Review: Fever by Dee Shulman

Book Description via Goodreads:

ARC, 400 pages

April 5, 2012, Puffin UK

A fearless Roman gladiator. A reckless 21st century girl. A mysterious virus unites them . . .

152 AD. Sethos Leontis, a skilled and mesmerising fighter, is unexpectedly wounded and lies dangerously close to death.

2012 AD. Eva is brilliant - but troubled. Starting her new life at a school for the gifted, a single moment in the lab has terrifying results.

An extraordinary link brings Sethos and Eva together, but it could force them apart - because the fever that grips them cannot be cured and falling in love could be lethal . . . Can love survive when worlds collide and threaten time itself?

Source: Dee Shulman (Thank you!!)

My Thoughts:

Eva was beautiful, intelligent and talented. Her life was almost perfect aside from her crappy family life and her crappy social life. Eva was too perfect, some people said. But hold on. I can honestly say that people like Eva exist in this world. I have met plenty of Evas in my life, including some of my best friends, and yes, they were almost perfect. For that reason, I had an easy time accepting Eva’s personality and qualities. She was a hacker with photographic memory, genius and a good singer. I liked how her curiosity drove her. I felt for her. But I couldn’t say that I got attached to Eva.

I got more attached to Sethos Leontis (Seth.) He was a slave and fierce handsome gladiator in Londinium. He only fought with a trident and a net, without armor. He was strong, determined to win, determined to survive each fight on the arena. I enjoyed reading about his arena life, discovering how he thought and how he acted. Everything that Seth did was calculated and careful. Well, he was careful about everything until he met Livia, the beautiful girl who captured his attention and his heart. I ached for Seth – he was forced to fight all his life, shackled and bound to a slave’s life. Although he had great potential, to the Romans, he was still an insignificant slave. Life was hard for him. Life became even harder when he met Livia. His heart called out to her. He wanted her more than he’d ever wanted anything else. But Livia was betrothed to Cassius, a powerful and corrupt man who always got what he wanted. Imagine finally finding one person you’re drawn to and knowing that person felt the same way but there was no ‘us’ in your near future because you were not entitled to rights and the girl was taken. Ouch. *shakes head* Poor Seth.

When Seth and Eva finally meet in 2012, I was excited. There was a great tension between the two. There was this unexplainable, magnet-like energy between Seth and Eva that pulled them together. Seth was nowhere near prepared when Eva shoved and pushed him away as hard as she could. The attraction just got stronger and stronger with each day that walking in the opposite direction, away from each other, took so much effort. You’re probably thinking: instalove again?! No, my lovelies, not exactly. ;) You’ll see why. There’s a perfect explanation for everything that happened between the two of them. I won’t reveal it but I’ll say this: it’s a familiar element in novels that I absolutely LOVE.

Seth and Eva’s lives were tangled together by a mysterious virus. You’re probably asking how? Shulman’s concept of Parallon – a place outside the boundaries of time – was interesting. She created a parallel universe that defied the rational, the logical and went beyond anything I’ve ever imagined. In Parallon, you could conjure anything and everything by thought. You could also jump from one time to another. It was a place of wonders. I’m very interested in finding out how the process of time travel, exactly, happens in this novel. To be honest, I still have so many questions about Parallon. Some were answered in Fever but I have to admit that at the end of the story, I’ve accumulated tons of questions and I’m hoping they’ll be answered in Delirium, the sequel.

In Fever, there’s no shortage of drama, tragedy and romance. Be prepared to be lured into three worlds of color, curiosity, desperation, loss, determination, hope and possibilities. The radiant and diverse characters from different times will definitely keep you entertained. I recommend this to readers of time travel, historical readers and contemporary readers.

Rating: