The Fever

A Novel

Fiction - Audiobook
336 Pages
Reviewed on 09/28/2014
Buy on Amazon

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    Book Review

Reviewed by Anne Boling for Readers' Favorite

The Fever by Megan Abbott is an expose of the way teenage girls' emotions tend to rule their thinking. This tale focuses on Gabby, Deenie and Lise, girlfriends at Dryden High. Lise has a seizure and ends up in the hospital. At school, rumors circulate and emotions run high while everyone speculates on what is wrong with Lise and whether it is contagious. Of the three girls, Deenie is the most sensible. Deenie’s father is Tom, a teacher at the school, and her brother is Eli, a hockey star. Slowly other girls in the school come down with similar symptoms. The police and medical officials arrive at the school, trying to ascertain what is happening at the school and why. When Gabby also falls victim to the strange malady, Deenie falls victim to gossip.

Megan Abbott narrates her tale from various points of view: Tom, Eli, and Deenie’s. The Fever is a look at the vulnerability of teenage girls and the histrionic extremes that seem to plague them. It demonstrates the danger of gossip and the way girls use it. Could the HVP vaccine be responsible? Could it be toxin from the lake? I would not have named this book Fever because fever has nothing to do with the book. Mass hysteria would have been a more appropriate title. Deenie feels guilty because her two friends are sick but she isn’t. She fears she is in some way to blame. The Fever is a mixture of Young Adult drama and medical mystery. Unfortunately, we never have a clear picture of why Lise was ill.