Fever

Running away from her forced polygamous marriage leads 17-year-old Rhine Ellery straight into a trap: a twisted carnival whose ringmistress desires the beautiful and unusual Rhine as her star attraction.  But with Gabriel - her lover and fellow escapee - Rhine remains determined to reach Manhattan, fin her twin brother, Rowan, and start a life far from the gilded prisons that have confined her.

  The road to freedom is long and perilous - and in a world where women only live to age 20 and men die at 25 - time is very precious.  And worse still, Rhine's sinister father-in-law, Vaughn, i determined to bring Rhine back to the mansion...by any means necessary.

Again, I was ill when I read Fever (pretty much read Wither and Fever back-to-back), but I still enjoyed following the journey of Rhine and Gabriel now they have escaped from the mansion and the devious Vaughn. 

I thought that Lauren Stefano provided a brilliant take on what happens after the happily ever after of the first book.  Just because you escape prison doesn't mean that you'll be safe outside.  Stefano has even further fractured the world in which Rhine must survive. To begin, the pair encounter a carnival of prostitutes, and this is where the main plot lines are set in place: drug addiction and trust issues between the pair. There's a constant strain put on Rhine and Gabriel because the reality of outside the compound doesn't live up to Rhine's somewhat romanticised stories.  Different, intriguing characters are introduced, as well as interesting and detailed world building throughout(I really enjoyed the description of Madame's Carnival). There's also the constant threat that Vaughn will never truly let his daughter-in-law go.

While Fever certainly avoids the second book slump, I do wonder how Stefano will end her series?  Will Rhine ever be reunited with her twin?  And will a cure be found in time for Rhine and co.?