I really liked Black Sun and was very excited to read Fevered Star. Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the copy in exchange for an honest review!

The plot was exciting and engaging in this follow up, and some of my favorite characters congreged or are in positions where their story will go interesting places in the sequel.

My only criticism of this book is that I wish it was longer. It has a lot of plot and is shorter than Black Sun, and some character growth is sped up in order to get characters where they need to be, without putting in as much time as I felt necessary. Each character needed just a bit more time to breathe and hopefully they get that in the next book.

Fevered Star is a follow up to 2020’s fantastic novel (and one of my favourites of the year), Black Sun. I am usually full of opinions, mostly colourful ones but honestly I just enjoyed this entire book. I returned to the narrative and the characters as if a year hadn’t passed since I read its predecessor.

It is a bit slower in terms of pacing then I recall Black Sun being but this book goes even more in-depth in terms of exploration into the politics and dynamics between groupings. It introduces some new characters and it appears those characters may be pivotal to future events.

It’s fascinating to watch a narrative be set up where I assume a small group of diverse characters will have a huge and lasting impact on their universe. Either that or in the next book they all end up dead. Either way, through the story you can see how small choices have a large impact and how you can be so close to big change and then setbacks occur. It’s a great mirror to our own political systems and cultures. Changing the status quo isn’t easy and that’s no different here.

If you enjoyed the first then this will definitely not disappoint. And if you have not yet picked up this series and enjoy YA fantasy I definitely encourage you to do so before this book is released. This series is a lot different from other YA fantasy novels being published. It doesn’t shy away from difficult topics and handles them with grace and ease. Rebecca’s writing feels effortless and all-encompassing. As a reader, you just get endlessly lost in her words and before you know it the book is over.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for an ARC of Fevered Sun in exchange for an honest review.

Black Sun was one of my favourite books of 2020 so I had a lot of high expectations for this sequel, Fevered Star. This one both lived up to those expectations but at the same time did not.

Rebecca’s writing as always was phenomenal but this book felt very much like the buildup for the explosive finale that is sure to come next. There were a lot more political plot points in here and not a lot of battles or action. Which I still enjoyed! I just wanted a bit more than what was given. I still loved all of the characters and their storylines, thought I did wish we had gotten more of some of them.

Either way, this was a great sequel and I am so so excited to read the last book of this trilogy when it is out. I am sure it is going to wrap-up all of my unanswered questions!

3.5/5⭐️

I requested a digital copy in order to sample the prose on my phone (since I don't have a eReader) before requesting a physical copy for review. I will update Netgalley once I read & review a physical copy.

My review will be based on the physical ARC I read.