Fever
3.5/5
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About this ebook
Rhine and Gabriel have escaped the mansion, but they’re still in danger. Outside, they find a world even more disquieting than the one they ran away from. Determined to get to Manhattan and find Rhine’s twin brother, Rowan, the two press forward, amid threats of being captured again…or worse.
The road they are on is long and perilous—and in a world where young women only live to age twenty and men die at age twenty-five, time is precious. In this sequel to Lauren DeStefano’s harrowing Wither, Rhine must decide if freedom is worth the price—now that she has more to lose than ever.
Lauren DeStefano
Lauren DeStefano is the author of The Internment Chronicles and the New York Times bestselling Chemical Garden trilogy, which includes Wither, Fever, and Sever. She earned her BA in English with a concentration in creative writing from Albertus Magnus College in Connecticut. Visit her at LaurenDeStefano.com.
Read more from Lauren De Stefano
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Reviews for Fever
493 ratings77 reviews
What our readers think
Readers find this title to be a mixed bag. Some reviewers found the plot boring and filled with unnecessary filler, while others enjoyed the interesting direction and exciting ending. The book received praise for answering questions and introducing new characters. Overall, readers were left wanting to immediately start the next book. However, one reviewer mentioned frustration with the protagonist's cluelessness. Despite its flaws, many readers loved every minute of this book.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Find this review and more at On The Shelf!The second installment of the Chemical Garden trilogy picks up right where the first left off, and once it began, it truly jumps right in. Gabriel and Rhine havea long hard road ahead of them for this book and you can’t help being riveted by their arduous journey. First, let’s talk about the cover. It’s amazing! There are so many pieces that make up the cover of Feverand each piece is seen in the book, even the beautiful gold dress. The cover of the first book is what had me wanting to read this novel in the first place. I just can’t wait to see the cover for the final book, Sever. There are some things I wish I could talk about, but I don’t want any massive spoilers on here, so I won’t, but there are a few characters my heart breaks for. All of the characters of Fever are really well-written with strong personalities. I hope things work out for many of the side characters. This book actually has more than one character you’ll love to hate and it shows more of the ugliness a world in this kind of turmoil can gain. There wasn’t a lot in this book for the main plot of the virus, but a lot of stuff is uncovered toward the end. And the ending of this one? Why must I wait so long for the next one?? And though there wasn’t much about the mainplot, it still wasn’t boring. It kept pulling me along at a rapid pace to find out what was going to happen. I can’t wait to see how this trilogy is going to wrap up. I loved the imagery for all the different places we went for this book. Everything was so detailed and each place had it’s own very different feeling. The author did a wonderful job bringing to life the hallucinations as well. Cliffhanger ending,fantastic descriptions,rougher places, wish it had a bit more for the main plot.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5About a year ago, I reviewed Fever, and it was pointed out to me how positive the review was compared to my review, which you can still see on my blog, but which I'm not going to link to, because, though I meant it at the time, this is one book where hindsight has really changed my opinion. Since I don't believe in major edits to my blog reviews, I'm going to change this one, because I really don't care.
What I Liked:
The writing, sort of. Lauren DeStefano has a very interesting, unique style that, while not precisely my thing, I can appreciate the merits of. Her writing will specifically appeal to those who appreciate a more poetic sort of style.
Rhine and Gabriel's relationship is very awkward. They have no sort of chemistry and it becomes apparent when they run away together. If you shipped them, this will be a negative for you, but I thought it made a nice change from the typical instalove sort of scenario. Sometimes intense attractions are born solely from the stressful situation in which the character has found herself, like being sold to some guy she doesn't know as a baby machine.
That's pretty much it, but the book is also very readable, which is what led me to rate this book too highly initially. In adjusting to my own rating system, it took me some time to fully appreciate that just because I read a book quickly, that doesn't necessarily mean that I liked it.
What Annoyed Me:
Fever suffers from some serious second book syndrome. Though the book moves along at a good pace and it's not a slow read, the plot doesn't really go anywhere. At the end of the book Rhine's back where she started. It's basically the difference between running outdoors and running on a treadmill. There's just as much movement, but, in the latter instance, you're not going anywhere.
Of course, I love plenty of books that have plots that do not go anywhere and that don't even have action, plots that sit in a cafe and watch the sunset, never moving at all. However, those books generally involve a lot of navel-gazing and growth within the main character. Rhine does not accomplish anything significant in her journey, nor does she mature emotionally. What she does do is spend most of the book drugged out of her mind and helpless.
What I Hated:
This series makes no goddamn sense as written. Lauren DeStefano has established a post-apocalyptic/dystopian horror of a future, wherein women are dying at 25 and men at 20 because of some craziness with genetic engineering. I can accept this. Women are being sold to rich men and raped and basically treated like chattel in an effort to keep the patriarchy and humankind going. I can accept this too. Fine. This is your world and I will roll with it. However, if you're going to write a world like this, you have to be willing to follow through with the consequences and do shitty things to your female heroine, or have reasonable explanations for why she makes it through unharmed.
In Wither, Rhine is married off to Landen to have his babies. He wants her to fall for him, so he doesn't force her to have sex with him, much to his father's disappointment. A bit of a stretch, but I'm willing to believe this, since Landen's a bit wimpy, he's dealing with grief over his real wife's death, and he has two other women to bone anyway. While he's trying to wear her down, she's making out with the cute servant, Gabriel. At the end of the book, they run off together, hoping to escape somewhere better.
Unsurprisingly, they don't. They immediately wash up at a whore house, where they are forced to work. This is where I learned that Lauren DeStefano is the kind of author who writes on horror movie rules: heroines are pure and girls who have sex die. See the spoiler for more details: At this whore house, rather than Rhine having her virginity auctioned off to the highest bidder by the Madam, which would most certainly happen in any believable scenario, or escaping, the only realist method of not having your virginity sold off, the unthinkable happens. The Madam decides to use Rhine to cater to voyeurs. Rhine doesn't have to touch or be touched by anyone but Gabriel. Are you calling bullshit yet? If not, how about this? SHE AND GABRIEL JUST MAKE OUT WITH HIM SHIRTLESS. Even better, they had to be drugged with aphrodisiacs to even do that.
First of all, this is not in the financial best interest of the Madam, so she wouldn't do this. She would definitely sell of her virginity before putting this in place. Also, there is no fucking way that men are going to pay money to watch a girl make out with her boyfriend. They MIGHT pay to watch them have sex, but to make out? And she's not even naked?
On top of that, once they inevitably escape, she and Gideon never have sex. Both the world building and the way the plot has gone mean that, one way or another, Rhine should not be a virgin at this point. The fact that she is is illogical, and indicates a disgusting degree of importance placed on keeping females untouched and virginal. If you don't want your heroine to have sex or be raped, don't write a world where that pretty much has to happen for the book to make sense, okay? - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This review is also posted on Mommy's Reading Break
After the ending of Wither, I was very anxious to see what would happen to Rhine and Gabriel. I really liked the beginning. It picked up very soon after the ending of Wither, and they’re running from the boat they stole as people are trying to tow it to shore. They are in an unknown place, and they need to find somewhere to go. They see lights in the distance and head for them. From there, they are back in captivity; this time in a “carnival” that actually serves as a “red-light district” or brothel.
While the carnival was supposed to be disturbing and dangerous, I actually found that whole portion of the book underwhelming. It wasn’t completely boring, but I just wasn’t very interested in it. I was glad that the carnival section was much shorter than I thought it would be. Their escape had some suspense, but from there, the pace was slow again, as they were just on the run. Again, there was some suspense, but I felt like nothing much happened.
I found a lot of Fever frustrating. While I understand that Rhine really wanted her freedom, I was left wondering through most of Fever if she was regretting that decision. Being out in the real world was torturous for her and Gabriel, and dangerous as well. I think she conveniently forgot that part when she wanted to escape. Also, I found Gabriel and Rhine to be incredibly frustrating as well. They often seemed to get angry or irritated with each other, but they never addressed it. They just ignored their issues, and it just annoyed me.
Honestly, I was mostly disappointed in Fever. And I am not alone. Brittany at Book Addict’s Guide actually mentioned Fever in her Second in a Series Slump post. I was really nervous that Fever was going to leave me not even wanting to read Sever, the final installment, but the last 60ish pages redeemed it for me. I thought that they were great, even though there was a severe creepiness to them. It also ended on a very Insurgent-esque cliffhanger, which has me dying for the final installment! (Though published March 10th, this review was actually written on March 5th, and as of then, I’m still waiting on Sever from the library!)
Overall, I thought that Fever was so-so, but the last 60 or so pages, and the last page specifically, added an extra star for me. It’s not the greatest book ever, but I think it’s worth slogging through to get to Sever. (Of course, I reserve the right to change my mind if I’m disappointed in Sever.) - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Disclaimer: I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. My Summary: After finally making it to the outside world, Rhine and Gabriel try to head for Rhine's old home. After climbing the wrong fence and getting captured by a cruel woman known only as Madame, the two are forced to participate in the activities going on inside the tents. But when all seemed lost, Rhine and Gabriel were able to escape. Now with nowhere to go, Rhine and Gabriel must find their way to Manhatten - and to safety - before Vaughn can track them down again.My Thoughts: I absolutely loved this installment of the Chemical Garden trilogy! I read it all in one sitting - I couldn't put it down without finding out how it ended. In this installment we get a glimpse of the world Rhine remembers - one where you can't leave the house without looking over your shoulder, and where nobody has much of anything. Here we see Rhine and Gabriel's relationship flourish as they rely on each other not just for comfort but for survival. We also learn a few things about Jenna as Gabriel and Rhine race back to Manhattan to find Rowan, and we see just how far Housemaster Vaughn will go to get Rhine back. Personally, I enjoyed Fever more than Wither (probably because of the action), but both are amazingly well-written. The atmosphere of these books is creepy and gritty and glamorous all at once... it's going to be difficult to wait for the third installment!Final Thoughts: If you don't already have Fever or Wither on your reading list, I definitely recommend you put it on there! I really enjoyed it and I know you will as well.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I didn't love this quite as much as I loved the first novel. To be honest it felt kind of choppy to me, especially when what's-his-face's dad showed up randomly. Everything is explained as to how he knows where she is but still. . . what took him so long? It's also really depressing because the chemistry between Rhine and Gabriel seems to have fizzled out to me. I'm excited to see how this all wraps up and I really hope that a cure is found!
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Teen fiction; dystopian adventure (for girls). I think the model on the cover has too much eye makeup, but other than that: fantastic. DeStefano's second installation to the chemical garden trilogy does not disappoint with interesting developments to the plot continued from #1--these are best read as a series, definitely not as a standalone. Looking forward to #3.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This story is heading in an interesting direction. I also really enjoyed the ending. Definitely need to start book 3 ASAP.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Hmm, as I said in my review for the first book I decided to read Wither on a whim and it wasn't great, but it was good. The plot was interesting enough that I decided to read Fever as well just to see if the series would improve on all of it's little flaws. Unfortunately for me, it didn't. I thought this book was dreadfully boring and that everything up until the last 50 pages or so could have been cut out of it. There was absolutely no need for any of it, it was all just filler. This book was a total failure compared to the first because nothing really happens at all.
At this point in the series, I'm really tired of the author using so many plot devices to move the story onward without actually saying anything. Much of this book is spent describing how characters slept, what their nightmares consisted of, their physical states, and every once in a while pulling in a side character that doesn't amount to being any kind of useful to the overall plot. I'm also tired of the annoying repetitive actions of the characters in this series. How many times do we have to hear about people vomiting? How many different ways can you describe how somebody is sleeping? How many times can a character say something very simple-minded, but go on to talk about it over and over like it was meant to be deep to readers over the age of 14?
I'm not even sure why I'm giving it two stars. I guess I thought there were a few charming moments in it, but not enough to keep me from being disappointed. Looking back at those who gave it higher reviews, I suppose I can say that if you like books where the female lead wanders aimlessly, needs to be (and is) saved by somebody from something every chapter, is constantly torn up about something, has a love interest somehow weaker than her, and can't make a good decision to save her life, all while pretending to be strong and inspirational...then you'll probably enjoy this book much more than I did. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Loved every minute of this book!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I enjoyed Fever so much more than Wither. I put off reading it for so long because I only liked the first book (three stars). I really liked this one. However, I didn’t love it and I’m not sure why. I can’t think of anything I didn’t like about it. I can’t wait for the next book. I really need to pick it up. I hope it’s just as good as Fever.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5It was a good but I didn't like how she was so clueless about simple things anyone would've figured out... It frustrated me a little because at some parts in the book I pretty much knew what was going to happen.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5** spoiler alert ** Amazing. There were a lot of things about "Wither" that just didn't measure up--it was a good read, but clearly contrived. "Fever" answers all of these questions, fills in gaps, and provides an exciting storyline. The new characters are all wonderful to get to know, and the story is exciting, you never want to set it down. The end was jaw-dropping and leaves you begging for the final installment.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5READ IN DUTCH
Can I just say how much I hate this cover. The colours are awful and then there's the model in that very weird and unattractive pose. I can't think of a reason why anyone would choose a cover like that...
The book wasn't so good either. We've now left the 'safety' of the house to travel the country, which will only work properly if you create a world thoroughly. Otherwise it does just feels flat and uninteresting. And why would Manhattan be so much safer than were she is now? Manhattan is were she got abducted in the first place!
For me, this really was one of the second-in-a-trilogy books, that are here mainly to fill the gap between books one and three, and the author's pocket of course. Because I think, if you haven't got enough story for three books, just make it a duology! - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In the follow-up to Wither, Rhine and Gabriel find themselves on a beach. They aren't sure how far they've made it from Housemaster Vaughn. After seeing a circle of lights, they decide to follow them. Their lives are changed by this. Rhine and Gabriel are forced to be the new attraction at this carnival. The only thing that keeps the two of them going is Rhine's determination to find her brother, Rowan. They also must make sure not to be found by Vaughn.
I absolutely loved this book. It was dark and had me on an emotional roller coaster. Vaughn is the perfect bad guy. I despise him. It seems like his hold on Rhine will never by broken. I don't think I've ever met a character as sinister or devoid of emotion.
Rhine and Gabriel go through so many trials that Rhine begins to wonder if leaving the mansion was a good idea. Gabriel didn't realize how dangerous the world outside of the walls he was brought up in. Even though they've gone through hell during their escape he doesn't regret it. He is happy that he left with Rhine.
I think my favorite part of the book is at the end. I'm not going to give away any spoilers with who or what the situation is, but it is intense! This series is definitely one of my top reads, and I'm sure you'll enjoy it just as much.
5/5 stars :D - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5rhine has heterochromia !! a genetic disease that makes your eyes have different color !!
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5So basically this entire book is the main characters on drug-trips, going through drug-withdrawal or sick in one form or another and puking their guts up. The whole book is written in a weird haze which means most of the time the reader does not get a very clear picture of what is going on.
I still have no idea what happened with the whole Madame's birdcage thing. Did Rhine and Gabriel have sex? I only felt the vibe that they made out in various states of undress (maybe), but if that was the case I don't understand why the men coming for prostitutes would pay to watch some kids make out. However, if Rhine and Gabriel did indeed have sex for strangers to watch, which would make more sense in context, why didn't we ever hear Rhine's thoughts about this and trying to deal with it?
The writing is also confusing at times, by which I mean I literally did not know what was going on. When Rhine and Gabriel escape Madame's and run off they see a sign for a fortune teller. Several pages of description follow in which they journey through fields and talk about being tired and in pain. Then they reach a door and it opens to a woman who is a fortune teller. After going back I realized that no time had actually passed between them seeing the sign and knocking on the door, it was just bad writing that made it seems like a whole span of time had passed. This kind of thing happens several times throughout the book.
Uhg. One of the biggest problems with this book is that nothing really happens. Ever. I'm super glad I now know what kind of chips the characters ate but I sure would like some plot to go along with that once in a while.
I also feel like Rhine lost every spark of spunk and tenacity she had in Wither. Was she the strongest character ever in Wither? No, but she at least seemed a bit rebellious and had some life to her. It seems to all have gone out the window in Fever and she resorts to literally laying around, whining, feeling sorry for herself, crying a lot and getting everyone else to take care of her.
I'm not even going to get into Maddie except to say it was a gross caricature of a child with special needs. DeStefano basically wrote in a pointless spider-dog-monkey child who is treated mostly like a pet and yet is smarter then both of the main characters in regards to survival.
Basically this book let me down on many levels and I'm really going to have to decide once the third book comes out it it'll even be worth my time to read it. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I’ve been away from the mansion for some time and had almost forgotten how much I enjoyed the first book of The Chemical Garden-trilogy.The plot wasn’t as strong as I had hoped it would be. But the overall eerie feeling I got – as if some creepy clown was constantly watching my ever move, did a lot! Being always on the run, made this quite a pageturner!
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5...not really sure what happened here.
After I finished Wither, I knew the first thing I needed to do was to read Fever...actually, the first thing I wanted to do was go to bed, since it was late at night. But once I woke up, I knew I would have to read Fever.
Fever takes place right after Wither ends and somehow, it just didn't do anything for me. My problems with Rhine were intensified in this novel and while I could forgive and overlook her behaviour before, I just couldn't do it here.
The main reason was, some of the stuff just didn't make sense at all.
Rhine wants to do something, but someone else ends up helping her. No, not really helping her. They actually do everything and Rhine just has to listen to them. This is fine with me though. What bothered me was the lack of sex. Hear me out.
In Wither, she never consummated her marriage with Linden, which I always had a problem with. He has sex with Cecily and Jenna, but not Rhine. Why? He respects her wishes, which was great. He's a good guy, but it still didn't make sense.
In Fever, Rhine is captured and placed in a prostitution ring. You think she's going to have sex, because her job is to have sex or be beaten, but it doesn't happen. Why? With Linden, I get that he's a good guy and wants to respect her. But Madame. She beats little kids, her girls, and drugs them. She doesn't seem like the type to just say, "It's okay Rhine. No sex pour vous."
I know you may be thinking something weird about me, but before I say anything more, let me just mention that I'm not a sex fiend or want to see Rhine get it on.
I don't.
But in both of those scenarios, Rhine having sex is something that is expected to happen, especially with how this world is. Instead, both Linden and Madame let her go. Linden has sex with his other wives, Madame gets the other girls to have sex with the paying customers, and Rhine thinks of ways to escape.
I dunno, it didn't make sense to me.
Anyways, let's talk about romance. Gabriel seems like the main guy, except he really doesn't do much in Fever. I feel bad, because even though I liked Linden more than him in the first novel, I excepted him to have a greater role in Fever. This sadly doesn't happen. Nothing happens to him and at the end of everything, he's not even in the picture anymore.
I think by biggest problem with Fever is that it truly felt like a middle book. Wither was excellent and Fever, nothing happens. They run, get captured, get drugged up, run away, get sick, find a good place, get captured, cliffhanger......joy. Seeing the world and realizing that it wasn't as good as she remembered would have added some conflict between Rhine and Gabriel. Seeing how horrible the world is, would add more conflict in this book. Gabriel doing something would have added conflict in this book. Gatherers, who should be on the streets, looking for young girls and see the girls get captured, would add more conflict to this book.
I just wanted something more and sadly, I didn't get it. That being said, I do have high hopes for the next novel in this series. Once it comes out, I'm definitely picking it up and seeing how this trilogy ends. Can't wait! - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Despite the cliffhanger ending of the last novel, it took me a little while to get into this sequel. However, about mid-way through, the action really picked up and I sped my way to the end. Rhine's adventures (and misadventures) after escaping the mansion only to attempt to make her way back to a life and a brother that might not be waiting for her are often heartbreaking, as is much of the dystopian future she inhabits. A good read and I'm ready for the conclusion to this series (I really want to know if they find a cure to the virus) as soon as I can get my hands on it!
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Knowing there's another book makes some of what happens here not as suspenseful as it could have been.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This series is pretty depressing, but for some reason I can't stop. Its intriging trying to figure out what is going to happen to the characters next. I am listening to the audio version of this series and the narrarator does a good job of showing emotion. This is the second book and I sort of wish I had stopped after the first. It feels like "A Series of Unfortunate Events" for a teen crowd. But the author is very descriptive. I am going to finish this series and be done with it. If you like dystopian for the bleakness of it all this might be your series, but if you like happy books I wouldn't suggest this one.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I just wanted to get through this book. Hope the next one is better.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Fever picks up right where Wither drops off. Gabriel and Rhine are on the run. They find themselves at a macabre carnival full of things to fear. It felt like a filler book to me. The new characters made more sense after reading the third book, but at the time many of them feel random and over-the-top. I also felt like Rhine and Gabriel’s relationship was always tenuous at best. Fever made me feel even less invested in it somehow. I felt like the whole book could have been a few extra chapters at the end of Wither and the beginning of Sever. BOTTOM LINE: The trilogy was just what I wanted, fast reads with enthralling plots. There are definitely pieces that feel like they come straight from another dystopian trilogy, like the constant primping of the girls by attendants (Hunger Games) or the brother who becomes a supporter of the villains’ plans (Divergent), but overall I was entertained. I didn’t like them enough to ever re-read them. The characters were often too wooden, the plot too predictable, but they are great for a reading break when you need one.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Yes, there IS a reason as to why Rhine looks like she's in unbelievable agony here. No, she's not high. And, no, it's not because there are red ants crawling all over her body. She's sick. Very. But no, not as sick as she looks.
So I'll admit I wasn't really looking forward to this book. Wither was just painful. Really, I bet I looked like Rhine in Fever when I was reading Wither. My eyeballs felt too big for their sockets and my head hurt like a bitch. And I decidedly DID NOT like Gabriel.The only thing hot about that boy is his name.
Do I like the world DeStefano made? Yes. Why? It's not a very creative reason, no. But it is what it is and right now it's different. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I went ahead and gave this one 3 stars but it was really a close call. 2 stars was definitely where I was at times reading this installment. Its just getting kinda stupid and I'm having a hard time staying interested. Still....I wanna know how things go so I will continue.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Pro: I like this book
Con: I hate this book
Pro: This book is a continuation of book 1.
Con: This book is a continuation of book 1?
Pro: The last 30 pages or so of this book are 5 star worthy.
Con: You have to trudge through 300 pages that make you question is you are reading about the same characters.
Book 2 picks up where book 1 leaves off, but honestly it felt like they could be two completely different worlds.
I will read book 3 but only because the last 30 pages of this novel finally brought the world crashing down. I really hope that the wandering and characters introduced in book 2 come full circle and this was not filler to hit the magical YA trilogy. - Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Not thrilled, they got away to end up right back where they started...Wah Wah
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Oh, this book. This was another kick in the teeth, but it was so eye opening. We went from the first book where all harshness was outside (if it wasn't the terrible mystery-threat going on in the basement) to the up close and personal view of what it is like to live in this world when you aren't being controlled, captured and cared for.
It's rough and tumble. It's amazing. The love story still shines through, along with the complex emotions the main character has for everyone she's with, she leaves behind, she finds herself with. I am very much looking forward to seeing how this story comes together for an ending. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This book was just so blah. I did like the ending even if she ended up right back where she started.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Totally absorbing. It has been some time since I read the first book and while the details are dim the images remain bright in my mind. I found it easy jumping into book two and talk of events in book one quickly brought the details back to mind. Rhine and Gabriel are the focus characters in this book, though several characters from book one return and a handful of strange and quirky new characters are introduced. This is what I refer to as the "escape" or "search" part of a trilogy. The entire book is devoted to the journey of their escape, heading back to Rhine's home, and her search for her brother. A page-turning plot with surprising events, I was immersed for the entire read. I especially found the latter half of the book with the experiments and hallucinations very creepy and well written.
Book preview
Fever - Lauren DeStefano
WE RUN, with water in our shoes and the smell of the ocean clinging to our frozen skin.
I laugh, and Gabriel looks at me like I’m crazy, and we’re both out of breath, but I’m able to say, We made it,
over the sound of distant sirens. Seagulls circle over us impassively. The sun is melting down into the horizon, setting it ablaze. I look back once, long enough to see men pulling our escape boat to shore. They’ll be expecting passengers, but all they’ll find are the empty wrappers from the packaged sweets we ate from the boat owner’s stash. We abandoned ship before we reached the shore, and we felt for each other in the water and held our breath and hurried away from the commotion.
Our footprints emerge from the ocean, like ghosts are roaming the beach. I like that. We are the ghosts of sunken countries. We were once explorers when the world was full, in a past life, and now we’re back from the dead.
We come to a mound of rocks that forms a natural barrier between the beach and the city, and we collapse in its shadows. From where we’re huddled we can hear men shouting commands to one another.
There must have been a sensor that tripped the alarm when we got close to shore,
I say. I should have known that stealing the boat had been too easy. I’ve set enough traps in my own home to know that people like to protect what’s theirs.
What happens if they catch us?
Gabriel says.
They don’t care about us,
I say. Someone paid a lot of money to make sure that boat is returned to them, I bet.
My parents used to tell me stories about people who wore uniforms and kept order in the world. I barely believed those stories. How can a few uniforms possibly keep a whole world in order? Now there are only the private detectives who are employed by the wealthy to locate stolen property, and security guards who keep the wives trapped at luxurious parties. And the Gatherers, of course, who patrol the streets for girls to sell.
I collapse against the sand, faceup. Gabriel takes my shivering hand in both of his. You’re bleeding,
he says.
Look.
I cant my head skyward. You can already see the stars coming through.
He looks; the setting sun lights up his face, making his eyes brighter than I’ve ever seen, but he still looks worried. Growing up in the mansion has left him permanently burdened. It’s okay,
I tell him, and pull him down beside me. Just lie with me and look at the sky for a while.
You’re bleeding,
he insists. His bottom lip is trembling.
I’ll live.
He holds up my hand, enclosed in both of his. Blood is dripping down our wrists in bizarre little river lines. I must have sliced my palm on a rock as we crawled to shore. I roll up my sleeve so that the blood doesn’t ruin the white cabled sweater that Deirdre knitted for me. The yarn is inlaid with diamonds and pearls—the very last of my housewife riches.
Well, those and my wedding ring.
A breeze rolls up from the water, and I realize at once how numb the cold air and wet clothes have made me. We should find someplace to stay, but where? I sit up and take in our surroundings. There’s sand and rocks for several more yards, but beyond that I can see the shadows of buildings. A lone freight truck lumbers down a faraway road, and I think soon it’ll be dark enough for Gatherer vans to start patrolling the area with their lights off. This would be the perfect place for them to hunt; there don’t appear to be any streetlights, and the alleyways between those buildings could be full of scarlet district girls.
Gabriel, of course, is more concerned about the blood. He’s trying to wrap my palm with a piece of seaweed, and the salt is burning the wound. I just need a minute to take this all in, and then I’ll worry about the cut. This time yesterday I was a House Governor’s bride. I had sister wives. At the end of my life, my body would have ended up with the wives who’d died before me, on a rolling cart in my father-in-law’s basement, for him to do only he knows what.
But now there’s the smell of salt, sound of the ocean. There’s a hermit crab making its way up a sand dune. And something else, too. My brother, Rowan, is somewhere out here. And there’s nothing stopping me from getting home to him.
I thought the freedom would excite me, and it does, but there’s terror, too. A steady march of what-ifs making their way through all of my deliciously attainable hopes.
What if he’s not there?
What if something goes wrong?
What if Vaughn finds you?
What if . . .
What are those lights?
Gabriel asks. I look where he’s pointing and see it too, a giant wheel of lights spinning lazily in the distance.
I’ve never seen anything like it,
I say.
Well, someone must be over there. Come on.
He pulls me to my feet and tugs my bleeding hand, but I stop him. We can’t just go wandering off into lights. You don’t know what’s over there.
What’s the plan, then?
he asks.
The plan? The plan was only to escape. Accomplished. And now the plan is to reach my brother, a thought I romanticized over the sullen months of my marriage. He became almost a figment of my imagination, a fantasy, and the thought that I’ll be reunited with him soon makes me light-headed with joy.
I had thought we could at least make it to land dry, and during the daylight, but we ran out of fuel. And we’re losing daylight by the second; it’s not any safer here than anywhere else, and at least there are lights over there, eerie as they may be, spinning like that. Okay,
I say. We’ll check it out.
The impromptu seaweed wrap seems to have staunched the bleeding. It’s so carefully tied that it’s amusing, and Gabriel asks what I’m smiling about as we walk. He is dripping wet and plastered with sand. His normally neat brown hair is in tangles. Yet he still seems to be searching for order, some logical course of action. It’s going to be okay, you know,
I tell him.
He squeezes my good hand.
The January air is in a fury, kicking up sand and howling through my drenched hair. The streets are full of trash, something rustling in a mound of it, and a single flickering streetlight has come on. Gabriel wraps his arm around me, and I’m not sure which of us he means to comfort, but my stomach is churning with the early comings of fear.
What if a gray van comes lumbering down that dark road?
There are no houses nearby—just a brick building that was maybe once a fire department half a century ago, with broken and boarded windows. And a few other crumbling things that are too dark for me to make out. I could swear that things are moving in the alleys.
Everything looks so abandoned,
Gabriel says.
Funny, isn’t it?
I say. Scientists were so determined to fix us, and when we all started dying, they just left us here to rot, and the world around us too.
Gabriel makes a face that could be perceived as disdain or pity. He has spent most of his life in a mansion, where he may have been a servant, but at least things were well-constructed, clean, and reasonably safe. If you avoided the basement, that is. This dilapidated world must be a shock.
The circle of light in the distance is surrounded by bizarre music, something hollow and brassy masquerading as cheerful. Maybe we should go back,
Gabriel says when we get to the chain-link fence surrounding it. Beyond the fence I can see tents illuminated by candlelight.
Go back to what?
I say. I’m shivering so hard, I can barely get the words out.
Gabriel opens his mouth to speak, but the words are lost by my own scream, because someone is grabbing my arm and pulling me through an opening in the fence.
All I can think is, Not again, not like this, and then my wound is bleeding again and my fist is hurting because I’ve just hit someone. I’m still hitting when Gabriel pulls me away, and we try to run, but we’re being overpowered. More figures are coming out of the tents and grabbing our arms, waists, legs, even my throat. I can feel the skin bunching under my nails, and someone’s skull crashing against mine, and then I’m dizzy, but some otherworldly thing keeps me violently moving in my own defense. Gabriel is yelling my name, telling me to fight, but it doesn’t do any good. We’re being dragged toward that spinning circle of light, where an old woman is laughing, and the music doesn’t stop.
THE SICK SOUND OF bone hitting skin. Gabriel lands a perfect punch that sends one of the men crashing backward onto the dirt, but then there are others grabbing his arms and kneeing him from all sides.
Who do you work for?
The old woman’s voice is calm. Smoke billows out of her mouth and from a stick held in her fingers. Who sent you to spy on me?
She’s a first generation, short and stocky, with gray hair arranged in a bun encrusted with gaudy glass rubies and emeralds. Rose, who over the years had been showered by our husband, Linden, with trinkets and gems, would laugh at this cheap jewelry—the oversize pearls hanging from the woman’s chicken-skin neck; the silver bangles, rusted and peeling, that run up to her forearm; the ruby ring as big as an egg.
The men are holding Gabriel up by his arms, and he’s struggling to stay on his feet, when another man hits him. A boy, really; he can’t be any older than Cecily.
Nobody sent us,
Gabriel says. I can see in his eyes that he’s not entirely here right now. He took the worst from our assailants, and I’m worried he might have a concussion. He takes another punch, this one to the ribs, and it sends him to his knees. My stomach lurches.
One of the men has got me by the throat, and two others by the arms, and all of them are smaller than me. It’s so difficult to see them as boys, even though that’s what they are.
Gabriel’s eyes are closing and then jolting open; his breath escapes in fluttery astonished gasps. My heart is pounding in my ears; I want to go to him, but the only thing that reaches him is my frustrated whimper. This is all my fault. I was supposed to be able to protect him; this is my world. I should have had a plan. I mutter something indignant and snap, He’s telling the truth; we’re not spies.
Who would spy on a place like this?
Filthy girls are peeking out from a slit in the rainbow-striped tent, blinking like bugs. And I know immediately that this must be a scarlet district—a prostitution den of unwanted girls that Gatherers couldn’t sell to House Governors, or who simply had nowhere else to go.
You shut up,
one of the men—boys—says into my ear. The old woman cackles and clatters with fake jewels that are like big glass insects and infectious boils on her fingers and wrists.
Bring her into the light,
the old woman says. They drag me into the rainbow-striped tent below a ceiling of swaying lanterns, and the bug-girls scatter. The old woman grabs my jaw and tilts my head for a better look. Then she hocks spit onto my cheek and smears it, clearing away some of the blood and sand. Her black, horrible eyes light up with joy, and she says, Goldenrod. Yes, I think that’s what I’ll call you.
The smoke makes my eyes water. I want to spit back at her.
The girls in the tent moan their protest, and one of them raises her head. Madame,
she says. Her eyes are languid and filmy. It’s after sunset. It’s time.
The old woman backhands her, and in that same calm voice she says, as she examines her jeweled fingers, "You do not tell me. I tell you."
The girl sinks in with the others and disappears.
Gabriel spits a mouthful of blood. The boys tug him to his feet.
Bring her into the red tent,
the old woman says. It doesn’t matter that I’ve slumped to a dead weight and refuse to move my legs; two of the boys have no trouble dragging me away.
This is it, I think. Gabriel is going to die, and this old woman intends to make me one of her prostitutes. I can only assume that’s what those girls in the rainbow tent are. All that trouble to escape, all Jenna’s efforts to help me, for less than one day of freedom before a new hell emerged.
The red tent is lit up by lanterns that hang from the low ceiling. One of the lanterns hits my head, and when the boys let go of me, I drop to the cold earth. Don’t go anywhere,
one of the boys, who is about a foot shorter than me, says. He pulls back his moth-eaten coat to show me a gun holstered in the waist of his pants. The other boy laughs, and they leave. I can see their silhouettes taking shape outside the zippered doorway, hear their sneering laughter.
I scan the tent for another opening I can wriggle through, but it’s rooted into the ground, and much of it is bordered by furniture. Polished, ancient-looking bureaus and trunks with things like hissing dragons painted across the drawers, cherry blossoms, gazebos, black-haired women staring sullenly into the water.
Antiques from some Eastern country that’s long gone. Rose would like these things. She would have stories for what’s saddening the black-haired women, could chart a path among the cherry blossoms that would take her where she wanted to go. For a moment I think I see what she would—an infinite world.
Now, then,
the old woman says, appearing from nowhere and pulling me into one of two chairs on either side of a table. Let’s take a look at you.
Smoke ribbons up from a long cigarette held in the old woman’s wrinkled fingers. She brings it to her lips for a breath, and smoke rolls through her mouth and nostrils when she speaks again. You are not from this place. I would have noticed you.
Her eyes, made up to match her jewels, are on mine. I look away.
Those eyes,
she says, leaning closer. Are you malformed?
No,
I say, forcing myself not to sound angry, because there’s a boy with a gun outside, and Gabriel is still at this woman’s mercy. And we’re not spies. I keep trying to tell you. We just took a wrong turn.
This whole place is a wrong turn, Goldenrod,
she says. But tonight’s your lucky night. If you’re looking for a fancier district to do business in
—she flits her fingers dramatically, letting ashes fly—you won’t find any for miles. I’ll take good care of you.
My stomach turns. I don’t say a word, because if I open my mouth, I’m sure I’ll vomit all over this beautiful antique table.
I am Madame Soleski,
the woman says. But you call me Madame. Let me see that hand.
She reaches across for my wrist and then slaps my bleeding left hand onto the table. The seaweed bandage is still holding on, though it’s bunched from my fist and dripping with blood.
She raises my hand toward the lantern and gasps when she sees my wedding band. She’s probably never seen real jewelry before. She sets her cigarette on the edge of the table and takes my hand in both of hers, examining the vines etched into my wedding band, the blossoms that Linden often copied along his building designs when he was thinking of me. They were fictional, he said. No such flower blooms in this world.
I clench my fist again, worried she’ll try to steal the ring. Even if that marriage was a sham, this small piece of it belongs to me.
Madame Soleski admires it for a moment longer, then lets go of my hand. She rummages through one of her drawers and returns with gauze that looks like it’s been used, and a bottle of clear liquid. The liquid burns when she clears away the seaweed and pours it onto my wound. It bubbles and hisses angrily. She’s watching me for a reaction, but I won’t give her one. She dresses my palm with gauze expertly.
You’ve messed up one of my boys,
she says. He’ll have a black eye tomorrow.
Not good enough. I still lost the fight.
Madame Soleski fingers the sleeve of my sweater, and I resist, but she digs her fingers into my bandaged wound. I don’t want her touching me. Not my wedding band, and not this sweater. I think of Deirdre’s small, capable hands making it for me; they were etched with bright blue veins—her soft skin the only indication of her youth. Those hands could turn bathwater to magic, or thread diamonds into her knitting. Precision was in everything she created. I think of her wide hazel eyes, the soft melody of her voice. I think of how I will never see her again.
Leave the bandage put,
she says, picking up her cigarette and tapping away some ash. Wouldn’t want to get an infection and lose that hand. You have such exquisite fingers.
I can no longer see the outlines of the boys standing guard outside, but I hear them talking. The gun was much smaller than the shotgun my brother and I kept in the basement, but if I could get my hands on it, I could figure it out. But how quick would I be? Some of the others might have weapons too. And I can’t leave without Gabriel. It’s my fault that he’s even here.
Don’t speak unless spoken to, huh, Goldenrod? I like that. This isn’t exactly a talking business.
I’m not a part of your business,
I say.
No?
The old woman raises her penciled eyebrows. You look as though you have been running from some other kind of business. I can offer you protection. This is my territory.
Protection? I could laugh. I have sore ribs and a throbbing forehead that suggest otherwise right now. What I say is, We got a little lost, but we’ll be on our way if you’d let us go. We have family waiting for us in North Carolina.
The woman laughs and takes a languid breath through her cigarette, her bloodshot eyes never leaving mine.
Nobody with a family finds their way here. Come, let me show you the pièce de résistance.
She says those last words with a practiced accent. Her cigarette has run out, and she stomps it with her high-heeled shoe, which appears to be a size too small.
She leads me outside, and the boys standing guard immediately stop their laughing as she passes. One of them tries to trip me with his foot, and I step around it.
This is my kingdom, Goldenrod,
Madame says. "My carnival of amour. You wouldn’t know what ‘amour’ is, of course."
It’s ‘love,’
I answer, gratified when her eyebrows raise in surprise. Foreign languages are something of a lost art, but my brother and I had the rare advantage of parents who valued education. Even if we could never use it, even if we could never grow to be linguists or explorers, the knowledge filled our minds, brightened our daydreams. Sometimes we ran through the house, pretending we were parasailing high over the Aleutians, that later we’d sip green tea under the plum blossoms in Kyoto, and at night we squinted at the starry darkness and pretended we could see our neighboring planets. Do you see Venus?
my brother said. It’s a woman’s face, and her hair is on fire.
We were crammed in the open window, and I answered, Yes, yes, I see it! And Mars is crawling with worms.
Madame wraps her arm around my shoulders and squeezes. She smells like decay and smoke. Ah, love. That’s what the world has lost. There’s no more love, only the illusion of it. And that’s what draws the men to my girls. That’s what it’s all about.
Which?
I say. Love, or illusion?
Madame chuckles, squeezes me again. I am reminded of the long walk I took with Vaughn through the golf course that one chilly afternoon, how his presence seemed to erase all the good in the world, how it felt like an anaconda was coiling around my chest. And all the while, Madame brings me to her spinning circle of light. What is it with first generations and their collection of breathtaking things? I hate myself for being intrigued.
"You know your français, Madame says pertly.
But here is a word I bet you haven’t heard. Her eyes widen with intensity.
Carnival."
I know the word. My father tried to describe carnivals to my brother and me. Celebrations for when there was nothing to celebrate, he’d say. I could understand, but Rowan couldn’t, so the next day when we woke up, there were ribbons draped all over our bedroom, and a cake was waiting on our dresser with forks and cranberry seltzer, which was my favorite, but we almost never had any because it was so hard to find. And we didn’t go to school that day. My father played strange music on the piano, and we spent the day celebrating nothing at all, except maybe that we were all alive.
This is what carnivals were all about,
Madame says. They called it a Ferris wheel.
Ferris wheel. The only thing in this whole wasteland of abandoned rides that isn’t rotting or rusted.
Now that I’m close enough to really look at it, I can see that the wheel is full of seats, and there’s a little staircase leading up to the lowest point. The chipped paint reads: ENTER HERE.
It didn’t work when I found it, of course,
Madame goes on. But my Jared is something of a genius with electrical things.
I say nothing, but tilt my head to watch the seats spinning against the night sky. The wheel makes a rusted creaking groan as it goes, and for just a moment, I hear laughter in that eerie brass music.
My parents have looked up at Ferris wheels. They were a part of this lost world.
One of the boys is leaning on the railing surrounding the thing, and he eyes me warily. Madame?
he says.
Bring it to a stop,
she says.
A cold breeze swirls around me, and it’s ripe with antique melodies and the smell of rust and all of Madame’s strange foreign perfumes. An empty seat comes to a stop before the staircase where I stand. Madame’s bracelets clack and clatter as she lays her hand on my spine and presses me forward, saying, Go on, go on.
I don’t think I can stop myself. I climb the stairs, and the metal shudders beneath my feet and sends tremors up my legs. The seat rocks a little as I settle into it. Madame sits beside me and pulls the overhead bar down so that it locks us in. We start to move, and I’m breathless for an instant as we ascend forward and into the sky.
The earth gets farther and farther away. The tents look like bright round candies. The girls move about them, shadows.
I can’t help myself; I lean forward, astounded. This wheel is five, ten, fifteen times taller than the lighthouse I climbed in the hurricane. Higher even than the fence that kept me trapped as Linden’s bride.
This is the tallest place in the world,
Madame says. Taller than spy towers.
I’ve never heard of a spy tower, but I doubt they’re taller than the factories and skyscrapers in Manhattan. Even this wheel