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.
Firstly this book was a complete cover draw, it’s amazing and utterly eye catching, and when I discovered whilst reading it was a dystopian too that completely sealed it that this would be a book for me. Whilst the Magic virus is never fully explained, it’s certainly an interesting take on an apocalyptic scenario and it’s refreshing to have the result of an outbreak not end in zombies. The result of surviving Magic? Witchings, people with magical capabilities from healing to telepathy, or in the case of our protagonist Noam, an ability to control technology. Through going in blind I also didn’t realise that this book had such a intense LGBTQIA theme, this went hand in hand with the story perfectly and in a plot that clearly places diversity high on it’s agenda, the acceptance of and high proportion of Witching’s who are queer feels like a much needed social comment.
There really is a ton going on and the story has a very fast paced feel (which was I was shocked when the characters towards the end said it had been a year) it’s easy to miss something important and I found myself rechecking a few times to make sure I was on track. But that’s the thing with The Fever King, it keeps you on an edge very much with Noam who is often battling and becoming embroiled in something far bigger as his desire to reach his lofty goal reaches fever pitch. As the story progressed and I understood, I felt that this was a pretty genius piece of story weaving and really raised the story up.
The magic and urban fantasy elements for me then sadly took a back step as The Fever King becomes an ode to the political – challenging preconceptions on refugees, social class, and balancing humanity and human rights atrocities. It’s tough to read at times and hard not to reflect on current affairs. Whilst I did like this aspect as it was unexpected and very well considered, I did find myself often wishing the story told us more about the magic and Noam’s interactions with others like him. There are helpful snippets of background dotted throughout though which at first seem abstract but really help to drive the story forward as the purpose of what we’re being told becomes clearer. I know this is the first part of a duology and with latter revelations in the story I’m hopeful that more will become clear in the conclusion.
Whilst I did enjoy The Fever King I found that it was perhaps a little too politics heavy and for that it’s a 4* for me.
My lovely blogging relationship with Titan Books continues with Warlock Holmes – The Sign of the Nine by G.S. Denning. It’s book 4 of the series but I hopeful that it can be happily read as a standalone. I have honestly read myself ragged this week with Negalley (I am not requesting anything for the whole of April) and my kindle has started giving me headaches so picking back up with paper will sooth the eyes, and the soul with a comedy – I so need this book right now!
I admit that I’m struggling so hard to get into Priory of the Orange Tree, honestly, I know it sounds petty but I hate the font and it’s impossible to hold – i’m not abandoning it though, far from it, it’s just going to be a background read for the next few weeks I think. However, Viper by Bex Hogan is freakin amazing, I thought I loved Dark Shores last week but Viper is just out of this world exceptional – I adored every page of high seas goodness and whilst it’s not for the faint hearted in parts it was just unputdownable for me.
I’ve been taking part in a week long photo challenge on IG this week sponsored by (amongst others) the lovely Whizzpop Candles and Wizarding Letters who are firm merch favourites in this house! The most popular of the tags this week has been the fairytale retelling prompt which was the perfect excuse to show of the Whizzpop Mermaid candle – remember you can save 10% at their Etsy store by using my code Paperbacks10
From now until at least June I am on a book buying ban until I have got a grip on my tbr. I will continue to request through Netgalley, get books via my fairyloot subscription, and from the amazing people at Titan Books. Titan was top of my list for publishers that I hoped to receive arc’s from and I’m still giddily happy that they want to work with me. My first Arc for them is a movie tie in with Thanos – Death Sentence which arrived on Thursday. I keep picking it up and admiring the lovely artwork as the author is also responsible for their graphic novels, once I’ve finished priory I’m definitely onto this one next
Dark Shores by Danielle L. Jensen was a book that I received via Netgalley – I was absolutely spellbound from the first page and could not put it down. Due out in May I would recommend getting your pre-orders in if you want some high seas adventure with a Roman feel. I’m not part of the blog tour so have to wait to share my review with you but it is a very well deserved 5 Stars!
Going back to my first point with this one, this was the pic – combined with the 30 books on my kindle which made me realise I had to reign it in. Are there tons of books I still want – of course – but I need to give the appropriate attention to the ones that I have first.
I totally loved Descendant of the Crane by Joan He, the cover is amazing as are the words inside, its a bit of a slow start and i did feel a bit thrown in to the narrative but after that quickly settled down it was honestly fantastic, great twists and reveals, plus its a standalone!
Honestly I have had pretty much 0 in the way of feeling inspired this week, I used up the he ones I did in advance on a creative day but the last 2 days have been abandoned ideas that just didn’t form the way I wanted. This picture though featuring my favourite Lunar Chronicles and a fabulous Whizzpop candle was my most popular this week so lets run with that!
Paperbacks and Pinot 