DNF at 34%.

My unpopular opinion™️ of 2019, right here.

Everyone loves The Fever King. I wanted to love it too. Unfortunately, I did not. Although this diverse dystopian seems to have taken the book community by storm, it didn’t rain here.

I fully believe the reason I didn’t like this novel is because of my own personal circumstances. I seem to be in a reading slump of sorts, and while the concept is intriguing, I couldn’t make myself care about the characters or get invested in the plot.

The world Lee has created is unique and interesting, and what little I did learn of the magic system was as well. And even in the small portion that I read, the political commentary was astonishingly relevant to our own time. (Take this with a grain of salt, as my knowledge of immigration and refugees isn’t expansive or personal.)

So please, don’t sharpen your pitchforks or light your torches. I tried, but for reasons relating to either me or the book, I failed. I’m definitely in the minority on this one, though, so don’t let me stop you from picking up The Fever King.

Representation:
• Noam, the protagonist, is a queer, Jewish, Latinx immigrant.
• Dara, the love interest, is a queer, Jewish POC. (To my knowledge, his specific identity is unspecified.)
• Lehrer, a side character, is Jewish.
• There’s a central m/m relationship.

CW: anti-immigration themes (for lack of a better term)