Fever (Parallon Trilogy, #1)

Feb 09, 2012 Kat rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, awful-time-sucks, series-i-won-t-finish

Video review found here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LrxQi...

Hmmm, where to start? What I will say is that if you are Dee Shulman, look away now. I am doing this for your own good. And apologies, this is going to be long. I will do my best to avoid spoilers (though it'll be difficult as there are a lot of specific bits that I really want to moan about!!!)

I really did try to find some positives, as I don't like giving a completely negative review. It's not really fair or constructive, but it w...more

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Feb 08, 2013 Artemissia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adulte

Franchement je m'attendais à quelque chose de bien plus aboutit et de passionnant. L'histoire ne se met en place que dans la troisième et dernière partie du livre, c’est à dire à la fin et là tout va bien trop vite et c'était prévisible à pleurer.

Le récit est divisé en deux parties narratives : l'une avec Eva l'héroïne, qui se trouve au 21eme siècle, et qui se passe à la première personne et l'autre avec Seth le héros, qui se trouve un temps à l'époque de l'empire roman avJC et qui se déroule à...more

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Apr 01, 2013 Tessa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Je me suis lancée dans le roman en ayant un peu pour idée de plonger dans un univers à la Spartacus. On le retrouve effectivement un peu au début du livre mais finalement on le perd rapidement, ce qui est dommage.

J’ai tout de même préféré me plonger dans l’univers de Sethos plutôt que dans celui d’Eva.
Son époque, ses croyances, son statut de gladiateur et même son tempérament en font un personnage très intéressant par bien des aspects.
Eva est plus banale, dans le genre « ado perdue » et geek de...more

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Apr 09, 2013 Aoife rated it 1 of 5 stars

God this book just had me shouting a very long, very exasperated NOOO!!
I hated it. I truly just couldn't like it...

For starters....Eva was a pain. I mean...first she decided that because she was gifted with super intelligence,normal school wasn't good enough for her...and then there was this thing where guys just had to fancy her and she couldn't cope with telling them no. She had to get expelled to get away from the 'torture' of mundane teaching and being an object of attraction for apparently...more

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Feb 06, 2013 Jordan rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

1,5/5

http://wandering-world.skyrock.com/31...

Parallon est une déception. En refermant le roman, je suis resté dans un état de fort scepticisme. Même en y repensant maintenant, je dois bien avouer que je ne comprends pas du tout l'intérêt de l'histoire. Le résumé nous laissait miroiter une romance passionnée et passionnante, et je m'attendais vraiment à en voir de toutes les couleurs aux côtés de Seth et d'Eva. Au final, je n'ai pas vibré d'un poil, et si ce n'était pas pour le personnage d'Eva,...more 1,5/5

http://wandering-world.skyrock.com/31...

Parallon est une déception. En refermant le roman, je suis resté dans un état de fort scepticisme. Même en y repensant maintenant, je dois bien avouer que je ne comprends pas du tout l'intérêt de l'histoire. Le résumé nous laissait miroiter une romance passionnée et passionnante, et je m'attendais vraiment à en voir de toutes les couleurs aux côtés de Seth et d'Eva. Au final, je n'ai pas vibré d'un poil, et si ce n'était pas pour le personnage d'Eva, je crois que la note attribuée à Parallon n'aurait pas dépassée 1/5.
Le truc, c'est que le résumé est tellement tentant et nous en met tellement plein la vue qu'on s'attend à vivre une sorte d'expérience unique, qui nous change complètement des autres romans young-adult. Cette histoire sur la fièvre, sur Eva, l'adolescente rebelle, et l'intrigue se déroulant des années auparavant dans le passé avec Seth... Comment ai-je pu penser une minute que tout allait être clair et bien défini en un seul roman ? La réponse est simple : ça ne l'est pas. Mais vraiment pas. Au départ, nous rencontrons Seth. Le prologue m'a paru un peu étrange, et très fouillis. Ce n'est pas compliqué : on ne comprend absolument rien. C'est peut-être pour ça que j'ai autant aimé découvrir le personnage d'Eva par la suite. Je dois bien avouer qu'elle m'a beaucoup plu, et que les chapitres focalisés sur sa perception des choses m'ont bien plus diverti que ceux décrits du point de vue de Seth. Du moins, au départ. Eva est une adolescente qui se cherche, qui est en manque d'affection, et qui se pose énormément de ( bonnes ) questions. Elle est belle, brillante, surdouée et très intriguée par les sciences. Bref, au départ, impossible de ne pas s'attacher à elle. Le moindre de ses sentiments nous émeut et nous touche. Comme dit plus haut, heureusement, d'ailleurs, que son personnage est présent. Je crois que sans elle et sans son caractère, l'histoire aurait été beaucoup plus fade qu'elle ne l'est déjà. C'est elle qui domine totalement le récit. Sa voix nous permet de voyager un minimum, chose que les chapitres concentrés sur Seth ne font pas.
Seth... Parlons-en. J'ai trouvé son personnage complètement insensé et sans queue ni tête. Au départ, je m'attendais vraiment à être pris par son histoire et son époque. Je pensais que j'allais être emporté dans une époque lointaine et révolue, dans laquelle je me perdrais entre les batailles de gladiateurs et les belles descriptions historiques. Pour le coup, c'est raté. Les chapitres de Seth sont terriblement ennuyeux. On a des descriptions, certes, mais qui n'apportent strictement rien et qui alourdissent grandement le récit. Je me suis étonné moi-même en lisant quelques pages en diagonale tant j'en avais assez de lire ses pensées ou ses sentiments. Il n'y avait absolument rien de vrai ou de touchant. Juste des mots sur une feuille. Son caractère est vraiment étrange. Il agit de façon juste inexplicable. Une fois il passe des jours à cogiter sur l'acte qu'il prévoit d'exécuter, et une autre il fonce sur un coup de tête. Aucune logique. Non puis même, un protagoniste qui ne me procure pas d'émotions, c'est un protagoniste raté. J'aurais aimé qu'il soit beaucoup approfondi et qu'on s'arrête un minimum sur son époque.
Côté rebondissements, ce n'est guère mieux. Comme avec Eva, j'ai aimé les surprises au début de l'histoire. En effet, l'auteure parvient tout de même à nous faire nous poser des questions et à nous donner envie d'avancer dans le récit. Mais enfin ça, ça ne dure pas. Très vite, nous avons affaire à un grand n'importe quoi. Les révélations sont choquantes, non pas parce qu'elles nous coupent le souffle, mais parce qu'elles sont complètement incohérentes ou parce qu'on les repère à cent kilomètres. Je n'ai ressenti aucune vraie surprise. Pire encore, les coups de théâtre m'ont semblé illogiques et ultra simplistes. L'auteure en reste vraiment à des faits très primaires, qui ne m'ont tout simplement pas convaincu.
Mais je crois que le pire du pire restera la romance... Au secours. C'est bien la toute première fois de ma vie que j'ai autant eu envie de baffer des protagonistes. J'en reviens donc à Eva, que j'ai beaucoup aimé au départ. Mon déclin pour mon attachement à elle provient exclusivement de ses réactions face à sa rencontre avec Seth. Bon déjà, la rencontre en elle-même est bien trop sommaire et bien trop abrégée. C'est comme si Dee Shulman voulait se débarrasser de cette idée le plus rapidement possible. Ensuite, Eva m'a poussé à la détester. Quand on en arrive là, c'est vraiment que les protagonistes le font exprès quoi. Alors qu'Eva est intelligente et dégourdie, elle craque pour Seth en à peine une page. Puis d'un seul coup, elle se met à l'idolâtrer et à ne penser qu'à lui. Heu... Pardon ? Je n'arrivais pas à la reconnaître ! Du grand n'importe quoi ! Elle devient le genre d'héroïnes que je déteste, tout en remises en question et en dépendance de sa pseudo âme-sœur. Elle m'a vraiment cassé les pieds. Seth ne s'en sort pas mieux, vu qu'il pense être le centre du monde et qu'il refuse catégoriquement qu'Eva ne l'aime pas. Seigneur *souffle*. Mais ce n'est pas tout ! Non non non ! L'auteure fait bien pire : elle fait tomber ses deux personnages amoureux l'un de l'autre sans aucune explication. En quelques chapitres, c'est réglé. Allez hop, ça c'est fait ! Il y a bien certains éléments qui expliquent ce soudain attachement, je ne le nie pas, mais quand même ! Pas aussi vite ! Pas aussi simplement !
La conclusion m'a laissé sur les fesses, dans le mauvais sens du terme. L'auteure nous offre une Eva folle amoureuse et prête à tout pour s'unir à Seth. Une nouvelle fois : pardon ? J'ai eu l'impression que Dee Shulman voulait nous décrire une fin très romantique et très axée sur la passion dévorante... Et bien, avec moi, ça n'a pas fonctionné du tout. Par ailleurs, il reste énormément de questions en suspens, que ce soit sur le mystérieux endroit qu'est Parallon, sur la fièvre étrange dont souffrent Seth et Eva, ou sur certains personnages secondaires. Mais, cette fois, trouver les réponses à mes interrogations n'est pas une priorité, et je ne ressens même pas l'envie de lire la suite pour déchiffrer l'histoire.
En résumé, Parallon est un roman, à mes yeux, trop évasif et beaucoup trop simpliste. Les rebondissements m'ont paru complètement saugrenus et peu intéressants, voire même ennuyeux. Seth m'a déplu, et, bien qu'Eva m'ait touché au départ, je l'ai détesté dans la suite du roman. Le trop de peu de détails, les descriptions inutiles, ou encore l'histoire d'amour carrément tordue et inexplicable malgré des bases qui auraient pu être très bonnes, ont rendu cette lecture sans goût. Je suis toujours en train de chercher l'amour fou qu'est censé posséder l'histoire, vu que, pour moi, l'amour est un sentiment qui se construit progressivement et qui ne voit pas le jour en quelques lignes, comme c'est le cas ici. Je pense qu'il y a eu une grosse incompréhension entre mes attentes, le résumé, l'idée que je m'étais fait de l'histoire, et le vrai contenu du roman. Une lecture décevante, donc. Après, je tiens à préciser que ceci n'est que mon ressenti propre, et que les autres avis des blogueurs tendent à être beaucoup plus positifs que le mien. N'hésitez pas à tenter le coup si le cœur vous en dit. Mais, me concernant, Parallon ne m'a pas conquis du tout.(less)

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May 24, 2012 Book Angel Emma rated it 3 of 5 stars

Review by Madison

In 152AD a Roman gladiator fights to survive; in 2012 a teenage girl lives in a boarding school called St Magdalene's. A fever infects the gladiator, Seth, enabling him to discover a brand new world. Meanwhile, in 2012, Eva finds out extraordinary lab results that could endanger her too. Somehow, the 2 of them are brought together by a mysterious force. They have to unite in order to understand the mystery that surrounds them.

I really liked how the two different times and places...more

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Nov 10, 2012 Emma rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya, ya-sci-fi-romance

This book started out so promisingly. I was interested to see from the blurb how the author was going to bring the two strands of her story together. A Roman gladiator and a modern day girl brought together by a virus, I couldn't see how that would work. And to be honest, I'm not sure it did. The scientific detail in the story, though admirable, was dense and mired the story. It became somewhat bogged down in jargon that didn't drive the story forwards and yet we are expected to believe that a s...more

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Apr 11, 2012 Bertie Bookreader rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was a fantastic read and an absolute page turner. I completely fell in love with the characters which I didn't expect as I normally am not crazy for romance books, this one however was different. The way it carried the time travelling element and the mystery of their pasts, for me made it a much more interesting book than your average romance. This book, I believe can appeal to a whole range of readers. It's got some of everything (action, romance, tragedy, sci-fi), and for this reason...more

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Mar 25, 2012 Kirsty (overflowing library) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: review-books, uk-author

I found Fever to be completely addictive and if I could have read it in one sitting I would have done *shakes fist as full-time job and the need to sleep*. i was completely drawn in by the story, the characters and didn't want it to end.

I absolutely loved the two main characters. I really loved Eve and thought she was a brilliantly strong character. I loved that she was super clever and cool with it and I loved seeing her geek out about a whole variety of things. I enjoyed seeing her develop as...more

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Apr 01, 2013 Sandy! rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: lo-tengo, 1series, read-2013

Este libro está dividido en tres partes, en la primera se nos introducen a los protagonistas, en la segunda la trama central de la historia y en la tercera los protagonistas se conocen.

La segunda y tercera parte me han parecido entretenidas, pero nada más allá de eso, y como ya dije en twitter, esta va a ser una reseña en la que explicaré de forma clara y con muchos spoilers por qué no me ha gustado libro. Si tenéis intención de leer el libro y no queréis leer spoilers, mi opinión de forma resum...more

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Jun 15, 2013 May R Ayamonte rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: estantería

La fiebre era una novela que me llamaba la atención desde el día en que se publicó en castellano, entre su portada que me parece exquisita y que da mucho que pensar, y su sinopsis tan atractiva, me volví loca por la novela.
Los personajes están muy muy muy bien desarrollados. Tenemos a Eva que es un personaje cuya caracterización ha sido muy original y de hecho cuando leí que se aburría en clase y dominaba la tecnología de tal forma adiviné que era superdotada. Y tenemos a Sethos que es el person...more La fiebre era una novela que me llamaba la atención desde el día en que se publicó en castellano, entre su portada que me parece exquisita y que da mucho que pensar, y su sinopsis tan atractiva, me volví loca por la novela.
Los personajes están muy muy muy bien desarrollados. Tenemos a Eva que es un personaje cuya caracterización ha sido muy original y de hecho cuando leí que se aburría en clase y dominaba la tecnología de tal forma adiviné que era superdotada. Y tenemos a Sethos que es el personaje en sí que más me ha gustado por su caracterización. Me ha fascinado que fuese un gladiador y que la autora nos acercase tanto a la historia de Londinium, que obviamente está bajo los romanos.
Sin embargo, a contradicción del hecho de que Sethos me llamase mucho la atención, la novela está contada con pasajes que tratan sobre éste y otros sobre Eva. Los de Sethos se me han hecho más pesados debido a que tenía menos historia en sí.
La novela está increíblemente argumentada, es lo que más me ha impresionada de esta. Tiene un trabajo por parte de la autora enorme y es admirable.
Pero por otro lado la idea me fascinaba mucho y no se ha tratado como esperaba. La historia de Sethos es muy pesada, ya que tiene un avance lentísimo y para mí sobraban muchos pasajes. Y la de Eva va más rápido hasta que llega al internado donde vuelve a tener un ritmo muy pesado.
Como he dicho la idea es muy buena, tienen una especie de enfermedad que los une y hay una historia de amor de trasfondo. Sin embargo la forma de desarrollarla me ha resultado pesada y demasiado lenta.
También ha llegado un punto de la trama donde me he perdido, cuando Sethos llega a Parallon no me enteraba de nada y de hecho se introdujo otro personaje que se encontraba allí que me ha dejado totalmente indiferente. Al igual que cuando el amigo médico de Sethos cobra protagonismo e incluso acapara pasajes, es algo que me ha dejado indiferente.
Esperaba que Sethos y Eva se encontrasen en algún momento, debido a que la sinopsis dice que compartirán una historia de amor que desafiará al tiempo, y no se encuentran hasta casi el final. Ya me lo advirtieron varias blogueras y pensé que la autora conseguiría darle juego al libro de alguna otra forma, pero no ha sido así. Lo único que he querido todo el rato es saber qué tienen en común estos personajes y el final ha sido tan precipitado (¡¡cuando al fin se encuentran!!) y ha habido tan poco contacto entre ellos que me he quedado muy decepcionada.
Es una trilogía, supongo que La fiebre peca de ser introductorio, pero aún así no ha sido lo que esperaba y aunque es entretenido no me ha dejado con muy buen sabor de boca. (less)

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Mar 17, 2012 Annmarie Ager rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc-reviewed

Oh my god! What a book when I think of this book one saying comings to mind ‘’the course of true love never did run smooth’’ that really does sum it up.

This book showed that love is not always easy and if you really are truly in love you do some silly thing to hold onto the people you love. I found myself one hundred percent falling in love with the book and Sethos and here are some reasons why.

The story flicks from present day with Eva as the main character. She is super smart and dropped dea...more Oh my god! What a book when I think of this book one saying comings to mind ‘’the course of true love never did run smooth’’ that really does sum it up.

This book showed that love is not always easy and if you really are truly in love you do some silly thing to hold onto the people you love. I found myself one hundred percent falling in love with the book and Sethos and here are some reasons why.

The story flicks from present day with Eva as the main character. She is super smart and dropped dead beautiful but she sometimes finds that the beauty part can be a curse when guys are always chasing you makes making friends at school hard and being expelled seems to become a pass time for Eva. Eva seems happy to be invisible to everyone and I liked the fact she was not stuck up and did not think she was better than everyone else. Eva also had a hard family life and that was easy to relate to for me and made Eva an easy character to like.

The story then flicks to Sethos that I’m sure you are all going to call him Seth in no time. He's a young and very sexy gladiator in the year AD 152. He's a slave he has been pulled away from his home and owned by someone that uses him to fight to the death as a gladiator. All the women seem to want him but Seth is not interested in anything apart from keeping fit and being with his only friend Matthias but then he sees Livia and the meaning to his life changes. Seth was easy for me to fall in love with his determination and unwavering love for Livia just blow me away and I felt jealous that someone could love a person that much.

Now as a story can go this is one of the best love stories I have read its divided into three parts and you watch the two characters lives unfold which helps you relate to them and get to know them. There was also so much more than just love in this book there was action and conflicted and drama and a strange illness that raged through the story but you are going to have to read the book to find out more. While at the start it felt like two stories you found that the two entwined together for a spectacular ending that you are all going to love.

If you like your love stories with a twist I recommend you read this!
5 stars.
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May 14, 2013 Panda rated it 2 of 5 stars

I admit i picked this up thinking the author was some relation to Polly Shulman but i took it home based on the wonderfully interesting story suggested by the blurb. i probably went in with expectations that were too high. i loved the idea of a love that crossed time of a gladiator and a modern day school girl who were meant to be together. and i must admit i was looking forward to the culture clash of either a modern girl in the roman era or a gladiator in modern times but that really didn't ha...more

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Jun 21, 2012 Helensvale Library rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sam, yp

I normally do not read romance books but this cover caught my eye and it proved to be more than your average romantic story. It is written with a time travelling element as each chapter jumps between from modern 2012 back to 152 AD the time when Roman gladiators roamed the land. So, the protagonist in 2012 is a teenage girl, Eva who is highly intelligent and finds interesting results in the school lab – results that play a significant part in the story. In 152 AD Sethos, a slave who is being for...more

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Apr 19, 2012 Precious rated it 4 of 5 stars

Originally posted at Fragments of Life.

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 phot...more Originally posted at Fragments of Life.

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.
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Sep 10, 2012 KTT rated it 4 of 5 stars

My interest to this book was piqued by the couple holding hands. I am very sure the male's arm is nothing twenty-first century, which means time-travel is gonna come into the picture, yea? Yeah.

I skimmed through some of the reviews of this book and agreed on the one depicting Eva's life as 'too picture-perfect.' Looking hot is one thing, but being IT savvy, interlectually smart (IQ exceeding 170??!), sings well AND can play the guitar? A little hard to grasp on, even if it's a friction. Even bei...more

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Apr 02, 2012 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-debut-author, books-i-own-print, read-in-2012, for-review-read, british-author

As soon as I read the blurb for Fever I knew I had to read it, come on - a time travel story revolving around a 21st century girl and a Roman Gladiator - how could I resist? I have to admit I've not read many time travel stories before and definitely none involving a gladiator so I was curious to see how things would play out. I really enjoyed this first instalment to Dee Shulman's new trilogy and am looking forward to getting my hands on the next 2 books, I just hope I don't have to wait too lo...more As soon as I read the blurb for Fever I knew I had to read it, come on - a time travel story revolving around a 21st century girl and a Roman Gladiator - how could I resist? I have to admit I've not read many time travel stories before and definitely none involving a gladiator so I was curious to see how things would play out. I really enjoyed this first instalment to Dee Shulman's new trilogy and am looking forward to getting my hands on the next 2 books, I just hope I don't have to wait too long for them!

I have to admit that I didn't think I was going to like Eve very much when she was first introduced to us. In the first couple of pages she came across as a bit of a selfish brat but as I got to know her better I really warmed to her. There is a bit of "too perfect to be true" about her as she is super smart, so beautiful that boys fall at her feet and even a talented musician and singer but by the time I discovered that about her I already really liked her so I was able to ignore that and get on with enjoying the story. Eve hasn't had an easy family life and has never found it very easy to make friends, she struggles to fit in and has worked hard to get herself kicked out of her last two schools. When she finds out about St. Magdalene's boarding school she feels like it is her last chance to find the place where she belongs and she finally starts making friends. I felt quite sorry for her when one of her new friends turned against her but it came across as very realistic teenage behaviour and I'm sure most girls will have faced something similar at some point in their lives.

Seth on the other hand was a character I liked from the moment he was introduced. He isn't a gladiator through choice but because he was captured and forced into slavery. He doesn't particularly enjoy the battle but fights because he has to to survive - when fights are to the death he is left with no other option but kill or be killed. Seth is strong, fast and an exceptional fighter which is what has kept him alive. I particularly liked Seth's relationship with another slave Matt, they were captured at the same time and have looked out for each other ever since. Matt isn't strong enough to be a fighter but his healing skills have kept both him and Seth alive in the arena. The pair of them have been through a lot together but their friendship makes them both stronger.

The story switches between Londinium in AD 152 where we find out about Seth and Matt's lives and St Magdalene's boarding school in AD 2012-2013 where we see things from Eve's perspective as she struggles to fit in at her new school. I was very curious to see how Dee Shulman would make these two worlds collide and introduce the characters to each other and found the time travel aspect of the story very interesting. I'm not going to give any detail about it because I don't want to give spoilers so I'll just say it was a concept I've not come across before. I had hoped for a few more answers to my questions by the end of the book but I've just been left even more eager to get my hands on the next instalment.

Although I felt that both of the main romances were a little bit rushed I do think that this is something that will be expanded upon as the series continues. It is hard to get the balance right in the first book of a series when there is so much world building to be done and we are being introduced to a whole new set of characters. I would definitely recommend Fever to anyone who enjoys time travel or romance stories or who is interested in finding out more about the life of a Roman Gladiator. This was a promising start to a new series and it's one I'm looking forward to continuing.(less)

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May 21, 2013 Laura Hartley rated it 2 of 5 stars

Fever by Dee Shulman is about Sethos Leontis, a gladiator, and Eva, a modern school girl. Both characters have unfortunate encounters with a mysterious virus in their own timelines that somehow bring the two characters together. I can't really say any more than that without giving a lot of the plot away, though, to be honest, I wouldn't really know where to start because the a good chunk of the plot was unexplained anyways.

I very, very rarely write negative reviews, but I really struggled with F...more Fever by Dee Shulman is about Sethos Leontis, a gladiator, and Eva, a modern school girl. Both characters have unfortunate encounters with a mysterious virus in their own timelines that somehow bring the two characters together. I can't really say any more than that without giving a lot of the plot away, though, to be honest, I wouldn't really know where to start because the a good chunk of the plot was unexplained anyways.

I very, very rarely write negative reviews, but I really struggled with Fever. I was initially interested in this book because I liked the idea of modern and classical worlds colliding, though I was slightly dubious about the addition of some sort of virus that connects the two of them - and rightly so. This novel had a pretty promising start, but it wasn't long before it went sourly downhill. A quarter of the way through, nothing had actually happened yet. Half of the way through, the two main characters hadn't even met yet. Three quarters of the way through and I don't think Sethos and Eva have even had a proper conversation yet. In fact, I don't think they ever have a real conversation at any point in the entire book. The time travel aspect of this novel was really downplayed and I don't think it was actually a main theme of the novel. It was just another thing in this book that sort of happened without explanation. Now thinking about it, the idea behind the time travel is actually pretty unique, but it's a shame that I didn't even notice that whilst first reading it because everything else was so awful. I have also just realised that the main mystery of this novel, the virus, goes unexplained for the entire novel, and not in a don't-worry-it's-in-the-next-novel way, but in a it-seems-to-have-been-forgotten way. I'm about to start reading Delirium, book two in this series, but I'm really not expecting much, I just really want to find out if this book gets any better and I'm hoping that the gaping holes left in Fever will be filled in.

I really wasn't feeling the relationship between Eva and Sethos. For starters it was insta-love that had absolutely no basis. Well, I suppose the basis of their love was the fact that they had somehow kinda met before, but even that mysterious meeting led to insta-love - and I hate insta-love. This book had possibly the worst case of insta-love I've ever read about. In most cases, it's love at first sight but as the characters are rather suited for each other you forgive them. In Fever, it was literally love at first sight, as in, no communication whatsoever and suddenly they're so-in-love-with-each-other-they-could-die (I mean that literally too). I saw no connection whatsoever and it was only worsened by the fact that the way the story was written made me think that Sethos was a lot older and more mature than Eva

Initially I really liked Eva. She seemed like a cool girl who was coping fairly well for a teenager with a pretty crap home life. However, as the story progressed, she got more and more pathetic. Technically, this isn't a fault of the character and more a fault in the plot, but as the virus started to affect Eva more and more, I felt like she was losing more of the character that I had liked so much in the beginning. By the end of the novel, she was basically unrecognisable - and not in a good way. Eva wasn't the only character who underwent such a dramatic change in the novel, in fact, pretty much all of the main characters, and a few minor characters do, and it just made no sense to me. It was literally like they had been replaced by completely different characters that bore no resemblance to their original selves and most of the changes were not even provoked.

This is probably the most negative review that I've ever written, and I'm sorry if it sounds a bit like a rant, but when I got going, I realised I disliked more and more of this book. I've seen a large mix of reviews of Fever, with some giving it high praise and others giving it a mere one star. Unfortunately, I'm with the negative reviewers on this one as I really didn't like this book and I don't really understand what the positive reviewers see in it. I wouldn't recommend this book as large chunks of the plot are unexplained and there are sudden character developments which aren't really in keeping with the events going on in this book.(less)

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Apr 16, 2012 Stephanie (Stepping out of the Page) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc-or-review, books-i-own, young-adult, title-appeal, sci-fi, read-in-2012, historical, better-than-expected, cover-appeal, death, if-i-were-a-boy, fantasy

Once again, this book was a case of me being completely won over by the shiny, attractive cover - I just thought that it looked gorgeous. I'm happy to say that the contents were just as pleasing as the cover as I was easily sucked into this story of a Roman gladiator, Sethos, a present day girl, Eva, and how a fever brings them together. This was a really enjoyable, well flowing story that I found difficult to put down.

It was really easy to get sucked into this story. I thought that I may have f...more Once again, this book was a case of me being completely won over by the shiny, attractive cover - I just thought that it looked gorgeous. I'm happy to say that the contents were just as pleasing as the cover as I was easily sucked into this story of a Roman gladiator, Sethos, a present day girl, Eva, and how a fever brings them together. This was a really enjoyable, well flowing story that I found difficult to put down.

It was really easy to get sucked into this story. I thought that I may have found it difficult to swap from reading about present day to Roman times, but it was surprisingly easy to go from chapter to chapter. I was very worried that the time-travel aspect would be confusing (as they often are), but thankfully this was super easy to follow, with the two settings being very different and the time periods clearly marked at the beginning of each chapter. The chapters were often short and action packed, which made the pace of the book brilliant.

I loved reading about both Sethos and Eva as well as their environments. I personally found Eva to be the more interesting character of the pair, but reading about Sethos and his Londinium (Roman London) setting was really captivating. I felt as though I was there with Sethos, checking out all of the Romanesque architecture and feeling edgy during his fights. I did like him, but I found him to be a little compulsive and perhaps irrational at points.

Eva is a very talented teenage girl (with a penchant for computer hacking) who has transferred to St Magdelene's, a private school on a full scholarship due to her intellect. Of course, she's not perfect though, she hates spending time at home with her mother's partner and she's never really had many friends, though she has no problem making them at her new school. I found Eva to be quite likeable and although she was portrayed as quite a shy, quiet person, she didn't seem to be reclusive - she did seem confident in herself at points, which was nice to see. I really liked her friendship with Astrid and it was interesting to see how she interacted with others at her new school.

I thought that the romance aspect of this book was a little disappointing, only because it happened too fast. I thought that the relationship between Eva and Seth felt a little rushed and that Eva 'fell in love' with Seth quite randomly - it was although it suddenly just clicked, after no real reasoning, that she loved him. I do realise that there is certainly potential to see their relationship develop in the next two books and I look forward to seeing how it all pans out.

Fever is just the start of what looks to be like a very promising trilogy from Dee Shulman. The story has only just really begun in this book and I'm looking forward to seeing how it progresses in the rest of the trilogy. I think that this trilogy is sure to become a hit with a lot of young adult readers.(less)

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Jan 28, 2013 Siham rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Super roman YA avec des personnages que j'ai adoré. La première partie était géniale avec le parallèle entre l'époque des gladiateurs et de nos jours. La deuxième partie un peu moins intéressant bien qu'essentielle et la troisième très bien aussi avec une très jolie romance.
la fin est un peu rapide et pas assez développée, du coup il y a de grosses questions sans réponses mais comme il y aura d'autres tomes on aura nos réponses plus tard
De Plus je n'ai pas compris pourquoi le point de Vue d'Eva...more

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Aug 26, 2012 Kyra rated it 3 of 5 stars

Fever had a really interesting concept. Time-travelling by having fever, some how reincarnating to a different a person living in a different century and loving someone who is lethal to your health. It was a good story yet there were a few distractions that had my attention elsewhere.

First off, I LOVE the cover. The way they are holding hands shows how they are united by this curious virus that threatens their life. I also love how the electric sphere surrounding their hands looks scientific and...more Fever had a really interesting concept. Time-travelling by having fever, some how reincarnating to a different a person living in a different century and loving someone who is lethal to your health. It was a good story yet there were a few distractions that had my attention elsewhere.

First off, I LOVE the cover. The way they are holding hands shows how they are united by this curious virus that threatens their life. I also love how the electric sphere surrounding their hands looks scientific and a lot of the content in Fever is based on scientific fact. It's a bright, sparkly cover that is well suited to the story within.

The story gripped my attention in the beginning and most of the way throughout the rest of the book. There were quite a few parts that had me skimming the pages and didn't hold my interest. The pacing was quite slow at times but picked up in other parts during the story. I felt that sometimes the story went into detail without actually letting the reader know exactly what was going on, so I was reading all this detail yet the author wasn't quite explaining what I needed to know. It felt like while there was detail in the book, we were skimming over it, not delving into it like we were suppose to.

*SPOILER IN THIS PARAGRAPH*

I also don't think the pacing was laid out satisfyingly enough. A lot of the events in Fever seemed monotonous and the romance between Eva and Seth developed a bit too quickly, but then again it didn't because Eva was somehow Livia, so her and Seth did actually know and love each other. I was also quite perplexed with Eva being Lydia in her past life and the author didn't explain as to why this had occurred.

The plot was interesting, it flowed nicely and there was a decent amount of surprises scattered throughout the book. Like I said in the previous paragraph, some of the events were monotonous, such as Eva being admitted to hospital every couple of chapters and Seth running and researching every day. It was an addictive read and I did find myself unable to put it down. :)

I really liked Eva. A lot of people have stated that they thought Eva was too perfect. I didn't think so! I have known people who are like Eva, gorgeous, talented and smart. There are people who are close to perfect but everyone has flaws. Eva had a devastating illness that she kept failing to recover from and she almost died, I'd rather be super healthy than gorgeous, talented and smart - wouldn't you? :) I also enjoyed Eva's chapters more than Seth's. She had more going on in her life and was a more interesting character than Seth, I thought. I also loved how Eva loved science, I'm a lover-of-science-geek myself! :)

Seth was a Roman gladiator, and it was really a wake-up call seeing how they used to suffer and be treated like slaves. When he lost Lydia I was crying along with Seth and you could really see the way her death changed him, you could feel the turmoil, anger and over-whelming sadness crashing down on him.

Fever was a satisfying read that I could not put down. A new take on time-travelling that will leave you stunned as well as having a million and one questions flitting through your head. It was an interesting time-travel novel with sweet romance, however the pacing was a bit temperamental at times. A scientific read that will make you think about the thought of time-travelling. I look forward to the next book in the trilogy.
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Dec 23, 2012 Harjot Samra added it

i like history and the romans. eva is a normal twenty first century girl where life has given upp on her. she has family issues and wants to do what she is interested in. whereas the hero of the book is a gladiator. it is a ok book that a friend recommened and fell in love with. it was confusing as the words and scenes were powerful. i have no clue after reading it, what the plot was about apart from eva's past life and how she meets this glamourous dude whih every girl is drueling on. it was a...more

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Apr 11, 2012 Sven rated it 5 of 5 stars

What to say about this book, one word I tell you brilliant. Greatest book for me to have read since coming to live in England, I love the characters in this book so much, they are so deep and well developed you feel that you know them intimately by the end of reading the first in this three part series. The style of writing in this novel I can only compare to another great Author - J. K. Rowling, and in the way that the Harry Potter series surpassed all barriers of age, this book I think also ha...more

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Apr 29, 2012 Sahina Bibi rated it 3 of 5 stars

Thanks to the awesome Puffin people for this book, I couldn't wait to dig in to this. I'm a sceptic for time travel stories, and especially those set so far back, but this had a twist which had me intrigued enough to give the book a shot :)

The cover alone was beautiful and that had me drawn in; throw in the plot of a wayward strong female like Eva and the honourable gladiator Seth, then you know you're in for a treat. Did I mention both characters are separated by over a thousand years? Hell to...more Thanks to the awesome Puffin people for this book, I couldn't wait to dig in to this. I'm a sceptic for time travel stories, and especially those set so far back, but this had a twist which had me intrigued enough to give the book a shot :)

The cover alone was beautiful and that had me drawn in; throw in the plot of a wayward strong female like Eva and the honourable gladiator Seth, then you know you're in for a treat. Did I mention both characters are separated by over a thousand years? Hell to the yeah, this story just got a lot more interesting.

I was drawn in from the very first page for this book, and once I picked it up, I remember I couldn't put it down for another 7 or 8 chapters. Dee slowly pulls you in to the story, as you're sitting there thinking "ha! not going to fall for this" yet once you're 6 chapters in and you check the clock, you realise you've already been sucked in and it's too late.

Simplistic writing, with a twist of juice from the witty character Eva, helps to realise that she's a strong, genius, albeit troubled teen who's just finding a way to fit in. Kicked out from school, she finally finds her calling in a school catered only for the super smart and that's where Dee had spiked my interested further *I'm a nerd deep down, and this inner nerd character of Eva called out to me, what can I say?!*

Yet it's not just about Eva, as Dee pulls you in further as she narrates the tale of Seth, a gladiator who's battling it out in the early 152AD, being the strongest, meanest and bad-est warrior out there. I found that his story was an interesting one, providing a stark contrast to the world that Eva was in. *thumbs up there*
As I continued on though, and saw how Eva made fast friends with the people at her new school, yet who suddenly turned against her after a misunderstanding, I did have a little hard time adjusting to the quick change. Maybe that's just me, personally I've never dealt with the teenage girl drama angst as all my friends are really understanding, so when Eva's friend turned on her, I found it a little too dramatic, but then again, maybe others found it more realistic.

Anyway, as I turned page after page of this book, I found I was greatly enjoying it, and was intrigued in seeing how Dee was going to bring the two main characters together. Though the time travel and aspect of how they met was different, I found it to have some holes and wasn't totally feasible. I was hoping for a more individualistic approach so I wasn't 100% happy with how that happened.

Also, after the characters meet, I had a hard time grasping the romance between Eva and Seth as it felt a little too forced and from there, I hate to say, I felt my excitement and attention draining. I would have liked to see more of a build up between them as more angst in Seth as he struggles with the sudden change around him.

So with a heavy heart, I must say that the ending didn't quite do it for me and I found my attention waning, which makes me give this a lower rating than I had anticipated giving. Yet I did love how the book started and just hoped for a stronger ending. Though there is another 2 books after this, so hopefully my problems with vanish and Dee will whisk me away to a whole new level :)(less)

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Apr 12, 2013 Bella_eternity rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: borrowed-books

Le début du livre était intéressant, puis l'histoire s'est complexifiée et pratiquement rien ne me semblait clair.

Je comprends que les premiers chapitres sont nécessaires pour donner aux lecteurs l'occasion de connaître les personnes, mais quand on doit attendre plus de 300 pages (sur 488) avant que les deux personnages principaux se rencontrent, je trouve l'attente un peu trop longue à mon goût.

Par contre, cette attente s'oublie un peu plus facilement lorsque l'histoire d'amour se développe.....more

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May 30, 2012 Tasha rated it 1 of 5 stars

I really don't know where to start with this one. I really wanted to like this book, on reading the summary it sounded so promising. Alas, I found it a struggle to get through. Before I say any more I'd like to make it clear that the author of this book can really write, there was absolutely nothing wrong with the writing style, and even the character development was good ... I just really didn't like the characters as people.

Let's start with Eva. Eva lives in current times. She's super intellig...more I really don't know where to start with this one. I really wanted to like this book, on reading the summary it sounded so promising. Alas, I found it a struggle to get through. Before I say any more I'd like to make it clear that the author of this book can really write, there was absolutely nothing wrong with the writing style, and even the character development was good ... I just really didn't like the characters as people.

Let's start with Eva. Eva lives in current times. She's super intelligent and basically a massive geek. That I can deal with. It's expected considering she's going to go to a school for gifted kids. That she didn't really fit in at her old school - again fair enough. However, if being a genius wasn't enough, Eva's also extremely beautiful (apparently boys throw themselves at her and this makes girls hate her) and is musically talented as well. Even her 'flaws' are irritating. Essentially, her family don't understand her. Which again, somewhat understandable. However, it seems to have been taken to the extreme that because Eva got in trouble for skipping school a few times and that she's maybe a little hard to deal with, her mother seems completely uncaring. It seemed a bit forced to me and the fact it was repeatedly mentioned in Eva's narrative made me just want to tell her to get over it. Maybe if I'd liked her more, I'd have cared more ... but I didn't.

Seth is pretty much similar to Eva in that he's essentially perfect. Yes he's a slave and doesn't have his freedom but again, I didn't like him enough to care about his issues. Plus his obsession with Livia was annoying to me rather than romantic.

The book spent a long time on Eva and Seth's back story - which isn't always a bad thing, I like to know everything about characters I'm reading about, for me though it dragged due to the above points. I was also a little confused by the explanations of things. The author was very good at throwing in random knowledge about things and while clearly well researched, often it seemed pointless. Especially as when it got to the parts that needed explanation there wasn't much. Such as the alternative world Seth finds himself in. I still don't really get the hows and whys of that. Neither do I really understand the 'fever'. Maybe this is just me wanting to know more about it - I am a Scientist after all - but I felt that it wasn't fully explained.

While I was disappointed with this book, I have read many good reviews about it, so it's clearly a personal preference thing. Like I said, the writing is good and the concept was intriguing. I was just caught up in disliking the characters and unsatisfied by the explantions of the plot.(less)

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Jun 17, 2012 Laura Summers rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: bcc-received, bcc-reviewed, romance, read-in-2012, young-adult, science-fiction, fantasy

Reviewed for www.bookchickcity.com

FEVER tells the story of super intelligent modern day teenager Eva and Sethos (Seth) a seventeen year old gladiator in ancient Rome. For all of you fellow time travel fans, this book has a nice bit of time travel, although perhaps not in the way I expected.

Our characters have nothing in common, other than their age, and the fact they have both suffered from an inexplicable fever. But the fever they suffer from will bring them together, even though they were born...more Reviewed for www.bookchickcity.com

FEVER tells the story of super intelligent modern day teenager Eva and Sethos (Seth) a seventeen year old gladiator in ancient Rome. For all of you fellow time travel fans, this book has a nice bit of time travel, although perhaps not in the way I expected.

Our characters have nothing in common, other than their age, and the fact they have both suffered from an inexplicable fever. But the fever they suffer from will bring them together, even though they were born centuries apart.

It’s quite hard to write this review without too many spoilers, to reveal anything about the fever or how our characters meet, other than the fact time travel is involved I feel would give too much away. So I shall just refer to events as before the fever and after the fever.

The book is told in from two narrative points of view and is divided into three parts. Eva’s story and Seth’s story, the two main characters don’t actually meet until the third part of the book. This meant that the love story felt like it took a while to take route. There is a love story before and after the fever, and the love story before the fever didn’t quite resonate with me. It felt rushed and naive. As did Seth’s obsession with the ‘love of his life’. But ironically, although it irritated, this obsession made the second part of the love story all the more lovely.

Seth was my favourite of the two characters. He made the greatest journey throughout the novel, not only in terms of time, but in growth of character. Quite literally from gladiator to modern day schoolboy. Eva is complicated. Brilliant, but lost at the same time. She struggles throughout the story to find her place in the world. But I also like the fact that she didn’t fall into the generic high school geek-ette category (I may just have made up a word there ). Also the relationship between her and her mother is just heart-breaking.

The actual fever part of the story was the most fascinating, what is it? Why does it happen and what is the wider implications of it? Don’t expect all of your questions to be answered! It’s a unique and intriguing concept. I like that is a different idea and hope that this is the first in a series rather than a stand-alone novel and we get to find out!

I really enjoyed this book, and actually read it quite quickly. The romance did need perhaps a little more time to be allowed to blossom, and I would have liked the main characters to have met sooner to enable to this to happen. But it was well written and packed with compelling scenes. There are few books that combine scenes from the barbaric gladiator’s arena, complicated micro-biology and high school drama and do it successfully. But FEVER does.

VERDICT:

A well written and interesting start to a new series. I am quite intrigued about the Fever and the clever concept that Shulman has created. Her characters and strong and compelling and it has a lovely story full of promise.

RATING: 3.5/5
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Jul 17, 2012 Lucy Raby rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is utterly brilliant. Watch out Hunger Games, Blood Red Road and other similar books. It's about a modern day teenage girl having a time warp love affair across the ages with a roman centurion. I know Dee as an illustrator/writer of younger picture books (she tutored me on an illustration course at City Lit and was really inspiring and helped me with my own writing), and was amazed when she came out with a long form teen fiction. I am now awe struck by her breadth of talent. The hero a...more

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Nov 27, 2012 Picture the book rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

I think the book is really not good. There are a lot of positive reviews online about this book and I don't understand why. It's characters are flat and predictable. The girl is smart and pretty, the boy is strong and loving. He's from the past, she's from the present. They are so different, yet so similar. With difficult past, misunderstood by everybody, by the families, by the society... There is nothing there that made me want to keep on reading. I stopped on page 100 and don't want to come b...more

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Apr 11, 2012 Catz Doc rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book has everything - suspense, drama, history, romance, science / sci-fi, and after all that it has the promise of more to come - a real page turner. Perhaps not what you want to know that your surgeon is reading when you are about to go under! All my patients seem to have survived since I started reading it though, so it seems that being transported to a different, parallel world is not incompatible with normal functioning in this existence. Can't wait to see where the next book takes us!

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Fever (Parallon Trilogy #1)

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