Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication date: February 2012
Pages: 352
Source: Library
For: Fun
Series: Chemical Garden, Book 2
Rhine and Gabriel may have escaped from the mansion where Rhine's husband and father-in-law ruled their lives, but they are far from free. Stumbling onto a strange circus world where nothing is as it seems, the two find themselves just as confined as before. Can they survive in this new world?
Things I Liked:
I love how the story is so strangely atmospheric. Gabriel and Rhine see some very weird and totally destroyed places in the real world and DeStefano has painted them very well for us, especially with the vivid use of color and scent. I was quite surprised by some of the twists at the end - not all of them, but some. I really like how Gabriel and Rhine's relationship is not set in stone, they are not in insta-love or even necessarily in love, but trying to figure it out. It feels more realistic than some of the true love YA books out there, which was refreshing. The ending definitely left me eager to figure everything out and see what happens next.
Things I Didn't Like:
Honestly, the first two thirds of the book were so trippy and insane that I had a really hard time enjoying it. Rhine has the craziest dreams/hallucinations/nightmares so often that I got tired of reading about the things she saw. It seems to be (in my very uninformed opinion) an accurate portrayal of a person in her situation, but it was also really annoying. The ending picked up when things began to fall into place, but it almost seemed like the first part of the book at the circus was a random side trip with no significant place in the story. I still plan to read the next book, but I'm not raving about this second in the series.
Read-alikes:
Honestly, not sure it's like anything I've read - maybe a bit like Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Start with the first book, Wither by Lauren DeStefano
BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: !
some, not a lot
mrg-factor: X
some steamy stuff, but not beyond
v-factor: ->
a little bit of action and some scary images
Overall rating: ***
Who likes trippy books? And why? :)
If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage
Posts
I'm not sure I like trippy books ... they often make me think, which I like, but they can also leave a weird feeling, which I don't like.
ReplyDeleteTrippy books that mix truth and lies I definitely DON'T like!
Yeah, there are usually good and bad things about trippy books. I guess it's just a book-by-book situation :)
DeleteI hate trippy books, they freak me out! I couldn't handle Wither and I decided not to continue on with this series. Much better books out there.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely don't continue with the series if you didn't like Wither. I'm still intrigued, but now I'm going in with more trepidation.
DeleteI've read Wither but not Fever yet (its in my TBR) and I'm hoping I will enjoying since I loved the heck out of Wither.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind trippy books as long as its not too trippy and it doesn't take it away from the story.
I guess this one isn't too trippy, though it bothered me a lot. I hope you end up liking it - I really enjoyed Wither too.
DeleteI had been waiting for this book to come out. I enjoyed Wither, even more so the second time I read it. I was curious to see what would happen to Rhine. I expected Fever to be good, but this was better than I had even hoped for.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed the book more than you expected, Ceska! Hopefully the last one will please you as well.
Delete