The Electric Heir, by Victoria Lee
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Series?: Feverwake #2
Publisher: Skyscape
Release Date: March 17, 2020
Length: 505 pages
Source: ARC
Format: Paperback
Times Read: Once
Rating: 5/5
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.
TRIGGER WARNINGS ABOUND:
♥ It’s a fantasy! It’s a dystopian! It’s…actually, it’s a story about surviving abuse and being able to acknowledge that what the characters are experiencing is abuse at all.
♥ There is a really deep and consistent exploration of abuse threaded throughout the entire book and for me, it overshadowed everything else. I still cared about the politics and espionage, and the magic infections and quarantine zones were eerily timely to read about this week. But nothing surpassed the characters. Having a dual POV with Noam and Dara this time was really important, because they’ve almost switched roles. Dara is starting to heal from his lifetime of abuse and domestic violence from his guardian, and can recognize the signs of it starting with Noam. Noam, who had so adamantly insisted that it didn’t matter if Dara thought, or said, or acted like he wanted to be involved with the older men–he was underage, and the whole point was that he couldn’t give consent.
♥ The word “rape” is used a lot in this book, and I appreciated how much Victoria didn’t shy away from it. It’s a dark book, it’s heavy and hard to read at times, and it reminded me of another book I read and talked about recently, My Dark Vanessa. Both deal with looking at how those in a position of power can so easily manipulate those around them, especially an impressionable teen. Vanessa and Noam both go through a lot of denial, unable to admit that their relationship is wrong or abusive. By calling it consensual and convincing yourself that you wanted it, there’s a sense of control, however small. It makes it easier to survive the abuse while you’re experiencing it.
“Maybe it was okay to admit helplessness. Maybe it didn’t make them weak.
Not at all.”
Favorite Quotes:“If Lehrer seemed predictable, that just meant they weren’t paying attention to the right things.”“So you’re telling me that magic is magic.”All quotes are taken from an uncorrected proof of the book
TOUR SCHEDULE Follow along with the rest of the tour here! ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Victoria Lee grew up in Durham, North Carolina, where she spent twelve ascetic years as a vegetarian before discovering spicy chicken wings are, in fact, a delicacy. She’s been a state finalist competitive pianist, a hitchhiker, a pizza connoisseur, an EMT, an expat in China and Sweden, and a science doctoral student. She’s also a bit of a snob about fancy whisky.Victoria writes early in the morning, then spends the rest of the day trying to impress her border collie puppy and make her experiments work.
She is represented by Holly Root and Taylor Haggerty at Root Literary.
AUTHOR LINKS
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17959878.Victoria_Lee
Website: http://www.victorialeewrites.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sosaidvictoria
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sosaidvictoria/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/victorialeewrites/
GIVEAWAY
Enter here to win 1 copy of The Electric Heir by Victoria Lee!
US Only
Starts: March 11, 2020
End: March 25, 2020
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