Reviews with content warning for Hate crime - 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.

Content Warnings

wednesdayzombie's review

Go to review page

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

Content Warnings

applesjones's review

Go to review page

dark informative inspiring mysterious sad 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

5.0

Content Warnings

georgiaaa's review

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious reflective 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

3.0

Content Warnings

magellen's review

Go to review page

challenging dark informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Timely and well tied to our present, The Fervor echoes our current denialist attitude about illness, othering, and white nationalists in america. Katsu turns a historical mirror on us and demands we look, be uncomfortable in our complicity and our ignorance, and do better.

<spoilers>the supernatural elements drop off sharply towards the end in a way that's somewhat disappointing, but ties in to the fact that while the illness is exacerbating rage, the real monster is intolerance and racism and white fragility. On one hand it's sort of mask off the fear to it's real source, on the other damn dude I wanted a spider demon.</spoilers>

Content Warnings

goatsrsexy's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark fast-paced

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

5.0

This was a really gripping historical fiction with supernatural horror mixed in a way that felt very natural. More than anything it was a story about how terrifying hatred becomes

Content Warnings

ten_telegrams's review

Go to review page

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

Content Warnings

archaicrobin's review

Go to review page

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

Content Warnings

More...