The Fever - Megan Abbott

The Fever by Megan Abbott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

'Her hands flying up, she grabbed her throat, her body jolting to one side.

Then, in one swoop, her desk overturned, clattering to the floor.

And with it Lise. Her head twisting, slamming into the tiles, her bright red face turned up, mouth teeming with froth.

“Lise,” sighed Mrs. Chalmers, too far in front to see. “What is your problem?”

The Nashes are a close-knit family. Tom, a popular teacher, is father to the handsome, roguish Eli and his younger sister Deenie, serious and sweet. But their seeming stability is thrown into chaos when two of Deenie’s friends become violently ill, and rumours of a dangerous outbreak sweep through the whole community.

As hysteria swells and as more girls succumb, tightly held secrets emerge that threaten to unravel the world Tom has built for his kids, and destroy friendships, families, and the town’s fragile idea of security.

The Fever is a chilling story about guilt, family secrets, and the lethal power of desire.'



The Fever is a book I knew nothing about, I have never read a book by Megan Abbott and after reading the blurb I was excited to get started on this book.

Deenie has two best friends, Lise and Gabby. The story starts really interesting and really draws the reader in from the beginning, with Lise suffering a seizure in the middle of her class one morning. She then is taken into hospital with what is seen as a mystery illness. Lise begins going from bad to worse where she falls into a coma and has everyone including the medical team confused about her illness.

Meanwhile back at school, other girls begin to develop symptoms of a mystery illness and panic starts to spread though the school; along with parents who blame it on a vaccination the girls had. The members of the community continue to ‘freak’ themselves out by watching videos on the internet and watching the T.V.

I love the style that this story has been written in. We read through the point of view of Deenie, her brother Eli and their father Tom. I love this, it is very cleaver and although you may think confusing, it was easy to read and not at all confusing. All these characters come across as three dimensional and believable. Tom is regularly worrying about his parenting and about keeping his children safe and what is best for them. Eli comes across as a caring brother but also has his own issues going on which he needs to deal with, and Deenie is carrying a secret along with her friends.

I really enjoyed the story and found that it hooked me in right from the beginning, I would say that I did find the story a little slow in the middle and I felt that it times some of the points covered were being dragged out a little. Saying that towards the end the story picked up again and I was racing through to the end. This is a very intense read and at times I felt I was so tense I needed a break, at times it felt a little heavy, due to it being so tense I think.

This is a cracking YA story and although I am not in my late teens or early twenties I thoroughly enjoyed it. This is scary in a sense of who you know and makes you look at people differently. I loved all the red herrings in the story and I didn’t guess the ending. This being my first Abbott book has made me want to read more from this author. I think it was a brilliantly written and intriguing book that YA or not will enjoy.

I would like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.