrer brings him to the main government complex of Carolinia to join Level IV, the highest rank of the Witching training programme, and offers to train Noam himself. Noam sees this as his chance to fight for what he stands for.
He was finally where he needed to be. Where he could use whatever powers the witchings taught him to undermine the foundations of their world and rebuild it into something new. Something better.
Lee voices Noam’s passion and teenage naivety beautifully. Even though his own decisions in the book turn out to be quite rash at times he is a character who is always questioning the reliability and incentives of those around him. Through his eyes we are introduced to a range of beautifully complex yet flawed characters who are each passionate for what they believe is right but all seem to have an air of mystery about them. In particular Calix Lehrer and Dara Shirazi.
We are fed titbits of information about Lehrer through snippets of stolen government files which have been slipped in throughout the story. For the most part however, Lehrer’s secrets are his own. His relationship with Noam is interesting, a mix of awe and apprehension that both intrigued and frustrated me as a reader. The masked nature of Lehrer’s character and agendas constantly had me on edge.
The same goes for Dara, Lehrer’s adopted son who alongside Noam, is trained privately by Lehrer. His backstory is undisclosed and he is very reserved but the relationship that develops between him and Noam is equally compelling. It’s full of wittiness and angst and is slow-burn which I loooooooved. I am such a sucker for hate to love relationships and I wanted to protect them both SO BAD!!!
Though I will say despite the overall ambivalence I did find certain elements of the story to be predictable but this did not hinder my enjoyment of the story in any way.
Along with the character relationships and reveals, the political intrigue also becomes more and more captivating as the story progresses. Lee has intricately woven together the history and current affairs of this fictional world and its fictional conflicts, to not only give us an immersive story but also effectively touch on issues that are really relevant in society today.
That was the whole point. Governments didn't have to listen to the people until the people made it hurt not to listen.
I do however, wish that we had gotten a clearer backstory of the world of The Fever King. The previously mentioned government files helped to lay the fundamentals of the history and politics behind the story but I still feel there were a lot of pieces missing. I was constantly eager to know more about this “catastrophe” that made the world the way it is; more about Lehrer’s involvement with it and his past; and most of all more about Witchings!
I found Noam’s technopathy powers unique and fascinating! I really appreciated how the narrative was infused with actual scientific and technological knowledge when it came to the powers. There’s a great scene where Noam is learning to use his powers and is basically going through the theoretical physics behind it all which I really loved!!! This not only showed the effort and research Victoria put into this book but also honed the portrayal of the characters and added to that sense of realism.
What the story lacked I guess was more action since we didn’t really get to see many Witchings (other than Noam, Dara and Lehrer) train or put their powers to full use. I really hope more time and attention is given to this in the next book.
Overall I really enjoyed this efreshing take on the dystopian genre. If you love anti-heroes or morally grey characters I’d advise you to pick this book up! I can’t way to see how the rest of the story unfolds in The Electric Heir!!
Final Rating - 4.5/5 Stars
Graphic: Violence, Suicide, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault