Monday 16 April 2012

Fever - Dee Shulman; Review.


Book Details:
Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Puffin (5 April 2012)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0141340266
ISBN-13: 978-0141340265

Summary:

A fearless Roman gladiator. A reckless 21st century girl. A mysterious virus unites them . . .
152 AD. Sethos Leontis, a skilled and mesmerising fighter, is unexpectedly wounded and lies dangerously close to death.
2012 AD. Eva is brilliant - but troubled. Starting her new life at a school for the gifted, a single moment in the lab has terrifying results.
An extraordinary link brings Sethos and Eva together, but it could force them apart - because the fever that grips them cannot be cured and falling in love could be lethal . . . 
Can love survive when worlds collide and threaten time itself?

Links To Buy:


Rating:
Review:

Thanks to the awesome Puffin people for this book, I couldn't wait to dig in to this. I'm a sceptic for time travel stories, and especially those set so far back, but this had a twist which had me intrigued enough to give the book a shot :)

The cover alone was beautiful and that had me drawn in; throw in the plot of a wayward strong female like Eva and the honourable gladiator Seth, then you know you're in for a treat. Did I mention both characters are separated by over a thousand years? Hell to the yeah, this story just got a lot more interesting.

I was drawn in from the very first page for this book, and once I picked it up, I remember I couldn't put it down for another 7 or 8 chapters. Dee slowly pulls you in to the story, as you're sitting there thinking "ha! not going to fall for this" yet once you're 6 chapters in and you check the clock, you realise you've already been sucked in and it's too late.

Simplistic writing, with a twist of juice from the witty character Eva, helps to realise that she's a strong, genius, albeit troubled teen who's just finding a way to fit in. Kicked out from school, she finally finds her calling in a school catered only for the super smart and that's where Dee had spiked my interested further *I'm a nerd deep down, and this inner nerd character of Eva called out to me, what can I say?!*

Yet it's not just about Eva, as Dee pulls you in further as she narrates the tale of Seth, a gladiator who's battling it out in the early 152AD, being the strongest, meanest and bad-est warrior out there. I found that his story was an interesting one, providing a stark contrast to the world that Eva was in. *thumbs up there*
As I continued on though, and saw how Eva made fast friends with the people at her new school, yet who suddenly turned against her after a misunderstanding, I did have a little hard time adjusting to the quick change. Maybe that's just me, personally I've never dealt with the teenage girl drama angst as all my friends are really understanding, so when Eva's friend turned on her, I found it a little too dramatic, but then again, maybe others found it more realistic.

Anyway, as I turned page after page of this book, I found I was greatly enjoying it, and was intrigued in seeing how Dee was going to bring the two main characters together. Though the time travel and aspect of how they met was different, I found it to have some holes and wasn't totally feasible. I was hoping for a more individualistic approach so I wasn't 100% happy with how that happened.

Also, after the characters meet, I had a hard time grasping the romance between Eva and Seth as it felt a little too forced and from there, I hate to say, I felt my excitement and attention draining. I would have liked to see more of a build up between them as more angst in Seth as he struggles with the sudden change around him.

So with a heavy heart, I must say that the ending didn't quite do it for me and I found my attention waning, which makes me give this a lower rating than I had anticipated giving. Yet I did love how the book started and just hoped for a stronger ending. Though there is another 2 books after this, so hopefully my problems with vanish and Dee will whisk me away to a whole new level :)

EXTRAS:

Be sure to check out the link HERE to read an extract from the book to get you pumped.

Also, here's a sneak peak at a fantastic trailer mad just for you ;)





No comments:

Post a Comment