Book Review: The Fever King

Title: The Fever King
Author: Victoria Lee
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Series: Feverwake #1
Genre/s and tags: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Bisexual rep, POC, Racism, M/M romance, OwnVoices
Content warnings: Graphic descriptions of death, violence, and murder, mentions of sex, drugs, alcohol/lots of drinking, rape, lots of swearing. For a much more detailed list, see this content warning post from the author themself. 
Goodreads synopsis:

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.

The son of undocumented immigrants, Noam has spent his life fighting for the rights of refugees fleeing magical outbreaks—refugees Carolinia routinely deports with vicious efficiency. Sensing a way to make change, Noam accepts the minister’s offer to teach him the science behind his magic, secretly planning to use it against the government. But then he meets the minister’s son—cruel, dangerous, and achingly beautiful—and the way forward becomes less clear.

Caught between his purpose and his heart, Noam must decide who he can trust and how far he’s willing to go in pursuit of the greater good.

Book nerds, it’s my first ever 5-star read of 2020! 

The Fever King surprised me! I never thought it would be so captivating—from the prose, to the plot, the characters, and the romance. But here I am, with my mind still reeling. I love it!

Excellent writing style

I am an absolute fan of the writing style of this book! The prose is sharp, but also kind of mellow, the kind that will grab hold of your emotions no matter what the scene is. The author used a lot of metaphors, but that just made the imagery and the tone so excellent.

Great characters and romance

The characters are just captivating; whether it be a major character or a minor character, and whether it be a protagonist or an antagonist (and to be honest, it’s so hard to grasp who is the hero and who is the villain, and I love that!).

I love Noam! He’s sassy, and brave, and so determined to help the situation of the refugees. Dara, on the other hand, is cold, intelligent, yet he can also be so loving and hopeful. I wish these two just would have just talked more to avoid their miscommunications, but of course, their journey is slow and angsty. Lehrer was such an interesting character, too, and he made the plot all the more interesting.

The romance is also one of my favorite things in this book! It’s slow burn, with a lot of tension and angst! At the end of the book, I was left wanting more. (I just want more of Noam and Dara, please.)

Unpredictable plot

The Fever King is full of twists and turns and I was truly invested with the plot from start to finish. There were times when I thought I knew what was happening or that I was right about my predictions, but I was wrong and the author was able to surprise me with every plot twist.

I love how the plot focused on politics, racism, and immigrants and refugees trying. I know this is such an important and relevant topic, especially in the US, and to have that as a main focus of the story is enlightening.

Awesome world-building

The world-building in The Fever King is also intriguing. It’s set in a “former United States”, and although the place is quite the same, there are differences with the timelines, the history, and of course, the presence of the viral magic. I wish we’ll get to know more about how that viral magic started as well!

Quotes from the book

“The whole world was a sea of data, so many electrical impulses sparking from pockets and tablets and streetlights and cameras and drones. It was like someone had plugged in a cord and turned on the galaxy.”

“History is written by the victors.”

“If Noam kissed him right now, Dara would think Noam was just like everyone else. And maybe Noam wasn’t special, bu he wanted to be.”

“And 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.”

“Dara, who claimed he hated everything but secretly dreamed of counting the stars.”

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I never thought I’d love this book so much! Definitely including this one to my 20 LGBTQ+ Books in 2020 reading challenge!

How about you guys? Have you read The Fever King yet? What were your thoughts?