Review: The Fever by Megan Abbott

"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."

Read the rest at Goodreads. 

First of all, I was wildly attracted to the cover of this book. It is amazing. But most of all, it goes so well with the title - The Fever. I read a little bit about the book online and it sparked my interest so of course, I picked it up.

It is a page turner since the very beginning because the whole story is very dynamic. The setting - small town by the contaminated lake which became a forbidden zone - is great. It adds more to the already eerie story about the unexplainable illness sweeping through a high school, mass hysteria and four friends caught in the very middle of everything.

But there are a few negative points I feel the need to address. I did not like the main character at all. Maybe Abbott decided not to develop her characters more, I am not sure. Deenie fell flat to me. The rest of the girls as well. Lise and Gabby are unmemorable. Skye had potential but then again - not really.

The ending disappointed me as well. Everything was going fine, the mystery, creepiness, strange lake,... And in the end, teenage jealousy was "the bad guy". I did understand the book deals with high school and a group of adolescents but I expected a gang of revengeful ghosts... at least.

All in all, the book is not perfect but it is not boring either. It is a quick read though so if you have a free afternoon, give it a go.

3/5