A great ending to a incredibly satisfying and real series.

The first book introduced a lot of difficult themes from sexual assault and child abuse to domestic violence. This book explored these topics in a much deeper way but continued to be sensitive toward them. It challenges stereotypes of what a victim is, what they look like and how they act.

The book isn’t just great for reading but also starting much needed conversations.

Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: The Electric Heir

Author: Victoria Lee

Book Series: Feverwake Book 2

Rating: 5/5

Diversity: LGBT main and he’s also Jewish!

Publication Date: March 17, 2020

Genre: YA Dystopian Fantasy

Recommended Age: 16+ (TW rape and child molestation, xenophobia, immigration issues, torture, abuse)

Publisher: Skyscape

Pages: 480

Amazon Link

Synopsis: Six months after Noam Álvaro helped overthrow the despotic government of Carolinia, the Atlantians have gained citizenship, and Lehrer is chancellor. But despite Lehrer’s image as a progressive humanitarian leader, Noam has finally remembered the truth that Lehrer forced him to forget—that Lehrer is responsible for the deadly magic infection that ravaged Carolinia.

Now that Noam remembers the full extent of Lehrer’s crimes, he’s determined to use his influence with Lehrer to bring him down for good. If Lehrer realizes Noam has evaded his control—and that Noam is plotting against him—Noam’s dead. So he must keep playing the role of Lehrer’s protégé until he can steal enough vaccine to stop the virus.

Meanwhile Dara Shirazi returns to Carolinia, his magic stripped by the same vaccine that saved his life. But Dara’s attempts to ally himself with Noam prove that their methods for defeating Lehrer are violently misaligned. Dara fears Noam has only gotten himself more deeply entangled in Lehrer’s web. Sooner or later, playing double agent might cost Noam his life.

Review: I hate when great series end and this was one of them that I’ll definitely miss. The book was absolutely amazing, the characters continued to be well developed and complex, the setting and world building were greater in this one than the previous book, and the story continued to hold my interest. I loved how the author combined two genres to make this incredible series and I loved how the book series also brought in real world issues.

The only issue I had with the book is that it ended (*sad*) and that sometimes the time skips forward and it threw me off a bit. Most of the time it was stated but sometimes it wasn’t.

Verdict: I definitely recommend this series for your quarantine reading!

I absolutely loved book one so I was very excited to read the sequel!
I still absolutely loved the characters, the relations they have with each other, and what they are willing to give up for each other!
I still enjoyed that the ‘problem’ in this book surrounded a disease, I don’t think we see that too often! And it is pretty well done in this one!
Also LGBT is woven into this story so well, it is just there, as it should be!
I just felt like the book could either be shorter or should have contained a bit more action. There was so much talking and planning and barely any action, that I started to struggle with picking the book back up at times.. There was this huge build up to some action scene and then it just felt kinda flat?! I think I just expected a bit more of the ending!
But I 100% recommend this series! It is original, has interesting characters and especially interesting relations!

**Disclaimer: I was given a free copy in exchange for an honest review from the publisher. Please also note, the below post contains spoilers for the first book in this series, The Fever King.**

Title The Electric Heir (Feverwake #2)

Author Victoria Lee

Release Date March 17, 2020

Publisher Skyscape

Description from Amazon
Six months after Noam Álvaro helped overthrow the despotic government of Carolinia, the Atlantians have gained citizenship, and Lehrer is chancellor. But despite Lehrer’s image as a progressive humanitarian leader, Noam has finally remembered the truth that Lehrer forced him to forget—that Lehrer is responsible for the deadly magic infection that ravaged Carolinia.

Now that Noam remembers the full extent of Lehrer’s crimes, he’s determined to use his influence with Lehrer to bring him down for good. If Lehrer realizes Noam has evaded his control—and that Noam is plotting against him—Noam’s dead. So he must keep playing the role of Lehrer’s protégé until he can steal enough vaccine to stop the virus.

Meanwhile Dara Shirazi returns to Carolinia, his magic stripped by the same vaccine that saved his life. But Dara’s attempts to ally himself with Noam prove that their methods for defeating Lehrer are violently misaligned. Dara fears Noam has only gotten himself more deeply entangled in Lehrer’s web. Sooner or later, playing double agent might cost Noam his life.

Initial Thoughts
Full disclosure, The Fever King, was not my favorite read of 2019. However, there were some really interesting world building concepts that Victoria Lee used and when I saw the chance to read / review the sequel, I was excited to apply.

Some Things I Liked
Parallels to the real world. Ok, so unless Victoria Lee can see into the future, there's no way she could have possibly known that COVID-19 was going to basically throw the world into chaos mode in 2020. However, that being said, she describes the events of late 2019 and early 2020 in flashback scenes with eerie familiarity to what we are seeing today in the news. I'll be honest, I really enjoyed that feature.
Dual POV. I really like that this book is told from both Dara and Noam's perspectives. Before I started reading, my first thought was, I hope we get to hear from Dara's POV, and then, BOOM, there he was. I think the alternating points of view added a richness to the distrust between the characters.
Moral grey-ness. There is a lot of distrust between the characters as well as manipulation and Stockholm Syndrome felt by several characters. Not every character's actions are their own nor can they be trusted. I really liked the mystery of unravelling the characters intentions as well as being on the edge of my seat not knowing who was going to betray who.

One Thing to Note
This book is super dark. There are a lot of scary and disturbing themes in this book and they're not for everyone. Themes such as addition, rape, overtones of Stockholm Syndrome, detailed battle scenes, and more are seen throughout the story. While I do believe that these events and their descriptions are necessary to the character and plot development of this story, I wanted to note it here for readers who might not find subject matter of that type to their liking.

Series Value
I'm glad this was a duology. I liked the way the series wrapped up. However, I would revisit this world in the form of a prequel or spin-off. I'm picturing something along the lines of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins - a villain-centric book.

Final Thoughts
Amid the chaos caused by the recent COVID-19 news, this book felt incredibly close to home. I thought it was dark and scary in all the right ways and it represented so many problems that exist in the world today. I also really enjoyed the morally grey characters as well as the political plots. I can easily see Victoria Lee expanding on this world she created and I'm glad I decided to read this on, despite not loving the first book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Sequels either go two ways for me, either they're okay, I finished them I have not much to say or they were the perfect continuation (and maybe ending) to the story.
The Electric Heir was the perfect continuation to Noam's story. It's brutal, honest, raw and amazing. It goes beyond any sequel I have ever read about revolutionaries or any kind of 'overthrowing the government' stories I've read. Every chapter was like a punch in the gut and minutes after I finished it I was just staring at the wall trying to come back to reality from this amazing world I just experienced.
I'm trying really hard not to spoil anything because every little thing I could say is a potential spoiler. So I will just say go read it and enjoy (and you're welcome)
Thank you to netgalley, the publishers and the author for allowing me to read this book before publication.

The first book in the series was one of my favourite books I read in 2019, the way it portrayed people being both queer and Jewish made my heart so happy, and The Electric Heir did NOT disappoint. it made me feel all the angst (just the way The Fever King did) but it also grabbed me by the feels. Victoria Lee is an amazing author, they're doing so much good by writing these books!

The Electric Heir is, in the absolute sense of the word, a tour de force. It’s dark and brutal and it’s uncomfortable and it’s messy, and within that it is so unashamedly honest. Lee’s dedication clearly states that this is a book for survivors, and it’s precisely that. It reaches for all those dark and uncomfortable and messy parts of your soul, and it takes hold of them with a certain sort of tenderness as if to remind us that things are, ultimately, going to get better. They can get better, and they will.

For me, the strength of this series has always been the characters, and The Electric Heir continues that pattern. Lee brings each and every character to life, each with their own intricate nuances that make them feel so real, jumping off the page and demanding nothing short of complete and total investment from the reader (be it for better or for worse). None of them are perfect, existing outside of both stereotype and expectation and exemplifying that there is no one “right” way to exist.

Lee handles both the individual, and interwoven, character arcs of protagonists Noam and Dara throughout The Electric Heir with such care. It physically hurt to witness the developments in Noam’s life—particularly in regards to his relationships—as things so obviously spiraled out of control (despite his best efforts, and regardless of telling himself otherwise). Thirty pages in and already I was reeling, needing to set the book down to collect myself. I had to prepare myself to continue, because even though deep down I had known it was coming, a part of me was still hoping I had just…read it wrong.

I think the hardest part of Noam’s journey is seeing his moments now in The Electric Heir that so clearly reflect Dara’s moments then in The Fever King. It hurts because you’ve seen this happen already, and find yourself wishing desperately for Noam to make this same realization—to become aware of his abuse. It’s even harder to watch as Dara, who has been in that same position, desperately tries to get Noam to realize it as well.

One of my favourite elements of The Electric Heir is how we are given, for the first time, another perspective. After having spent the entirety of The Fever King inside Noam’s head, it was such an incredible experience to finally see inside Dara’s. Not only because we get a perspective so different than Noam’s perceptions of Dara for a large part of The Fever King, but because we are given such intimate access to Dara’s thoughts during his recovery.

As much as I love Noam, if I had to pick a favourite from the series, it would be Dara. His arc in The Electric Heir is incredibly powerful, and for just that reason: over the course of overcoming his past traumas while also grappling with the loss of his telepathic abilities (as a result of the vaccine that saved his life), Dara comes to realize that he is not powerless. Honestly, he is the exact opposite, and it filled me with so much hope to see his recovery unfold over the course of the book. It was an imperfect, realistic, and honest journey that ultimately warmed my heart.

I will say that The Electric Heir isn’t as action-focused as its predecessor, but with good reason. So much of what is really happening in this book is introspective, and has to do with the emotional, internal journeys that Noam and Dara undergo. That isn’t to say there isn’t action, because there is. It’s also not to say that The Electric Heir feels slow, because it doesn’t. My desperation to know what was going to happen had me staying up late into the night, frantically turning page after page (even taking into account the moments that required setting the book down so I could whisper-scream “No!” over and over and over again).

I still absolutely adore Lee’s worldbuilding, and the magic system she’s created. It’s expansive and detailed and intricate and complicated, but not so much that it becomes difficult to follow. Lee has masterfully woven into the plot several discussions and reflections on current issues, doing so in a way that doesn’t feel unnatural, overly preachy, or forced. It all flows seamlessly together.

When I first read The Fever King last year, it immediately skyrocketed to arguably my favourite book of all time (so far). It’s a book that gets better each time you read it. Admittedly, I was equal parts excited and terrified of The Electric Heir, in the way that I always am about sequels to the books I hold closest to my heart.

My fears, small as they may have been, were unfounded. The Electric Heir builds off its predecessor and tells a story that is incredible and, honestly, beyond words. It’s hard to read, but it’s even harder to put down. Victoria Lee has crafted a poignant, one-of-a-kind series.

This book is absolutely horrifying, but in a gruesomely fascinating way – like watching a car crash without being able to look away.

Content warnings include: statutory rape, domestic violence, substance abuse, violence, murder, sexual assault, graphic injury, references to sex off-page and non-explicit sex on-page.
Mentions of: rape, child abuse, slutshaming, victim blaming, torture, human experiments, pedophilia.
Content warnings can also be found at the end of the book and on the author’s website, and on her Goodreads.

I’m not gonna lie, I was scared of reading this book. When reading the first book in the series, The Fever King, I had to take a 6 month break because I just… couldn’t take it anymore. It hurt. I managed to get back into it when the release of The Electric Heir came near, and I was able to finish it – and I’m glad I did.

Despite my apprehension, and despite The Electric Heir being somewhat more graphic with it’s horrifying content than The Fever King, I didn’t have the same problems with the former as I did with the latter. I was able to read it without interruptions, though I had to put it aside several times to just… breathe. There is blow after blow, and it’s brutal, not just in the violence it shows, but also in its frank depiction of abuse, particularly child abuse, and the denial, manipulation, desperation and suffering that comes with it.

But rather than a story about abuse, it’s a story about survivors. It shows incredible strength, resilience and preservance, resistance against all odds.

I had some issues with becoming engaged with the plot in The Fever King, but not so in The Electric Heir. I was drawn in from the very start and found myself actively wanting to keep reading, wanting to see the antagonist brought down.

It would have been a 5 star read for me if not for the ending, which felt incredibly rushed. Upon finishing, I was sitting there, stunned, almost confused, with the main emotion being: “Wait, that’s it??”

The events of the ending in itself are satisfying, but the rushing of it, how some things are almost brushed away by only mentioning them in a half sentence when previously the entire plot revolved around these details…. that was rather dissatisfactory. There are still so many open questions that remained unanswered. It just felt unfinished.

I do not know if The Electric Heir is the end of the series – part of me thinks that yes, it is, but another part cannot believe it’s over after with those few pages that wrapped up after the final showdown (which, too, was rather rushed.) I cannot say if I would prefer it to end here, with all the protagonists happy, or if I want another book for more in depth closure(but which would entail much more struggling first.)

If there is a sequel, it certainly won’t be a chore to read. Noam and Dara, as well as the supporting cast, are great characters, and the writing style is good. The Electric Heir is a great novel, and an important one to boot.
I do however recommend that anyone who is interested in reading this series checks out the content warnings and make sure they are in the right mindset to read it, because… yeah. Ouch.

AHHHH
Victoria Lee keeps ripping my heart out in this duology. This book was stunning. Reentering this world is like getting wrapped in a cozy blanket, and it's also the feeling the ending gives. I adore how the sequel continues the complex characterization and relationships between the characters, and I cannot wait for all of you to read it.

A poignant, emotionally charged and well written fantasy story that I really liked.
It's dark and engrossing, once you start you cannot put it down.
It's the first book I read in this series and I appreciated the storytelling, the world building and the characters.
An excellent reading experience, strongly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

4.5/5

This was darker and a much more emotional read than The Fever King, and though it was a rollercoaster on my feelings, it was worth reading every single page.

Noam has lost some of his innocent shine, but, he's still an idealist and ideologist at heart and we see his struggle to keep his values as he does what he feels needs to be done in regards to Lehrer.

Dara, who has suffered so much continues to be an amazing survivor who perseveres through everything handed to him, and now Noam and he, unfortunately, have much more in common.

At the heart of this, is a story of survivors and the cost that children pay for the choices adults make while struggling to grow up and make a world they want.

I loved this book, even more so than The Fever King.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I can’t tell you how excited I was when I first heard about THE FEVER KING by Victoria Lee, because it is set in my hometown of Durham, North Carolina. Now, this might not be such a big deal for those of you who live in larger cities or in places that tend to be settings for books, but...this is Durham, folks. DURHAM! So I was beyond excited to read a book set in my city, with an incredible magic system based in science, an LGBTQ+ protagonist, and a focus on some of the top issues of the day (e.g., refugees, toxic politics, authoritarianism). I immediately pre-ordered the book, but I hadn’t actually gotten around to reading it, so when I discovered it would be a duology, I decided I’d wait for the second book to arrive since I am a big fan of binge-ing :) Long story short, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the second and final book, THE ELECTRIC HEIR, so when I heard about this tour I jumped at the chance to participate. I am so glad I did, and so happy to finally have immersed myself in the Feverwake world. What an incredible journey I’ve been on!

Let me just say, if you are at all a fan of fantasies with solid magical systems that make sense and are grounded in/linked to science, then this series is for you. If you like diverse reads featuring LGBTQ+ characters that are fully-realized human beings and not one-size-fits-all stereotypes, this series is for you. If you enjoy books that deal with complex, difficult moral issues that we encounter in our own real world, this series is for you. If you like near-future dystopians that present plausible future paths for our own society...well, you get the idea! I honestly find myself hard-pressed to think of anyone who *wouldn’t* enjoy this series. I do have two caveats to that statement: First, if you are offended by cursing and just can’t stand to read books with bad language, you might have an issue with these (it doesn’t bother me one bit because I curse like a sailor, but to each her own!). Second, there are subjects dealt with here that may be triggers for some people, in particularly greater detail in book 2, so if you are concerned about that, please see this content warning post on Victoria’s website (www.victorialeewrites.com). While certain themes of, for example, physical and sexual abuse are touched on in THE FEVER KING, I found THE ELECTRIC HEIR to be quite a bit darker, dealing with these and other issues in greater depth. I hope that doesn’t scare you away, as I do find that all issues are handled in an open, honest, healthy, and nuanced manner.

Overall, I was so happy to be back with Noam, Dara, and the gang, especially since in THE ELECTRIC HEIR we get alternating chapters from Dara’s point of view, too. I know some people don’t prefer the multiple POV method of storytelling, but it’s definitely my favorite, and Victoria does a smashing job with both voices. There’s all the intrigue, political machinations, societal issues, and expert villainy (seriously, Lehrer may just be the "best" bad guy I've ever encountered) of THE FEVER KING, plus a deeper dive into the circumstances that have shaped our characters into who they’ve become. I also felt much more tense while reading THE ELECTRIC HEIR, because I was literally waiting with bated breath for the crud to hit the fan, for Noam to get caught, for something bad (or, okay, *worse*) to happen, and any author that can keep me so invested and on tenterhooks has gained a forever fan! And, naturally, I had a blast with both books just reading about my humble city as the capital of possibly the most powerful nation in the once-United States :) In short, THE ELECTRIC HEIR was everything I had hoped it would be and more, an extremely satisfying follow-up to THE FEVER KING and conclusion to the Feverwake series. I can’t wait for Victoria’s next book, and I will follow anywhere her creative mind takes me next.

RATING: 5 incredibly bright stars!

**Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher for purposes of this blog tour. This review is voluntary on my part and reflects my honest rating and review of the book.

The Electric Heir picks up six months after the events of The Fever King and, damn, things have changed in Durham. The more drastic of the changes over those months stumbled me up a bit at the start (namely Noam and Lehrer's relationship?!?), but I quickly got my bearings and tore my way through the pages to the end. This duology is worth the read, packed the unique magic, nail-biting suspense, and an adorable romance.

TW: sexual assault, substance abuse, suicidal thoughts

CW/TW: Genocide / Trauma / Violence / Abuse / Attempted Rape of a Minor/ References to Suicide attempts / Slut-Shaming / (internalized) Victim Blaming / Ableist Language

Oh darn it, Victoria Lee. Did you really have to snap my heart out for another round of five?

I read The Fever King last year and fell hard in love with Noam and Dara. With this world and those around them. This book continues about 6 months after the end of The Fever King and it throws us right into the feels. Because Noam doesn’t entirely remember everything that happened and guess who is taking advantage of that?

In this book we get the dual perspective of Noam and Dara, and that worked so very well. Noam who is stuck in a ‘relationship’ with an abuser but can’t quite see it, and Dara who recognizes all the signs of it. There is so much to unpack here when it comes to trauma, ptsd, substance abuse, abuse and survival.

It hits so many marks that come with a truly emotional read with a looming genocide in the background. With having to defeat the bad guy who knows how to twist everything that puts him in the right limelight. Where you doubt yourself constantly. It showcases the abuser as they come by in real life too. This one just happens to be able to manipulate the actual mind with his powers. But abusers in real life do this too, just with words and veiled threats. And then aggression.

It is confrontational. Please be aware of that when you step into this book. It is not an easy read. Not this book nor The Fever King. But if you dare to step into it , it is so well worth it.

After coming out of THE FEVER KING with much less love than I thought I would, I was pretty pleased by how strong I felt this follow up was. At least, initially.

My main problem was where this story went in regards to a certain relationship and the direction it took. There are so many complicated emotions, so many traumas, so much grief, wrapped up in the why or maybe the how of it. And Lee does (I think, at least) a good job of trying to explain the messiness of it all, the conflicting perceptions and means to which one might convince themselves of something, through her characters. But I still didn’t like it, and every time it came up I wanted to put the book down and walk away. One particular exchange, between the two POVs and leads, made me oh so very angry. And hurt. So, I mean, kudos for that. But that didn’t make me like the story anymore.

And the story itself, well, there’s not much I can say regarding the plot for a sequel/finale, but mostly I’m just confused. I have no idea how we got to the ending we did, and how it’s going to stick, considering.. everything. Additionally I guess I just don’t understand why the story, the series, happened in the first place? Why these kids, why couldn’t Lehrer just.. I don’t know. I feel like I understood what I read, what happened, but I’m missing the point, I guess.

For all that I clearly have no idea how to feel, despite knowing I didn’t love this, I have to say that Lee’s writing is strong. She doesn’t shy away from darker topics (there’s a warning at the front, and content/triggers listed at the back) and I feel she handles a lot of it with dignity and care. These characters, all of them, have been through so much, are still dealing with so much, and while sometimes it felt like too much, it’s all rather tied up in one catalyst. It’s heartbreaking and awful and while I didn’t hate Noam, one of our POVs, I absolutely adored Dara. Full stop.

Anyway, I don’t know. I feel like this is a series I should’ve loved and, when pitched to me, I knew I wanted to read it. Something about this just didn’t connect. And I’m sad about it. But I’m also an outlier, so, please read the glowy reviews and, if this sounds like your thing, definitely give it a try.

An engaging follow-up to "The Fever King," but I also felt like there was A LOT going on here. Almost too much to keep up with at times. That aside - for as long as this novel is, Victoria Scott does an excellent job of keep her readers on their toes and I really appreciated the evolution of Noam, Dara, and their relationship. I'm also really glad that I re-read "The Fever King" before picking this up because the refresher helped a lot in terms of understanding the gravity of Noam's relationship with Lehrer and complications between Noam and Dara. For libraries that already have the first title on the shelves, this is certainly a necessary addition as it digs deeper into some more complex issues that could spark an interesting discussion.

I ENJOYED…
☂️

- Something that amazed me with The Fever King, and kept on impressing me in The Electric Heir, is just how immersive this series felt. The writing, the characters, the world-building, everything holds together in such a stunning way, I feel like I’m still in a daze when I look up from the book because it just felt so intense and so real in so many ways.
- If you know me a little bit, you know I live for my characters and, once again, I fell in love with them in The Electric Heir. They’re flawed and confused, they make mistakes and there was more than one moment when I wanted them to do things differently, to shake them or something. I just wanted them to be okay and I cared for them so much and when that happens, you know the author has done a great job.
- Noam is forever my favorite, with his hero complex, struggling with abuse, with wanting to make things right, with his feelings for Dara, engaging in double dealing and ughhhh I just had feelings for him okay. I just loved how we saw him grow from the first book to the second one, as the world gets darker, but he gets more determined,t oo.
- Dara, oh it was so good to have Dara’s POV in this second book, just as well. I loved getting to understand him more, his own struggles as a survivor, as he tries to do what’s best while still struggling with his own addictions.
Their! relationship! gave! me! feelings! that’s all.
- I also loved how fleshed out each side character felt, from Leo, this bartender we only meet in this book, to Bethany and everyone else, too.
- Lee also creates one of the best and most terrible villains of them all in this series. He’s just so three-dimensional and we really clearly get to understand why he is like this and how he has become this way, too. - - We love three dimensional villains. They’re even more terrible, but we love them because it brings such perspective into the story, too.
- Fair warning: this book is not an easy read. We struggle as we understand Noam being abused, we struggle even more as we see him struggle, grasping to understand what really is happening to him, too. It’s a story about survivors, it’s a story about the dark, overwhelming, sometimes even underlying influence abusers can have. It’s intense and it made my fists clench more than once, yet it’s such an important story to be told, too.

OVERALL
☂️
- The Electric Heir is a stunning sequel to a wonderful, important series. I loved the characters and their growth, I admired the world-building, its complexities and its realness, I loved how fleshed-out everything was, making this such a damn, real, great read. If you’re looking for a new diverse dystopian series to get obsessed with, I’d clearly recommend The Fever King and The Electric Heir.

Final rating: 4,5 stars!

A million thanks to Skyscape – Amazon Publishing for sending me an advance review copy of this book. This did not, in any way, influence my thoughts and rating.

Trigger warnings: violence, abuse, drug and alcohol abuse, ableist language, attempted rape, genocide, slut-shaming, victim-blaming, intergenerational trauma, parental death, emetophobia, addiction. Full list of detailed content warnings available on the author’s website right here.

Diversity: All cast of queer main characters, POC main characters, Jewish main character.

THE ELECTRIC HEIR was even better than THE FEVER KING—and that’s saying something. It’s beautiful from beginning to end, dealing with trauma with sensitivity, but not without the raw pain that comes with it. It’s exactly the sequel I hoped for. In fact, read the ARC twice before I could write a coherent and well thought out review.

It’s impossible to overstate how much I loved THE ELECTRIC HEIR. Victoria Lee spares no details, whether about Noam’s involvement with Lehrer, Dara’s recovery, and how each of them faces their trauma head on, but in a non-linear way that speaks to the reality of being a survivor and dealing with trauma. Each character faces the things that scare them most, and it’s nothing short of visceral.

I devoured all 500 pages of this book within a few days (I’d have done it one sitting if I could), and one of the most beautiful things about Lee’s writing is how they combine so many important topics without sacrificing humor, emotion, or relationships. THE FEVER KING and THE ELECTRIC HEIR are both deeply character-driven stories, whether you look at Noam’s questionable decisions in the name of the greater good, Dara’s questionable attempts at self-preservation, or Calix Lehrer’s questionable...self. The plot is complex, raising questions of how the government treats its people, how we treat survivors, and how we consider (or don’t consider) trauma. Each relationship is multidimensional, and the best and hardest part of this book is how it sometimes makes us question ourselves.

Perhaps Lee’s greatest skill and the reason THE ELECTRIC HEIR is so compelling is their ability to write complex villains. Each character has a moral greyness that lets you look into their souls, and then into your own as you agonize over who’s good and who’s evil (or if being just one of the two is possible).

While the intense scenes made my heart physically hurt, scenes like the embarrassing stories Ames tells about Dara, Noam and Dara caring so deeply for each other, and the waffle scene made me wish I didn’t have to turn the page and watch them hurt again. Except of course I turned the page because I loved every second.

I don’t have time or space to say how absolutely incredible this book is. I’m missing about a thousand things already, but there’s so much in this book to love. By the end of THE ELECTRIC HEIR, I even liked Taye, who had maintained a solid spot as my least favorite up to that point. The characters I loved, I only loved more.

The queer rep in this book is fantastic. THE FEVER KING was the first book I’d ever read with so many queer characters, and I couldn’t be happier with how THE ELECTRIC HEIR continued that representation. Lee tackled issues like immigration, racism, classism, governmental exploitation, mental illness, neglect, abuse with grace, sensitivity, and an appropriately critical lens.

THE ELECTRIC HEIR is a story for survivors that so many people need, and Lee did an excellent job of showing how there’s no cookie cutter experience for surviving abuse. There’s nothing I didn’t love about this book. I would happily read about Noam, Dara, and even Lehrer for the rest of my life.

Actual rating: 4.5

Despite its ending, this is not a happy or light book. Please heed all content warnings provided by author (included but not limited to domestic abuse, child abuse, eating disorders, rape, alcoholism)..5
The Fever King closes on Noam saying goodbye to Dara as he sends him into the quarantine zone with the barest hope for surviving the fevermadness and Lehrer has suppressed Noam's memories of everything Dara's revealed. The Electric Heir picks up 6 months later, where Noam has slipped further into his destructive relationship with Lehrer, and into his bed as well. When he realizes that Dara is still alive, and part of a resistance movement that aims to assassinate Lehrer, he picks up the double agent mantle, hoping to help their cause while posing as a spy for Lehrer. Dara warns him of the dangers this poses, but Noam, gentle, sweet, naive, hopeful Noam, waves him off.

The relationship between Noam and Lehrer is one of the most devastatingly terrifying and well-written things I've ever read, because among the cruel, remorseless violence, are snippets of disturbing domesticity and what could, between any other two characters, be considered love. Lehrer weaves an intricate and overwhelming web around Noam, trapping him in this unhealthy relationship, masking his true intentions with fake concern and tenderness that both Noam, and the reader, are capable of falling for again and again. Contrasting this is the healing relationship between Noam and Dara, which is also punctuated with their shared history as victims of Lehrer's abuse and cruelty. They find solace and strength in each other, and Lee provides several flashbacks to their earlier relationship that now, with all the reveals of the two books, are heartbreaking in their innocence.

The Electric Heir is a character-driven book, with a dual POV between Noam and Dara, and at its core, it is a story about survival. It explores the grey areas and in-betweens when it comes to these difficult situations, and what one does, and gives up, in order to survive. The development of Noam, Dara, and Lehrer, is complex and well fleshed out. However, the side characters (Taye, Ames, Bethany, Leo...) don't receive the same treatment, and I personally longed to see more of them and their backstories, because I didn't feel as emotionally invested in them.

Unfortunately, the ending and resolution was abrupt and extremely disappointing. There was so much build up that I was expecting so much more than the single paragraph that tied everything up before we moved onto a domestic epilogue that just seemed flat. The journey between the climax to the ending seemed unnaturally short, as if whole chapters were missing from the book, rather than a conscious decision to end the story. This translated to a feeling of confusion when I finished reading because I had wanted so much more from the characters.

The Electric Heir threw me to the ground, stomped all over me and my fragile heart, then kicked me a couple times in the stomach for good measure. It was raw, gritty, broken, and wonderful.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

First, I'll warn you this book contains some difficult subjects - sexual abuse, physical abuse, alcoholism, and eating disorders among others, and I appreciate that the author lists content warnings and also provides resource information at the end of the book for anyone experiencing these tragic situations.

While the first book in this series engaged me with its political intrigue and magic system, it was just an okay read for me.  But the followup reached out and grabbed me and didn't let go until the explosive ending.

I spent most of the book being angry with Noam and wanted to throttle him.  He's oblivious to the danger he's in and walks a tightrope between life and death every day.  Dara does his best to get get Noam to see reality, but he's fighting a losing battle.  As for Dara, seeing him without magic was like a stab to my heart, and his struggle to find his place in the world and battle his addictions is tough to read.  Although I found myself holding my breath numerous times over their predicaments and dreaded reading the next paragraph, their character arcs are a thing of beauty.

Lehrer uses his power and position to hide the monstrous things he does and is a compelling villain in every way - you really want karma to have its way with him.  While his political aspirations and manipulations are still an important aspect of the book, this is more of a character-driven novel compared to the first.  A few areas of the story are barely touched on, but overall, the pacing is pretty even and I found it difficult to put down the book.

At its core, The Electric Heir is truly a story about survivors of horrific circumstances, second chances, and finding your happily ever after.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.