ARC Review: The Fever by: Megan Abbott

The Fever by: Megan Abbott (June 17, 2014)

320 Pages

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Genre: Horror

Source: I received an ARC of The Fever from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. Thanks Little, Brown and Company!

Purchase: Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository | Amazon

Goodreads 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 hockey 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.

A chilling story about guilt, family secrets and the lethal power of desire,The Fever affirms Megan Abbot's reputation as "one of the most exciting and original voices of her generation"

My Review

I have such a wide range of feelings for this book, both good and bad. The Fever just didn’t turn out to be as awesome as the synopsis made it sound, and that was disappointing. It had its pros and cons but there is one thing I can say for certain, Abbott knows how to write a horror story that will give you the creeps.

When I first started reading The Fever I was utterly confused. The story is told from three different POVs, the teenage daughter Deenie, her dad Tom, and her teenage brother Eli. I didn’t realize this before starting, hence the confusion. Once I gained my footing I started to enjoy the different POVs from these family members. It’s just too bad the author didn’t use this uniqueness to its full advantage. I would have liked to really get to know Deenie’s family, but even with all the viewpoints I still never felt a closeness with them. My lack of connection and lack of strong feelings for any of the characters is one of the main reasons The Fever only received three stars from me. Not to mention that Deenie and her friends aren’t really nice people.

On a better note, Abbott sure can write. She continued to pull my attention further and further into the story even though I wasn’t connecting with the characters. I was fully emerged into the story of this community dealing with a mysterious outbreak affecting the health of its high school students. Once I hit at least the half-way point I just couldn't stop reading. I had to know how these kids got sick. I wanted to know all the secrets of the characters. Scratch that, I needed to know.

The one last big thing I want to comment on was the lackluster conclusion. After how invested and intrigued I became in the story I was very unsatisfied with how the book ended. The big reveal was nowhere near as exciting as I wanted or expected. It wasn't unique. It was actually just a little sad. I felt let down.

Although this book ended up being a little disappointing to me, I think fans of the horror genre would still appreciate Abbott's writing and the overall creepiness of the novel. One last thing, that cover is wonderfully and horrifyingly eye catching and it fits the novel perfectly.