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.

TW: Alcoholism / Drug Use / Abuse / Child Abuse / Emotional Abuse / Sexual Abuse / Sex with a Minor / Losing a Loved One

For a while there I heard so much about The Fever King on my twitter timeline that when the opportunity arose to read an e arc I took it right away. Clearly this was a good decision because I read it in one sitting, losing track of all time. Is it perfect, no? But it certainly packs quite a few punches.

The Fever King is an interesting mix of sci-fi and fantasy where in the future people can get infected with a magical virus. The few that survive get magical abilities. Our main character Noam becomes one of them at the start of the book, leaving him in a interesting position. As a child of refugees he is quite looked down upon by the others. The government has never been his friend and now he is smack in the middle of it all.

The world building is in ways good when it comes to the present situation inDurham, Carolinia. I got a very good idea of the situation with politics, the refugees and so on. However I found the past situation incredibly confusing, not helped by the fact that one of these magical abilities survivors who started a Carolinia is still alive at a 120+. I really hope that in the next book there is going to be a more clear explanation about what happened there. What was EXACTLY the event in our time that triggered this all.

I quite liked Noam as a character. He is such a caring hard working boy who has been put in such hard situations. He tries to so hard to toughen up and hide how much he cares because he keeps getting hurt. But he can’t. The way he draws to Dara shows that. Dara in his way is better at wearing a mask than Noam is but there was no way those two weren’t going to get drawn to each other. (But dangit Dara, you should have opened up your mouth much sooner about some things)

As you can see from the trigger warnings this book does pack a punch, especially nearing the ending where Noam and Dara really have some difficult conversations about things that happened to them. What is still happening to them. And also some actions. Prepare to go up and down and wanting to hug the boys and girl from all those terrible things. I know I did.

One point I have though, is that I wasn’t necessarily a fan of how the use of alcohol and drug use (once) were so casually put in.

I really enjoyed this book if you like magic you will like this book I can’t wait for the 2nd book!

The Fever King absolutely blew me away. Here's something I don't say often, but even though the premise didn't get me too excited, the execution was incredible. I thought I was tired of dystopian books, but The Fever King proved that new twists can be put onto a genre that's been trod into the ground. It's a book that's poignant in this day and age, exploring how trauma, especially intergenerational trauma, affects people, and what happens when they come out as survivors. 

I loved reading Noam's story. Noam is stubborn and determined and keeps trying to do what he thinks is right. The narrative voice in this was so good. It was authentic and engaging, and even though it was written in third person, I felt as if I was in Noam's head more than in a lot of first-person narratives. I also came to love Dara a lot--can I give him a hug? Please? Both Noah and Dara were such complex and real characters and I loved the dynamic between them. Yes, it could be prickly and angsty, but I could tell they really did care for each other even though all the miscommunication (which was written so much better than most miscommunication tropes are). 

The worldbuilding and magic system was so interesting as well--where magic is a virus that can kill, and is based on actual science. I don't see many books that can be categorized as science fantasy but this is definitely one of them. The fracturing of the post-nuclear United States was interesting--a bit confusing at first, and I'm still not sure what the exact timeline is, but it didn't impact my enjoyment of the book. A lot of the backstory to the world comes through documents and videos showing Calix Lehrer's life. Lehrer was such a fascinating character and I definitely want to see more of him in sequels. 

Even though the characters were excellent and the worldbuilding was great, what stood out to me was how tight the plot was. I actually gasped out loud at a few points and even though there were some things that I saw coming, the twists still managed to get me in some way or another. The world of The Fever King incorporated history and current events that cause discomfort--riots, refugee camps, epidemics, biological warfare. I wasn't expecting this book to be as brutal as it was, but it deals with all types of trauma in a way that's just so raw. Almost all of the characters have experienced some type of heavy trauma either before or during the book's events and cope with it in ways that are probably more harmful than not, but they're survivors: they keep existing and keep pushing boundaries. 

I really enjoyed reading The Fever King and will definitely be on the lookout for the sequel when it comes. If you want to see a clever new twist on the dystopian genre, characters that you'll fall in love with, or just desire for your heart to be shattered by yet another book--read The Fever King. You won't regret it.

The short blurb bit: The first thing I want to write is that “The Fever King” is going straight onto my list of best books of 2019. Yes, I’m that confident. I read a lot of books, always have, and when I read one that has an original concept … presented in a way that I absolutely love – it makes me a little giddy.

The descriptive bit: The book begins with sixteen-year-old Noam Álvaro. He lives in the USA of the future, an immigrant whose family fled outbreaks of a magical virus. Yes! A virus that spreads magic… but the kicker is most people don’t survive. The people who manage to survive the magical fever and wake up become “Witchings”.

Noam works at a small store and volunteers his time at a refugee center. He’s a self-taught computer whiz and hacker and uses his skills to fight for refugee rights. Noam lost his mother when he was young and his father is now unreachable… so Noam’s beliefs and his work are his way of getting by day-to-day.

Then everything changes. Very early on in the book, Noam heads home to find his father and neighbor ill. He soon realizes that there’s a viral outbreak… and he has been infected.

The next thing Noam knows he is waking up and being drawn into a very different world. Noam survived the virus. He’s a witching. And the Nation of Carolinia wants him to work for them. Immersed in a new world, Noam struggles to maintain his ideals while learning that things may not be what he’s always thought they were.

My thoughts bit: There are a few things that I love about this book. Let me start with the description of how the “Witchings” use their magical powers. I loved Lee’s premise that magic is based on an underlying knowledge of science. For instance, if you want to master the power of telekinesis you must have an in-depth knowledge of physics, matter, gravity etc. (Trust me when I say this is wonderfully written, I’m not doing it justice in my summation). I fell in love with the idea that even though one could be granted the potential to perform magical acts, that like many other things it had to be learned.

The second thing that I found quite moving in this novel was the relationship between Noam and Dara. This is not a book for readers who want to read about a relationship that progresses quickly and for that I was truly grateful. The interactions between Noam and Dara swing between tolerating each other and inexplicably drawn together. The reasons for their connection and the friction between them become clear towards the end of the novel, but you know I’m not going to give it away. The way they care for each other is as complex and convoluted as the world they live in.

This was one of those books that I couldn’t stop reading. The end … good GRIEF. I’m telling you, I’m already clicking around like mad on the internet to find out when I can preorder the second book! yes. It’s a series. (If you could see the smile on my face as I type that).

The warnings bit: There are some mentions of abuse (power imbalance and physical), substance abuse (self-medicating), statutory rape.

[this review will be up on my blog, acquadimore.wordpress.com, on March 22, 2019]

The Fever King is the first book in a futuristic sci-fantasy series set in what is left of the once-United States. It follows a main character who is bisexual, Jewish and Colombian and it features a main m/m romance. It’s a story that talks about a lot of interesting themes, and I’m going to get to that in this review, but first I want to talk about what this book made me think about predictability.

Was The Fever King completely predictable? Yes.
Did I care? Not even a little, and that should tell you something about how well-written these characters are.

I think we often use “this was predictable” to mean that a book was boring and banal. And I mean, that’s often true, especially for books in which predictability isn’t the point – I… wouldn’t complain about predictability in the romance genre, you know – but sometimes it’s just not.
Sometimes a book is predictable because it took the path you wanted it to have, because it developed in a way that made sense, because the author didn’t decide to sacrifice a perfectly solid and entertaining storyline for the sake of shock value. And as long as the main character isn’t naive or unobservant for no reason – and here, that wasn’t the case – I’m not going to penalize a book for doing what it should have done.

And did this book go there. The Fever King is set in a country with an internal refugee crisis and an external persecution problem, as it’s the only state in the world that doesn’t imprison people who have magical powers, and it’s a story about how people react to personal and generational trauma, a story about whether and how much the goal can justify the means.
If you know anything about me, you should also know that this last sentence is probably the thing I like to see the most in fiction. Why? Because it makes for terrific villainous characters. And this was no exception. I can’t tell you as much as I’d like about the character I’m talking about – because while it’s a very predictable storyline, I’d rather write a spoiler-free review – but I found him really fascinating and awful, and isn’t that the best combination?

I also really liked the main character, Noam. He’s the son of immigrants, and after he survived a deadly virus and became a witchling, he’s thrust in a world that represents everything he has always hated – and to see how conflicted he is, how he’s desperately looking for allies and at the same time kind of wants to go back… he was a really interesting character to read about.
And his romance with Dara? The way they start out suspicious of each other but grow closer anyway and still don’t really know what’s the right thing to do… I have a lot of feelings, it must be that I just really like reading about confused young gays who are trying their best to do the right thing.

The other side characters weren’t that developed, but seeing how marginal most of them were, it wasn’t that much of an issue. (This also meant that there isn’t a woman who has a relevant role in the whole book, which I… don’t really like)

I really liked reading about this world. It looks like a horrible place to be in, but it also has one of the most interesting magic systems I’ve read in a while, both because it includes superpowers I had never seen in a novel before – the main character main’s power is technopathy, basically magical hacking – and because it’s based on knowledge; you can get new powers if you study (for example, you can get telekinesis from physics).
What I liked less about the world is that I often had no idea how anything looked like, but I can’t say I didn’t like the writing either, because this is the kind of story that felt effortless and that I went through in less than two days, two days during which it took over my head and I couldn’t think about anything else.

I received a Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

At first, I honestly found this book tough to get into. It wasn’t until I was on chapter 5 or so that I got hooked. I really liked the magic mixed with science of this world and found that super interesting.

Once I got into the book, I quickly fell in love with Noam. I was cheering for him and screaming at my book saying “just kiss already!” when the relationship that was building wasn’t going fast enough. I love a slow burn and felt that it was the perfect amount of burn!

Also the ending kind of blew me out of the water. I started to suspect things weren’t as they seemed but it wasn’t until the end that everything started to make sense. I cannot wait for book two because I need to know what happens to Noam and Dara!

This book is a perfect blend of dystopian, sci-fi, and fantasy. I highly recommend it to people who enjoyed Hunger Games, Divergent, and Red Queen.

Outbreaks of magic was happening.killing all the people in durham.The neighbor Hood around Noams work Is rough with robberies happening.i couldn't get absorbed in Noams work and what was happening.

This book left me with a lot of feelings, none of which I know how to deal with. Even though I feel like Noam and I are very different people, I can't help but feel bad for him and want to hug him and protect him. He has gone through so much and the pain it still not over.

I really enjoyed the talk about refugees and politics, really seeing through someone and their stand on things and how, even though you think you can trust and connect with someone, you later on find out that they might have ulterior motives behind their actions. The political intrigue and commentary was strong with this one.

This book also provided a ship that I'll absolutely die for and that if anything happens to either of them or they don't end up happy, I'll self-destruct.

I feel like it also important to mention that this book contains some sensitive subjects that might make many readers uncomfortable, such as: mentions of suicide, death, rape, abuse, drug and alcohol abuse, strong political corruption (I'm mentioning this because, although I can't go into details for spoiler reasons, stuff is messed up) and more.

I feel like The Fever King is a must read. Not only does it include important and amazing representation (bi and marginalized characters), it also provides a wonderful and adventure filled story. I seriously cannot wait for the next book!

The Quick Cut: A teen boy is left the sole survivor after a viral magic takes him over and loses his family in the process. Chaos and emotions break loose when his newfound abilities catch the attention of leaders.

A Real Review:
Thank you to Skyscape for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Noam Alvarez's world is turned upside down when he is left the sole survivor of a viral magic that kills the rest of his family. The magic in his veins turned him into a technopath: someone who can control technology using his abilities alone. However, when his magic turns him into the attention of the Minister of Defense - suddenly he goes from unknown undocumented immigrant to magical elite. Will his new status empower him to stand for his beliefs or forget them altogether?

The premise for this book is so capturing, I knew I had to get my hands on this book. The cover art is so gorgeous, how could you not fall for it?!?! Too bad you can't judge a book by it's cover though... Because if we could, this review would be startlingly opposite to what you see now.

A gorgeous cover and amazing premise can't save this book from its many pitfalls. It's a novel that weighs in at a heavy 400 plus pages, but feels like double that due to the slow rate of story progression. The frustratingly slow unravel can work in books where the landscape is gorgeous and the characters are explained in elaborate detail. However, neither is done here and that makes it a tough one to get through.

It all falls unfortunately flat under the weight of its own lack of depth and description. To build even more into the mishap, the lack of detail even creates confusion when you realize that your assumptions in landscape and situational details are wrong! I wish I could say something nice about the book that I liked, but it was reading hours spent annoyed at the lack of opportunities used.

Don't waste your time reading this story that fails in every way to live to its beautiful premise.

My rating: 1 out of 5

A good if slightly predictable action adventure. Noam survives a virus that leaves its' survivors with strange powers and is immediately co-opted for use by the (corrupt, as always) government. He learns how to use his powers, planning to overthrow the government until he meets the son of the minister in charge of him.

It's well written with a couple of minor twists. As with most YA nowadays, it ends on a cliffhanger. I'll probably pick up the next one, but I won't be desperate to read it; I'll get to it sometime.

Not a bad read, but not fantastic either.