ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Gosh, this book. I have sat on reviewing this for a while now. I still don't quite know how to organize my thoughts around everything that happened in this book. Overall, it was a wild, wild ride that I kept having to put down and talk to people about. Even then, I flew through it. It's definitely a solid 4 stars for me.

One of the things I enjoyed most about this story was the integration of magic and science. It felt like such a solid and believable magic system, and even then it wasn't overly complex and felt very easy to grasp. It also felt very solid because of how it fit so well in the context of the world building. All of what created magic and sustained magic, including the discrimination etc, of magic felt like something that could easily translate to our present.

The rest of the world building is the same way. During my time reading it I felt it was so solid in building off of what we know currently. Including the politics, discrimination, and political theory. I think this is part of the reason I flew through it so quickly - it felt so real I didn't have to spend much time trying to think and understand it.

The plot twists fit well within the world too, and definitely aided to how quickly I read it! It's such a fast paced book, and I definitely liked that about it. However, I could see that some people might have found it messy and hard to follow, though that was not a problem for me!

There are, of course, things I wanted more of or wished would be different. I wanted more from some of the relationships with side characters. Sometimes I felt there was more telling than showing. I also think that some of the back bone of the world could have been developed further, but I think this will come later in the series.

Overall, I felt like this is a solid introduction to a series. It definitely hooked me into reading more and I look forward to see what happens next in our story!

Synopsis:
The United States has been plagued by magic. What was once one country is now divided into smaller separate countries. The magic virus spreads rapidly killing most of the people who contract it. Only a few survive and those who do, develop magical powers as a result.

Noam Álvaro is the son of refugees that fled the country of Atlantia who have been living in the migrant areas of the “witching” state of Carolinia. When an outbreak of the virus hits his neighborhood Noam is the sole survivor. When he awakes from the sickness he discovers that he has the ability to control technology. His power makes him highly valuable to the the people in charge of the Carolinia government.

Noam accepts a place in Level IV, the elite witching training program where he falls under tutelage of war hero Calix Lehrer, the Minister of Defense for Carolinia. Noam who has been fighting for refugees rights his entire life decides to use his new power and position to bring down the government that has been hostile to the Atlantian refugees over the years.

Noam meets Dara, a fellow student and Lehrers ward. When Dara warns him that he can’t completely trust Lehrer, Noam is torn between his attraction to Dara and his fight for refugees. Noam becomes confused on who he can trust. Can he trust Calix Lehrer despite Dara’s warnings? Or does he trust Dara? Who he suspects is working for another politician who has done horrible things to the refugees Noam is trying to help.


The Good:
The Fever King is very morally grey. There is no clear solution that will allow Noam to save the refugees. The decisions Noam makes have the potential to save many people but also the potential to hurt just as many. There is no clear line of right and wrong. The characters are flawed and are figuring out where they belong in the world. They have all been through trauma and they are all trying to find the right thing to do as they go along. Lehrer was one of the characters where you want to like him and you want to trust him but you just don’t know if you should. He was so well written that you really couldn’t tell if he was going to be the bad guy or the good guy up until the very end.

The realism to the political situation in the US today. Lee doesn’t shy away from how immigrants are being treated in the US right now. It may be fantasy but it feels very real and relevant at times.

Magic. Magic as a virus that gives people magical powers is a unique way of bring magic into the the 22nd century, which this book is set in. Often times magic and technology don’t mix well but Victoria Lee found a way to bring magic to the world scientifically and I think it works well.

The romance. Noam and Dara! The slowest of slow-burns. I love their relationship Dara starts off as a jerk and has an air of mystery about him. I knew he was hiding things and when more information gets revealed about Dara I just wanted to hold him and tell him it's going to be ok. The poor boy has been through so much and he loves Noam. The ending killed me, I just want them to be together and happy!

The Diversity! A bisexual, biracial Jewish Main character. A gay, POC, Jewish major character/love interest. This book is very diverse and it is fantastic to see that in a YA novel.

The Bad:
It was a slow start and it was confusing at times. There were times that I found the book difficult to follow. I had to go back and reread a few times to get everything straight. It took some time to figure out what the history was and get everything straight in my head. About half way through the story really picked up and the ending was a pile of plot twists and surprises.

I’d say this book is more on the Adult side of Young adult. This book does delve into quite a few heavy topics, so that’s something to keep in mind before you read it. There are a lot of curse words and some explicit content. Victoria Lee does have content warnings on her website.

Favorite Quotes:
“That was the whole point. Government didn’t have to listen to the pope until the people made it hurt not to listen”

“The void from earlier was back, yawning wide in Noam’s chest. Dara felt it to, he thought. Dara might not have last his family, but he had the same hole inside him, They matched”

“I meant it when I said I wasn’t gay” Noam said.
Ames looked disbelieving , but she didn’t pull away.
Noam smirked. “ Bisexual isn’t gay”



All in all I would completely recommend this book. I’m looking forward to the next book of the duology. I am eager to know how Noam’s story ends. Noam’s and Dara’s story. I really want to know what happens with Dara and his “fever sickness”.

4.5/5 Rounded up to 5

I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. [I did, however, buy my kindle book the same time I was approved for the eARC and that is the version I read]

I ended up deciding to round my 4.5 up to 5 rather than keep it at 4 after sleeping on it.

First off I love this idea of magic being a virus, that it's not supposed to be a gift but yet still we have witchings.

Also, while magic is a good part and we have witchings which are the centre of a Holocaust scaled genocide in the US, Lee also gives us a good hard look at immigrants dealing with a country where the virus is an even more common fear for them, and so they go to another country, Carolinia to escape the horrors of Atlantia. And it is a beautifully tragic parallel to today's world and its problem with immigration. People just wanting to find a place to call home where they can feel safe. Not to mention I just felt the political games were well done and my favorite part of the book.

There's a dystopia really when you look at it as a world where we have failed to keep others safe, and that the immigrants are suffering and there's a deadly virus that means magic can kill you.

Noam is half Latino half Jewish, and bisexual. I love that he talks about his ex-girlfriend while also acknowledging he has feelings for men. [Won't disclose who as I'd hate to ruin the story for you all!]

Lee really brings a very teenage-like presence to all the teenage characters which sometimes authors can forget to do she also writes some tragic scenes and they are beautiful and Victoria Lee likes to tear out your emotions and dangle them above your head.

I love the little flashes of Calix information and I wish there would have been more if anything I would say maybe the pacing felt off at times because at moments I would pause and think so much as happened in so little time or so little has happened and yet I feel like I read 200 pages. That combined with the fact that it wasn't always clear how much time had passed made pacing one of like the two issues for me. So pacing and I wish there would have been more of Noam and his crush interacting, it felt like we didn't have a lot of time with them and so their feelings are sometimes a bit hard for me to believe. Those are probably my only complaints.


I really can't wait to read the next book and I can't wait to see more of Noam!

The Fever King by Victoria Lee

Disclaimer: First and foremost I would like to thank Skyscape Publishing and NetGalley for providing me the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shapes my opinion, all thoughts are my own.

I had heard conflicting opinions about The Fever King since the ARCs were floating around. I decided to give it a shot, knowing that I am slowly growing out of YA dystopian novels (as some surprise me!). I really wanted to like this. The world building was unique, a fever of magic spreading throughout a divided country and an impending war between said country and his heart. There are tropes that many books of this nature have such as child loses parents, gets whisked away to train, becomes powerful, overthrowing government, etc... but that didn't sway me into not reading it.

Things that worked for me (could be considered slightly spoilery):

- The representation for people who identify as bisexual. Noam and Dara having a relationship that is not based on tropes was refreshing. I liked the complexity and I didn't feel like the nature of their relationship was fetishized at all.
- Dealing with undocumented immigration, genocide, refugees, etc... and how it affects people who are just - Other representations of diversity (Noam's mother being Jewish and his father being hispanic) though it did feel like there was SO much diversity that it was like ticking boxes.
- Interesting way for a boy to gain his powers and learn to utilize them, as well as it being rooted in science.
- The last half of the book picks up the pace and it was enjoyable! I loved the powers that the characters possessed.

Things that didn't work for me (could be considered slightly spoilery):

- I was confused for the first 30% of the book. There wasn't much explanation as to what a witching was, what war was happening, who characters were, etc. It did come together in the end though!
- Per Lee's blog, every single character is queer. While I do appreciate the representation, I don't find that is really plausible, however we are talking about a future dystopian fantasy world where people obtain magic after a fever that potentially can kill you, so who am I to judge?
- I didn't really connect with any other character besides Noam and Dara, and Lehrer gave me serious Darkling vibes and that's all I could think about.
- The language structure did not mesh well with me. I think I would have enjoyed the book more if I didn't feel like it was a bit disjointed. This could be because I am outgrowing YA language structure. Noam utilized cusswords as did other characters but then it would be third person narrative and the narration would cuss and it seemed strange. For example:

"Maybe he'd be the first. A medical mystery. A witching without the witch. Fuck witchings, anyway. Noam'd rather have his dad back." For me, it makes more sense for the cuss word to be an inner thought rather than a narrative voice.

Overall, I didn't LOVE IT, but I didn't hate it. I think that after this debut novel, the second book in the series will be have kinks worked out and will deliver! I am interested to see what happens with Noam and Dara. There are adult themes that are explored so I would suggest "older" young adults explore this book!

What I liked

There was actually a ton that I liked and I really can‘t complain about „The Fever King“. There are minor things that made me take the choice to not give it a five star rating but I can proudly say that I enjoyed my time reading this book.
So first of all I really liked her writing style. You will probably see under my favourite quotes that I quoted a lot because of that writing. I loved it and it felt quite unique sometimes. And the author‘s descriptions were fabulous! I was amazed by some of her chosen words. Like for example the 11th quote. I mean you should definitely give the book a chance and I hope that you‘ll be amazed by the writing too. It was great!
Another thing I liked was the swear words. I think it‘s pretty rare that you come across fuck in a young adult book. Or definitely not as much as we came across this word in „The Fever King“. I really liked the fact that Lee put this in her book because let‘s be honest. Who never used to swear at sixteen? I still do it and I‘m 23. She stayed realistic and that‘s what I like so much about this novel.
Which makes us come straight to the next point. Her characters were perfect. Full of flaws, naive and complete normal human beings. Because we shouldn‘t forget that our main character is only a teenager and he reacts exactly the way a young person at that age would probably react. The characters didn‘t play the part of the responsible adult when they are only sixteen. They all acted their age and this is great! I know that it‘s difficult to remember how we were as teenagers. But seeing that some authors still manage to do the perfect portrait of a normal teenager is refreshing. I‘m not saying that all the other young adult writers don‘t manage to write their teenage characters like real-life teenagers (don‘t know if I‘m making myself clear) but sometimes I have the feeling to read a story about an adult but instead of being an adult the character is still a child.
Can we please talk about the Plot Twist, please? I wasn‘t prepared for this. And as you know me I love great plot twists. This one was great and I literally screamed at my kindle. I was like what the heck did just happen. Are you fucking kidding me? So yeah I was a fan of this plot twist and still, a little bit shook.
For once I can‘t complain about the speed. So I guess that‘s perfect as well. The chapters aren‘t that long so depending on your reading speed it won‘t take long to get through the book.
Oh, and before I forget, have I already mentioned the perfect writing style?

What I didn‘t like

Now let‘s move on to the tiny details that didn‘t make me give it a 5-star rating.
First of all, I felt that some parts were unnecessary. While the descriptions were perfect they were maybe too much during some parts of the story where we didn‘t really need them.
I mentioned above that I didn‘t have to complain about the speed but – and yeah there is always a but with me – I have to complain about the length. For me (again my opinion) it was maybe a bit too long. The story could have come earlier to an end. Maybe by skipping some parts. But the story was still great the way it was right now so it was honestly just a minor problem for me.

Overall this book was great. I really enjoyed reading it and would totally recommend it! If you love Marie Lu (especially the Legend trilogy) you can be sure to love „The Fever King“ as well.

ah yes, the fever king. my favourite political scifi, dystopian antihero novel of the year. I honestly had high expectations going into this because a lot of my favourite book bloggers have highly recommended it. I’m a political science major myself, currently studying a master of public policy, so I thought: how good can the politics and grey morality be? the answer is, VERY!!! I devoured this novel FAST. I’m haunted by what I’ve read and I will fight to the death to protect dara shirazi!!!

at the beginning of the fever king, our protagonist noam álvaro is a famous hacktivist but overall seems like a pretty unassuming teenager. he volunteers at the migrant centre, works at a convenience and cares for his unresponsive father. that changes when he and his father contract feverwake, a magical virus that kills most and bestows very few with powersif they survive. noam is one of the so-called lucky few, a witching with technopathic powers. he’s whisked away to a training facility with his fellow witchings and struggles to play catch up, all the while dealing with the enigmatic defence minister and national hero who wants to mentor him, and his protegé who seemingly wants nothing to do with dara. noam is torn between his old life and his new, allegiances and politics and the responsibility that comes with power.

‘None of these people, Dad would tell him, give a shit about you or anybody you know.’

the political intrigue and subterfuge was what really got to me, as well as the strong stance on immigrant rights. absolute power corrupts absolutely, and even if lehrer gave up the crown he’s still in a position of power. there wasn’t enough politicking for me imo, I wanted more backstabbing. the conversations about democracy, dictatorships and the right to power was so MY BRAND I wanted to scream!! i saw so many echoes of what was happening in the real world paralleled in the fever king and I know it was deliberately done to shine a light on issues.

‘That was where Sacha’s bullies went to crow about nationalism and call for the passive extermination of an entire nation.’

who has a right to representation? why should/shouldn’t refugees have rights? what makes a citizen and how can the disenfranchised exercise their power? I saw a lot of that in the fever king, including the hateful pro-nationalism and anti-immigrant rhetoric that’s been slowly and insidiously permeating the political realm for the last decade or so. history is a cycle, so lehrer seems to suggest. what happened before will happen again, back then with witchings and now with atlantians.

the concept of witchings was a biiit thin and on the whole I’d have liked to see a whole lot more backstory than we got. at times the worldbuilding was confusing and a had to pause for a sec before a detail came to me. maaaybe this might have been improved by a map? I got the uncorrected proof copy, so hopefully the finished version in store has a badass map to help with our interpretation of the events.

noam’s and dara’s relationship dynamics was just 🔥🔥🔥. although we didn’t get much backstory on dara, just going off his name I’m assuming he’s iranian (and possibly muslim? there was a line about noam knowing dara’s religion because of how tight his jeans were lolol). now my favourite brown-skinned telepathic KING reminded me so much of one of my FAVOURITE characters from my FAVOURITE book series of all time: captive prince. dara is laurent, the haughty and cold prince with a tragic backstory, his dynamic with noam (cautious, on edge, standoffish at first. then the knowing and slow, slow unraveling).

when noam mentioned being shocked by dara having telepathic powers, I was genuinely confused. I pinged that in the beginning of the book, when someone makes a comment about lehrer having another telepath in his ownership. I thought ‘oh, that must be dara’ and let it be. oh noam, my sweet summer child.

now lehrer is… a dynamic character. morally reprehensible, once you know what he’s done, but nonetheless him and noam have an interesting relationship. it’s one part awe, three parts resentment, a sprinkle of hate and a load of terror (on noam’s part). he’s very, very old and immensely talented, which means he has loads of cool powers and the control that comes with it. (I’m not gonna say- okay, I’ll say it. I was low-key shipping lehrer and noam because I am a terrible human being with dubious taste. I said it. ymmv. sometimes the ship just chooses you. not anymore tho, rip ss calnoam).

‘Everything worth doing had its risks. Sometimes you had to do the wrong thing to achieve something better.’

overall, the fever king was a delightful morally grey, nuanced political dystopian novel. I’m now desperately awaiting the electric heir next year (😭😭). it can’t come soon enough. by the end I was in a state of permanent shock like… wtf happened. I was so absorbed in it that I finished the fever king in under TWO days and even made a playlist for it!! filled with muse and digital daggers, my old favourites.

so, what are you waiting for? pick up a copy up from your local bookseller or library now!

The Fever King ~ Victoria Lee
A dystopian science fantasy set in the future United States. This Book touches on Class inequality and immigration themes Great storyline with an electrifying end .
A well-written book with a strong bisexual protagonists , A science fantasy filled beautiful metaphors, murder and gore .
I enjoyed this book all the way to the end. And would definitely recommend it.

My opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read a copy of this book.

Summary: In the former United States, sixteen-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 thrusts him into the magical elite of the nation of Carolinia.

I really enjoyed this book. It gave me a bit of The Darkest Minds vibes with the magic that can either kill or give powers but the story line is unique. I am eagerly awaiting the next book in this series because I need to know what is going to happen.

My only con for the book is the constant use of the word f*ck. Now I swear worse than a sailor but this seemed a bit excessive. However, I would still highly recommend the book to everyone. .

✨ 4.5 / 5 ✨

This is the scoff dystopia I’ve been waiting for!

I binge read this book in a day, I couldn’t put it down! I think the author did a marvellous job at conveying the doubt, unease, and complexities of this world while only following one pov. I was always on edge and slightly paranoid, and I didn’t know who to trust in this book.

Noam was a fantastic main character with the best of intentions but faced with the realities of politics and war. He was wrenched away from the only world he knew to be thrown into the privileged life he’d always despised from afar. It was so interesting to see him wrestle with himself, his preconceptions and see that maybe not everything is as it seems. But he never stopped to fight and whatever else might be going on, he stayed true to his goal.

Now, Dara. My sweet angel child. The one you will fall in love with because no-one can resist him. He was magnetic from the get-go and then layers after layers of his character, his past and motivations are revealed to us. It’s easy to put two and two together before things are revealed but the impact and punch of it were still there.

The relationship was something I was rooting for and the slow burn was killing me in the best possible way. So many moments were teasing my heartstrings only to float away the next sentence but the pay-off was great. My heart belongs to these two boys now and I just want them to be okay and happy.

The other teenage characters present kind of lacked substance to me. The idea of them was great and I could see them as separate entities and how their dynamics could be, but it wasn’t there on the page. It felt like a missed opportunity for me to have these characters who were often mentioned but not explored beyond throw-away sentences.

The plot was engaging while not being overwhelming complicated. The complexity of this book resided in the characters, their dynamics and the politics of this setting which was brilliantly executed. The pacing also allowed the story to explore topics extremely relevant to today’s society without rushing over these important points and let them sink in.

I can’t wait to see where the next book takes us and see how the author will up the ante!

The Fever King is one of my most anticipated releases of this year. I’ve read a lot of good things about it from other bloggers who had the chance to read it in advance, and it made me just want to get my grabby, impatient hands on it. Needless to say, I pre-ordered my copy early (because I am weak!)

This book deserved all the buzz it got!

I started reading it immediately soon as I got it on my Kindle and finished it almost in one sitting. Fast-paced and gripping, the story pulled me in and plunged me into this intriguing post apocalyptic world where magic runs rampant. I loved everything about this story – characters, plot, the topics it tackled without reservation, the diversity contained within its pages. The Fever King is easily one of the best books I’ve read so far this year.

Noam as a main character was so easy to love. He had a rough life, the son of undocumented immigrants fleeing magic-infested Atlantia, Carolinia’s neighboring country. After his mother’s death, Noam had to take care of his father who, in his grief, falls deep into depression.

But even his father is taken from him when the viral magic hit his neighborhood killing everyone except Noam.

Noam is a complex character. Fierce and good-intentioned, though a little misguided and naive. his story reflects that of many migrants especially in the Us. Being part of both worlds, I think he felt guilty, unnecessary but nevertheless there, and it drove him to strive to change things for the Atlantia refugees crossing lines and doing things he never thought he would do in the process.

It was a ride reading and tracking his journey knowing that some of the people he has surrounded himself with have hidden agendas. You don’t know how many times I wanted to reach out into the book, grab Noam by his shoulders and shake some sense into him. Frustrating as it was for me as reader, I think Noam’s naivety and moral greyness made him more believable and realistic – more human – and it’s what endeared him more to me.

The Fever King tackles some pretty heavy stuff. Immigration and intergenerational trauma are just two of the most prevalent ones. Victoria Lee pulls no punches and weaves these topics into her narrative. But if you’re worrying it will be too message-y, then fret not because it isn’t at all. This partly owes it to Lee’s seamless work, but mostly it’s because, I think, she really meant for this book to have half of its foundations built on politics. It’s one of the things I appreciate the most about this story.

As if it I need more reasons to love this book, The Fever King also features a diverse cast of characters. Noam is bisexual and Jewish. His father, while not directly stated in the book (I think, so correct me if I’m wrong) is Columbian. He converts into Judaism when he married Noam’s mother.

Dara, beautiful and mysterious Dara who got me trying to puzzle him out until the very end of this installment, is so unashamedly gay. He and Noam have this instant connection, tense at first then developing into something genuine towards the end.

Like Noam, Dara has been through some tough times. Some of it were alluded to in the book, but I could do with more. And maybe we’ll get that in the next book, but in this one I feel like I only half know him. The same goes for Calix Lehrer, the antagonist and Noam’s and Dara’s mentor.

Overall, The Fever King is an awesome book and a great series opener. Taking elements from both genres, it creates an intriguing balance between sci-fi and fantasy. I am totally in for this series and excited for the next book already. Let’s just hope my brain stops thinking about what might happen to Dara and how Noam’s going to play Lehrer’s game. I absolutely recommend this if you’re into sci-fi and fantasy with a generous peppering of political intrigue and manipulation.

to be honest, the first 70% of this book was so boring I was so concerned I’d have to DNF it. but then the plot went from dragging along to flat-out sprinting. Honestly, I almost got whiplash from the sudden change of pace. It’s that change of pace which definitely saved this book from utter tediousness and disaster.

If you are looking for a book that is going to make you feel ALL the things….go pick up The Fever King…right now!

I’m going to put it right out there and say that I actually had no intentions on reading this book. There was just so much hype surrounding this release that there was no way it would live up to its expectations and I completely lost interest. I have no idea what made me click it one day but I guess I figured “What the hell” and gave it a shot. I have accidentally picked some of my favorite books this way. Once again, the Book Gods had my back!

There was no way I would have thought that I would enjoy this book so much. I was immediately hooked. If it wasn’t for life getting in the way, I know I could have just sat down and read this book from start to finish in one day with zero regrets. I freaking LOVED this book! Everyone needs to read it.

It took a little bit for the characters to grow on me, and I’m still on the fence on how I feel about them (I absolutely have a love/hate relationship with just about EVERY character in this book….yes, that includes Noam and Dara) but the way they each developed as the story went on blew me away. Each person was also written in such a way that you can almost get right into their skin; feel what they feel and think what they think. I find that sort of connection is often lacking in books, or at least I find a hard time getting it, so I was quite impressed that I was able to get so involved with the characters and what was going on around them. It really makes for a much more enjoyable reading experience.

What really blew me away, however, was how real this book was. Not just the characters but the entire world and all the events that were taking place. The constant fear, the government system, the separation of the classes, living with the aftermath ….this book did an excellent job at taking real life issues and scenarios and making them hit home. I read somewhere that Victoria Lee put a lot of herself and her experiences into The Fever King and it shows.

I did find the magic system a little hard to follow at times but that’s a minor issue for me when I found the rest of the book so easy to follow. Hell, I didn’t even get flustered or bored with the politics and I am NOT a fan of political books at all.

Lee’s debut is fun and heavy but it balances out perfectly and The Fever King is a book I would most definitely recommend. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next book (write faster Victoria!). Seriously…who ends a book like that anyway?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for provide me with a copy of this book to read and provide my honest opinion

The Fever King has been getting 5 stars left and right, so before my rating scares you off, I'd to like say that 1) Anything I rate above a 5 is not bad, and 2) I don't even know if 6.5 is the right rating for this because overall I think (??) I liked it, but I had some major issues with the execution, but at the same time I still recommend it, mainly becau. I haven't been this conflicted about a book in a while (hence the review title).

This is gonna be a messy one, folks. Strap in. (We're doing sections today. :D)


Some things I really liked about the book:

♦ The story features very, very pointed themes of immigration policies, refugee crises, and fearmongering--ones that obviously parallel U.S's political climate in the past handful of years. One could call it too on-the-nose, I suppose. I found it passionate and unapologetic. For me, the political message and scenes relating to it are the strongest aspects of this book.

♦ The integration of science with magic. Something I'll never not love.

♦ The diversity. We have a protagonist who's Latino, Jewish, and bisexual, and a queer brown love interest.

♦ Noam and Dara's relationship, once it gets going, is about navigating the line between unbridled affection and respecting boundaries, which I thought was done very well. And the two are really sweet together.

♦ The last 1/4 of the book ramps up in pace and it's one crazy event after another. Really entertaining stuff.


Onto more specific things:
Worldbuilding:

I love the setup of this world--this future dystopian North America that's been ravaged by plague that can turn you into a magic user ("witching"). I would have loved to see more of it, but I feel like what I got in the end was a handful of blurry images.

And for such an elite training program, we see so little of Level 4 (the government's witching school) and the people involved--students and instructors and all--so most of the time it feels like Noam, Lehrer, and Dara are interacting in their own little vacuum. That made things weirdly stifling.


Noam:

Noam. Noam. Noam. Noam. Noam.

I love his passion and his determination to fight for what's right, I really do; he's got a big heart and the anger that runs through it is utterly infectious. But some of the other aspects of his personality--his obliviousness, naivete, doing things without thinking--annoyed me to no end. Not because I have a problem with those character traits in general, but because they didn't seem to really fit him.

Noam Alvaro's background: hacker whiz; political activist; newly-made orphan; been to juvie; and knows first-hand the corruption of government and the sting of discrimination. He's not some sheltered rich kid who's ignorant about the ways of the world, and his life thus far has been a string of hardships underlined with tragedies.

So I had trouble reconciling all of that with someone who has the naivete of a storybook princess and the situational awareness of a brick wall. Someone who, among other things, breaks into a high-security government building with zero foreplanning and thinks, "I should just surrender. I'm sure they'll understand" when he's about to get caught. It just didn't make sense.


Lehrer and Dara:

Lehrer reminds me quite a bit of Magneto from X-Men, which is probably why I find him the most interesting of the three. Going down the checklist, he's: German-Jewish; survivor of experimentation and torture; wanted to create a utopia for witchings to live without discrimination; and has a moral compass that veers wildly from "manipulative SOB" to "caring leader."

My problem with both Lehrer and Dara is that the book (or Noam, rather) keeps nudging me in the ribs and whispering, "Oh wow, aren't these guys so contradictory and fascinating?" without really showing me that. While we get to see more of Lehrer's past from the excerpts at the end of the chapters (which I did like), we don't get much from him in the main story, and Dara is all evasiveness and cryptic "I can tell you things, but I won't." And while there's a good reason for that, a more in-depth look into his character would have been great.

But Dara did grow on me in the last 1/3 of the book, and his story is one that'll have you reaching for a pillow to hug.


Conclusion:

If it seems like I've just been ragging on the book, let me give you this:

My brain sometimes acts like an overly persistent, sporadically cantankerous dog that thinks it has something to prove to the world, so once it snags a particular issue, it doesn't like letting go. And that kind of ends up setting the tone for the rest of the reading experience.

But there's a a high chance your brain is a nice affable pup. An annoying squirrel throwing nuts at you from a tree? Who cares! Shake if off! (Literally!) The day is sunny and warm, the flowers are in bloom, and holy crap, there are miles and miles of sticks to chew on. Life is amazing.

So some of these issues I had you might be able to easily overlook. And if that's the case, then I think your experience will be a much, much less conflicting one.

TL;DR. The Fever King was too uneven for me to fall headlong in love with it, but it's got a good foundation, a heartfelt message, and an ending that just begs you to pick up the sequel (which I will be doing).

I'm not sure how I felt about this. It is a good premise and there are good moments but I still am not sure this really reached what it could have been. Overall, worth the read underwhelming.

Well. This was a wild ride. And I say that in a good way.

When I read the summary of THE FEVER KING, I was interested, but not that interested. I thought it would have kind of a soft-ish contemporary feel. And if there's one thing you should know about me, it's that I hate fluffy contemporary.

But this surprised me in a very good way.

The story centres around Noam Alvaro, a bisexual Jewish Mexican boy (damn) whose parents were undocumented immigrants. It's set in the U.S., but history has clearly followed an alternate course. It was very weird to read about magical things that had happened in 2015 and 2019 while knowing those things had most definitely not happened. Ha. That said, the Holocaust was mentioned, so I guess the history wasn't entirely different...? I'm not sure. I found this a bit confusing.

Anyway, the U.S. has been divided into two parts: Carolinia and Atlantia, which are north and south, respectively. It's quite clearly representative of the present United States and Mexico. People are constantly trying to cross into Carolinia to escape the illness and turmoil in Atlantia, and the government treats them like scum. (Side note just to say that I love when books do this shit. It's very obviously a commentary on our current reality, though that's never explicitly stated. As such, I really felt Noam's anger. It made me feel for all those who share his situation in real life).

The illness in the book is a...magic fever, in a way. It's like a plague, and everyone infected will either die or become a witching, the chances of which are very low. When the fever hits Noam's town, he and his father are both infected. His father dies, but Noam wakes up and finds a government official waiting for him. This official is a man named Calix Lehrer (which made me laugh/eye roll because 'Lehrer' means 'teacher' in German, and the man is literally his teacher) who takes him to a government witching training facility called Level IV.

Since Noam is a middle-school dropout, he's way behind everyone else, but he realizes he's a technopath, which gives him the ability to manipulate technology. This is what's interesting about the magic in this book: in order to be good at it, you have to understand science. For example, Noam needs to deeply understand technology to manipulate it. People who can control matter need to understand atoms and math and shit. I don't know, I'm not a science person. Either way, it's pretty cool.

Lehrer decides to tutor Noam because he "sees himself" in the boy, and this is when Noam meets Dara, Lehrer's adopted son. The two don't get along for most of the book, because they're on two different sides. Dara is working with Sacha, the minister who Noam feels is responsible for the oppression of Atlantian people. Meanwhile Noam starts working with Lehrer, who wants to overthrow Sacha in order to help the refugees and immigrants. Noam has a lot of anger because of the way Atlantians are treated, so he basically agrees to do whatever it takes to get rid of Sacha and help Lehrer take charge of the country instead.

But, despite their vast differences, Noam and Dara have the hots for one another. And naturally I was here for it, because I adore hate-to-love romance, especially when they involve a sassy boy (or boys). And Noam's narration was full of sass. In fact:

"There was probably some cosmic quota for the amount of sass you could get away with in one day."

It's a romance fraught with turmoil, because Noam hates that Dara's working with Sacha and Dara hates that Noam is working with Lehrer. Dara hates his adoptive father but never really tells Noam why. Nonetheless, their relationship flipflops between being furious with one another and being obsessed with one another.

I won't go into details, but the story culminates with Lehrer and Noam executing their plan to take control, and all the complications that arise. People do some crazy shit. You find out that Noam may not be a completely reliable narrator. The book ends on a bittersweet note. Do I want more? YES.

That was more than I usually say about the plot, but I wanted to provide a good idea of what happens so that you're not as confused as I am by the synopsis. Not that it's unclear; it just doesn't explain the morally questionable intensity of this book. THE FEVER KING is not for the light-hearted. At least, I don't think; I wouldn't know. But there is lots of swearing (which makes me happy because why are we fooling ourselves by thinking young adults don't say 'fuck'), abuse, rape, intergenerational trauma, murder, a sex scene (it wasn't that explicit), alcohol and drugs, etc. None of that bothers me (you don't see the rape happen, it's just mentioned). Still, I would be careful if these things bother you.

So. Why four stars? Well, I almost NEVER give 5, so that's a super good rating for me. I considered 3.5, because the first half of the book was a bit slow, but honestly I still enjoyed reading it and once it got into the second half everything moved a lot faster and sucked you in. The characters are really likeable despite not being super moral, and Noam kept surprising me, which I liked. I'm the sort of person who would have liked a bit more description when it came to setting etc., because that's just how I am. I'm fine with long paragraphs of descriptive prose. But this was a snappy read, and that's alright too, especially in YA. It probably appeals to a lot of people. I just need more in order to LOVE the writing. That said, it did hold a lot of humour, which I of course adore. See this wonderful tidbit:

"Those jeans are so tight I can see your religion."

Ultimately I was never bored, and the ending surprised me in a few different ways. I would recommend this to people who like dystopian light-sci-fi stories or excellent LGBTQ+ rep. A fun read for sure. Bravo, Victoria. I never would have thought this was for me, but there you go.

the first of many sins committed in the name of the greater good.

This plot was wonderfully thought out and pretty damn engaging. I really enjoyed the use of magic as a virus - how cool does a magic virus sound? Besides you know, the most people dying part - and the makeup of this world, including all the politics and subterfuge.
I was massively impressed with the knowledgeable insight into medicine and science, all the medical things spoken about were properly researched and accurate as far as could be. Basing magic in medicine? I adored that.
I loved how well thought out the magic system was and that if you knew enough about something, you could magically manipulate it. What a concept!
I will say that I wasn’t really surprised by any of the plot twists or reveals that popped up but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the plot.

The writing style was lovely.
Noam was an interesting MC who had to navigate a new world and try to decide who he was and what he was willing to fight for. He has lost everything and is still fighting to make the world a better place. He is very single minded when it comes to his cause.
I felt like Dara was a character that could have been devastating to us all, but fell a little flat for me. I do think he still has some things up his sleeve and I hope he convinces me otherwise in the next one.
The romance wasn’t all that tangible, I wish there were more moments building it up to make it feel more real for me.
Enjoyed it enough to definitely read the next!

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Excellent writing. Catches your attention and does not let go. This fast-paced novel takes into the life of a 16 year old with magical powers.. You can’t help but fall in love with Noam. I highly recommend this book by Victoria Lee.

I've read some good reviews of this book and seen it on lists of highly anticipated releases.  Considering that and the beautiful cover, I requested it on NetGalley.

The different take on magic in this novel is intriguing.  Magic is a virus, and only a slim percentage of people survive after being infected.  If they are fortunate enough to survive, they become a witching and possess magic with varying powers.  A lot of time and creativity were put into the world-building - it's complex and politically charged.  The treatment of undocumented aliens is brutal and heart-wrenching, but also timely, and Noam finds himself straddling two different worlds.  

Initially, the pacing is on the slow side, and it took me a while to get into this story.  On the flip side of that, the ending is exciting, full of twists, and moves at an astounding pace.  There are conflicting opinions on the world-building in other reviews I've read.  Some readers wanted more, some thought it was more of an information dump.  I'm with the group that's unsure if they understood all the political angles.  I found it a little confusing at times.

The Fever King is filled with political intrigue, characters who possess powers along the lines of X-Men, and a wonderfully diverse cast.  Overall, it's an enjoyable read, and more for the older YA crowd.   

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book was so good! I devoured it in two sittings. I could not put it down.

Noam Álvaro is a techopath. An ability he acquires after surviving a viral magic outbreak that kills his family. Not only does he have to learn how to use his power but also how to live with a bunch of kids he doesn’t know and navigate the politics of a divided city.

The fantasy element was mixed in with science and I really enjoyed it which totally surprised me because usually too much science-y stuff bores me.

This book broke my heart. It truly did. Noam is so loveable, totally unsure of himself and a little naive but determined to do what he feels is right, even when he knows he will suffer for it. I really admired his strength. He didn’t always make the best choices but he was constantly striving to change the world around him for the better.

There were some tough but important subjects addressed in this book like race and immigration. It isn’t always an easy read but I thought the author did a fantastic job of navigating these (and many more) issues. It also had great rep which was awesome.

The relationship building between Noam and Lehrer, and Noam and Dara was brilliant. It really was a character driven novel and the characters were all so well written. The complexities and dynamics the author weaved were fascinating. (And equally heart-breaking) The romance was suuuper oh-my-word-just-kiss-already slow-burn. So. much. angst. and I loved it!

I did feel that the ending was a tad predictable but honestly I didn’t even care because it was just so freaking good. Cannot wait for book two to come out!

Thanks to the publisher, Skycape and NatGalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book is kind of hard to review. I don't know if I like it or not in some ways... I mean it's very well written. There's a lot to like about this book. It has some very well done representation with the main character being a bisexual mixed-race Jewish boy.

There is a twist near the end, or what I assume is supposed to be the twist. But it came across kind of strangely to me. There really wasn't a lot of set up for it, and typically with twists, there are still clues. So either there really wasn't any, or they all just went over my head. Maybe some people would prefer that, being blindsided by a twist. But for me, it felt like it came out of nowhere. That it was just kind of thrown in there.

The romance was done very well. Though, I don't really know how to call this a romance exactly as the two characters spent most of the book kind of hating each other. Noam thought Dara was attractive from the start, but I never caught when Dara started feeling anything for Naom. Even after confessing their feelings. But I will say that this book does a great job with Bisexual representation.

“I meant it when I said I wasn’t gay,” Noam said.
Ames looked disbelieving, but she didn’t pull away.
Noam smirked. “ Bisexual isn’t gay”

All-in-all this book was just okay for me. The writing is very good, the characters are great, the setting while strange and not always making sense is good. The plot kind of fell short for me. I just don't know what anybody's end goals were by the end of the book. Nobody really says what they planned to do if they succeeded. Sacha, what did he plan to do. We only kind of know what Lehrer wanted, because Dara told us. In hindsight, the plot, was kind of convoluted. A lot didn't really add up or make sense at times. These things will most likely be covered in the sequel.