Reviews with content warning for Death - The Fervor

This started out great but sort of petered out as it went on. I think once the characters’ stories begin to intersect is where the trouble begins. Things start to become a bit too convenient and eventually lead to a really rushed ending that feels a bit like a deus ex machina. I also feel like as the story goes on, the Japanese folklore (aka the most interesting bits) sort of becomes less and less important and the book goes from being a creepy historical horror novel to a quasi-political thriller which just wasn’t what I was in the mood for. Don’t get me wrong, this was still entertaining but it just wasn’t as spooky as The Hunger so I feel a bit disappointed.

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crabbytaco's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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wednesdayzombie's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

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tigger89's review

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

The execution of this book just didn't do it for me. The true meaning behind the fervor infection was clever, but instead of dropping the bomb and moving on with the story, the author lingered on the point, repeating it over and over again. Maybe this was meant to be artistic, but the vibe I came away with was that she didn't trust the reader to get it. That said, I did feel like, at the core, the message behind the plot was not only timely, but actually pretty solid. Each character stood in for a different population, presenting their perspective and demonstrating the good(and harm) possible. I just wish it had been conducted with a lighter touch and less repetition, you know?

I also felt like, while the yokai and jorogumo demon were teased in the description, they weren't the ultimate focus. This was disappointing to me, because I'd been drawn to the book specifically to explore the folklore in a horror setting. Instead, I was bait-and-switched with a completely different sort of horror. It almost seemed like the characters of Meiko and (especially) Aiko were wasted, given their vast potential in the other book that this one was pretending to be, before the white characters came in and made it all about their own feelings. While poignant, somehow I doubt that was the artistic statement the author was going for.

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amandalorianxo's review

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I immensely enjoyed the different side of WW 2 we rarely often get in fictional books around this time period. I’m speaking about the Japanese experience of being in internment campus during the early 1940’s post Pearl Harbor. This novel combines realism with Japanese mythology and some horror elements infused with some real experiences of xenophobia and even the fear of an epidemic. If you haven’t gotten the chance to pick up this April ‘22 release, I highly recommend checking this out for a diverse outlook on what WW 2 was like for those who called America home in spite of the rest of the world viewing them from a different lens.

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ten_telegrams's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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archaicrobin's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

This is my first book by Alma Katsu, and while I felt The Fervor was a bit repetitive and dragged on at times, I still enjoyed what the author was trying to accomplish. Meiko and her daughter Aiko are being held at a Japanese internment camp in Minidoka Idaho while her husband is off fighting the war as a pilot. Things are horrific at the camp but everyone there does their best to be what they call “good Japanese” in hopes of laying low and being spared the cruelty that the racist white peoples are capable of.

Despite being amicable, Meiko and Aiko are soon torn apart as a strange illness rampages through the camp, and it is soon revealed that this outbreak is not an accident. Katsu does an excellent job of tying in history and fantasy, while still managing to comment on the dangers of nationalism and white supremacy. It’s devastating to see what Meiko and Aiko are forced to deal with simply because they are Japanese, and even more devastating to know that this kind of racism is still around. That people today are following disgusting rhetoric like this in todays age. If you don’t understand why terms like “kung fu flu” and other derogatory terms for Covid spread by the disease that is Trump are problematic and disgusting, then pick up this book and you’ll see why.

While I do wish this was more supernatural and had more Yokai or Japanese lore, I do love that Katsu wrote a book that’s not only historical, but interesting, and provides a marginalized perspective.

I look forward to reading more by Alma Katsu in the future

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captainroz's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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