Fever (Abbott) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
Megan Abbott is a seasoned, Edgar Award-winning author with exceptional gifts for making nerves jangle and skin crawl. She is also skilled at turning teenage sexuality into cause for squirming…The Fever is about a clique of high school girls who are harassed by strange, terrifying symptoms. This is not a book about rationally getting to the root of the problem; but about the eroticism and hysteria that run wild in a small town that has no idea what is consuming its young women…Few readers are going to be seriously drawn in by the drama of which high school kid has a crush on which other. It's the book's constant throb of horror that keeps it gripping.
Janet Maslin - New York Times Book Review


Megan Abbott has been called the Queen of Noir...Her new novel, Dare Me, is something of a switch for Abbott in that it's about a cheerleading squad, though - trust us - it's still quite hard-boiled...A contemporary novel about a cheerleading squad that somehow manages to be as dark and sinister as any of Abbott's fiction.
Sherryl Connely - New York Daily News


Like her stunning 2012 book, , Abbott's new novel focuses on teenage girls and the damage they can do.... In sparDare Mee, ferocious language, Abbott captures their energy. . . The beauty of Abbott's writing, and the skilled way she weaves the men's lesser narratives into Deenie's story, make this a standout in contemporary crime fiction. Megan Abbott knows what girls are made of.
Boston Globe


A terrific psychological thriller....A reminder of the great P.D. James adage that the most dangerous emotion is love.
Toronto Globe and Mail


Megan Abbott is] a unique talent with a signature style that gets stronger with every book. With its confident plotting and lyrical prose, The Fever may be her best novel yet.
Los Angeles Times


The Fever sends chills. Megan Abbott's 'high school noir' is sensual and sinister...atmospheric and compelling...What sets Abbott apart from other mystery scribes is her evocative language. There is drama and a fast-moving narrative, but she skillfully weaves a mounting dread into the novel, as well as a claustrophobic sensuality. You feel as if you're in the heads of each of the teenagers in the fictional town of Dryden, but also privy to the inner life of the adults, as well.
Detroit News


The plot's myriad twists and turns, like the precarious pyramids the cheerleaders perfect, are intriguing and unexpected."
USA Today


Make no mistake, this is no pulpy teenage tale: It's a very grown-up look at youth culture and how bad behavior can sometimes be redeemed by a couple of good decisions."
Sara Nelson - Oprah Magazine


[A] thrilling...peek into the strange, inscrutable minds of teenage girls.... Abbott’s adolescents are close to pitch-perfect with their sudden switches between childlike vulnerability and calculating maturity. What the narrative lacks in depth it makes up for in momentum and dark mystery. This is a gripping story.
Publishers Weekly


(Starred review.) Once again, Abbott makes an unforgettable inquiry into the emotional lives of young people, this time balanced with parents' own fears and failings. It's also a powerful portrait of community, with interesting echoes of The Crucible: it's the twenty-first century, and, in many ways, we're still frightened villagers, terrified of the unknown. Abbott may be on her way to becoming a major writer.
Booklist


(Starred review.) The lives of teenage girls are dangerous, beautiful things in Abbott's stunning seventh novel.... [S]omething in the town is causing the fits, and it's only a matter of time before [Deenie is] next. Nothing should be taken at face value in this jealousy- and hormone-soaked world except that Abbott is certainly our very best guide.
Kirkus Reviews