Tuesday, January 28, 2014

The Fever by Megan Abbott ~ Review

Title: The Fever
Author: Megan Abbott
Publication Date: June 17, 2014
Pages: 320
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Thriller

Rating: 3 stars

Summary: The panic unleashed by a mysterious contagion threatens the bonds of family and community in a seemingly idyllic suburban community.

The Nash family is close-knit. Tom is a popular teacher, father of two teens: Eli, a hocky star and girl magnet, and his sister Deenie, a diligent student. Their seeming stability, however, is thrown into chaos when Deenie's best friend is struck by a terrifying, unexplained seizure in class. Rumors of a hazardous outbreak spread through the family, school and community. 

As hysteria and contagion swell, a series of tightly held secrets emerges, threatening to unravel friendships, families and the town's fragile idea of security. 

*Disclaimer* This novel was provided by NetGalley for an honest review! 

My head is on two different levels with this book. On one hand, I'm like whoa! This is great. Then again, I'm thinking wtf? What is wrong with this book?! Here's a couple things I wrote down while reading:

wtf is going on?
Who the fuck are you?
Who the fuck is this?
this is really chaotic
WHOA W T H-E-DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS
Fragmented sentences, why?
Skewed POVs

And that was only the beginning. 

So, yeah. It's kind of confusing to get into. One of the problems was I never found a rhythm to this book. I'm not sure if this was purposeful for the author. Things are getting crazier and freakier in the book, but shoving me in different directions only made me mad, not panicky. 

But then again, I liked the idea of different POVs. I just think it could have been written better. I also noticed that quite a few characters sounded the same. They didn't have their own voice, so to speak. (eheheh.) Sure, every once in awhile there'd be this moment where I'd think to myself, yes that character would say/do/think in response to whatever just happened, but these were as rare as my momma's favorite sirloin. And she likes her steaks bloody. 

I think the lack of voice for our MCs also had a lot to do with the form. Now I like it when an author goes out and does something different, dramatic. Ellen Hopkins was a favorite for a long time because of this. However, I do believe that if you want your form to be skewed, and look more like a train of thoughts, then the POV needs to be in first person. Not third. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the thought process soo much! And the writing too! Things were blurred but also clear cut.... if that makes any sense. It was kind of like focusing on one thing only, like a blade of grass, and the rest of the world was in a hazy fog. Having the novel in third person just made this a bit confusing and, for me, frustrating. 

Something I really enjoyed was the plot! I realize that a lot of the surprises and twists in here could not have been possible without the shifting POVs. That being said, OMG the twist!!!! Near the end!!! AHHHH! Crazyness, I tell you. I can't say anything though, because then you won't read it. Once we hurtled over the climax though, and things were starting to wrap up I was left vaguely disappointed. The loose ends weren't secured for me. Oh, the author tries to tie things up nice and neat. But there were a few holes poking through the gift wrap. 

And so I give this novel a solid 3 stars. Writing, plot (except the very, very end), I loved them. The rest, I felt needed some work. Breathe some more life into these characters, give them a voice. Make them stand out from one another please!!!! I feel that would really bring this novel up and up and up!

As always, thank you for joining me as I review! Let me know your thoughts below!

2 comments:

  1. I too was disappointed by the end, and the lack of characterization. And the tampon incident. Whaaaaat.

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  2. OMG! The tampon, I remember a blech-ew sound coming from my mouth when I read that. Like what? No, stop, stoooooop!

    ReplyDelete