Name: Sarah Sammis's review of The Electric Heir by Victoria Lee
Item: The Electric Heir
Rating: 5
Author: Sarah Sammis

Victoria Lee

In the sequel to The Fever King, Noam Álvaro seeks to end tyranny before he becomes a tyrant himself. 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.

The Electric Heir

Jenny Simon

Sarah Sammis

The Electric Heir by Victoria Lee is the conclusion to the Feverwake duology that began with Fever King (2019). It's six months after the overthrow of the Carolinia government and the Atlantians have gained citizenship. Lehrer, no longer king, is chancellor and Noam has been his lover in the absence of Dara.

But cracks are beginning to show in this post coup life. Noam has realized how much Lehrer has been controlling him, using mind magic to gaslight him. He finds a way to protect himself but he's still stuck in an abusive relationship even if he's no longer being mind controlled.

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2020/comm...

990066 S/M city off road

this book and these characters are everything to me, i'm in gruesome pain to have to let them go.

Aishling

** spoiler alert **
           Okay I’m still trying to process everything but my initial thoughts are that the ending is slightly anticlimactic but the rest was incredible. Id give it 6 stars if I could

angie

i would like to personally thank victoria lee for breaking my heart repeatedly, i will never get over feverwake.

brianna

”i want to choose you. every day, again and again.”

Chloe C

I'm terribly conflicted.
I loved this duology; i read the two books in like, 3 or 4 days. But being obsessed with it didn't stop me from frowning and gaging and crying over it. Because honestly it was awful, for the most part.
I knew about the TWs, I'd kind of guessed what they would be warning me about beforehand, but I still wasn't ready for what was waiting for me.
It was intense, hard to stand even, and I had to put the book down for like, 1 or 2 hours before I could keep reading. I'm starting to realize now how much I suffered while reading it. It was so real that it became painful, and I feel some kind of bitterness behind the sadness. I will miss it, maybe not get over it easily, but I'm as mad as I'm already feeling nostalgic.
I will always be conflicted about these and I will probably never read them again, but as for now, I kind of miss meeting Noam and Dara for the first time. Despite everything I disliked or was repulsed by in these books, I will keep Noam and Dara a cosy place in my heart. Because I love them deeply, and I don't regret meeting them for one second.
Maybe you should read, if you have the guts to face all this twisted madness. The boys are worth it, and I can even say that they deserve it. But it's your choice to make and there is a chance you could be satisfied with reading the first book. The Fever King was good on it's own, if you decide to give up on The Electric Heir's (happy) final ending.

Flavia Louise

I felt the ending was kind of rushed and convenient. Really still liked the rest. 3.5 stars.

Antonia Sonntag 

well this fucking hurt

(do check out the content warnings before picking up this one) 

Sahi K

CW: depictions of sexual assault and child abuse, domestic violence, references to suicide, and depictions of eating disorders and substance abuse. For more detailed information, please see the author’s website: http://victorialeewrites.com.

As soon as I finished The Fever King, I knew I had to read this sequel because that was a great ending. Even though I’ve gotten used to waiting an year for every sequel, I won’t deny that binging a series is always more fun. And this one was both fun and intense af, and I really wasn’t expecting it. 

I thought I knew where the author was going to take this story but wow was I wrong. They managed to surprise me at every turn, both with an interesting plot that kept me engaged and with the sheer brutality of everything. The world is expanded upon a little, and we get to know more about life outside Carolinia, but I kept wanting more - not that it in anyway lessened my enjoyment of the story itself. We also get two POVs this time, so it was finally good to be in Dara’s head. There are also many instances in the story where the author makes us question if there are any good sides in this conflict, forcing us to realize that war and conflict is usually much more messy and even people with good intentions end up having to do destructive things. However, it was their decision to end the story in the way they did that really surprised me but upon reflection, I think it was just the right choice.

But it was the depiction of abuse and domestic violence, the perpetrators and the survivors that was most impactful about this book. I don’t think I can talk more about it and do justice, but the author’s note about how this book is for survivors who have been gaslighted incessantly into believing that somehow it’s their fault, and that there’s a right and wrong way for “victims” to act, really felt right. We get to read about different kinds of survivors, how they cope and behave and just try to get through one day after another - and it’s a lesson to us all to not judge anyone in real life for doing the best they can. 

Noam... I really don’t know what to say about him. He is still brave and strong but he is also stubborn in a way that prevents him from realizing how much of a deep shit he is in. But being in an abusive environment, trying to play both sides, figuring out constantly what is true and what is manipulated takes a lot of toll on him and I frankly kept waiting for the book to be over so that he could get some reprieve. He suffers a lot throughout the book and it just pained me that he was going on a path that he might come back from. 

Dara on the other hand is the clear headed one this time around, constrained by other factors but more or less in control of his thoughts and actions. Distance has given him a new perspective on the kind of abuse he has suffered and how he was a destructive path using his addiction and eating disorder as coping mechanism, but he is trying to be better now and I admired him. 

Noam and Dara’s relationship is very fraught in this book - Dara pleading Noam to open his eyes and see the truth about his abusive situation, while Noam insisting that he had everything under control. Even when they couldn’t see eye to eye, it was obvious that they were agonizing over each other’s safety, and it really pained me to see them be so painfully in love but unable to truly articulate their feelings. This is a couple who’ve been through immense suffering and all I wanted was for them to finally be able to escape it all. 

We also get to meet some new and old characters and I enjoyed all of them, though my slight complaint from book one remains that we don’t get to know most of them that well. It’s Lehrer instead who gets more time, both on the page as well as in the characters’ heads and I think the author’s depiction of this highly intelligent, charismatic, powerful and manipulative abuser was just perfect and maybe a cautionary tale to all of us that unfortunately many such people exist in real life. 

In the end, all I have to say is that I’m very impressed sans affected by this story. It’s a dark and brutal but ultimately hopeful story of survival, fighting back and reclaiming your life. If you enjoyed The Fever King, I promise this will impress you even more. And if you haven’t read this series but enjoy YA sci-fi stories about young people fighting back against systems of oppression, charismatic villains as well as the demons in their heads, this is the perfect choice for you. This book really is for survivors and I hope, just like the author, that someone out there feels seen and understood within these pages.

Leni Bulat

I just finished The Electric Heir and im broken... in a weird kind of a good way....like im sad but also very happy???? It just hit different, there really isn’t something like the Feverwake series it’s just so good! It made me cry, it made me laugh, it made me angry, and it made me feel all kinds of ways. It will be quite some time until I stumbled across something half as good🥺💕

Paige Green

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!

Leelynn Brady

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Fantastic Flying Book Club, Netgalley, and Skyscape for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.

Lee wasn’t joking when she said that this book was going to be darker than the first. Legit, she wrote that on her review on Goodreads here. A common theme in this novel surrounds abuse, its effects on its victims, manipulation from the abusers. It can get pretty dark and triggering, so please be aware of that before getting into this novel, even if you read The Fever King and didn’t feel that same vibe.

So while speaking on that, I was super hurt while reading this novel, and honestly I really had to compartmentalize certain things while reading this so that it didn’t have a super negative reaction on me. I knew a little bit of what I was looking forward to, but I don’t think I was expecting to feel that emotional while reading this one. Even though it’s a fantasy and usually I can feel less of a connection to fantasy worlds, it still hurts.

I also like that Lee made this into a duology – apparently duologies are becoming way more popular lately when trilogies or sagas were the thing back then – and that we get a complete story after this is all said and done. I feel like there could be other stories involved in this world, and that would be cool to see and experience, but I like that she didn’t drag on the story just have a longer series, I guess. Either way though, I think that Lee is a great writer and I look forward to reading more of her books.

Cristina Cicivelli 

I was lucky enough to get a digital ARC of “The Electric Heir” back in October, and after months of waiting for the right time to read it, I finally decided to make it my first book of 2020. Best decision of the year, indeed.

When we dive back into the story, six months have passed since we left Noam into the not-so-safe hands of Calix and Dara almost dying into an unknown territory: Noam is now Lehrer’s only protégé (lucky with his whole memory back!!! Not good memories, at all, but always better than nothing) and Dara has completely lost his magic. 

Really, how could it go worse than that? Maybe with the help of a plot to get rid of a god-alike leader (that has also an amazing characterization, find me a villain as deadly and fascinating as Calix Leher – I will wait) based on suppositions and a whole bunch of luck? 



In this fast-paced sequel, Victoria Lee has outdone herself. Having loved “The Fever King” with all my heart, the fact I found “The Electric Heir” even better than it was no small thing. 

Maybe it was the double POV (it’s a truth universally acknowledged that I have a super weak spot for Dara) that let us see certain aspects of the story in a pretty unique way and to explore important issues with all the care that it is needed, not once lightly (there was a particular conversation between Dara and Noam that was like being punched directly into the stomach- when you read it, you will know what scene I’m talking about it), and focus better on some relationships (not only Dara and Noam’ one, that shows how harsh can be to heal and to be in love in a situation as difficult has the one they find themselves into in this book, but also the beautiful and heart whelming friendship between Ames and Dara- my broken babies 🤧). 
Or maybe it was the more space given to the best boy in the whole world, Wolf (the love that I’ve for that dog is only comparable to the one I have for mine).

“The Electric Heir” is one of those books that really makes one see what the desire of power can lead to and what people are ready to do for what they truly believe in, in such a brilliant way that pushes us to reflect deeply on the motives and reasons that drive our actions. But really, there are so many good things about it, from the usual amazing world-building (there is a limit to how many times I can say that treating magic like a virus is ingenious?) to a writing style that makes you dive into the story in a way very few authors can do, that I can’t recommend enough to read it.

So pretty please, if you loved The Fever King go pre-order The Electric Heir (and unlock a bonus short-story, more info here) and support one of my favorite authors, it’s worth every penny ❤

Jenny Simon &
The Electric Heir by Victoria Lee

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