Ever finish a book and know you should write a review for it, but for some reason, the words won't come? I'm currently there with my review for The Fervor by Alam Katsu. It may be because my review will not do this book justice, and a little bit of being so busy, my brain might be a liquid. All my words have been used at my big kid job, and I'm having a hard time using them here.
So here's what's going to happen. I'm going to do my best to give this book the review it deserves. Because I did really enjoy this book, which isn't all that surprising since I always enjoy Alma Katsu's books. They are always a beautiful mix of historical fiction and horror, a little gross and a little educational. I always ended up Googling things with Katsu's books, and I don't mind that at all.
One of the many things I like about Kastu's books is that they definitely belong in horror; they're almost a bit like cozy horror. Where sometimes there's a bit of ick, maybe a job scare here, and every so often you're reading page after page because you've gotten caught up in the suspense of it all. And, while all that was here with this book. That didn't change. The horror part of this book almost feels like a footnote.
While it's there and serves a purpose, and never feels out of place at any time. Never feeling forced. It's not why I kept coming back. Actually, it would have been a reason for me not to come back. I hate spiders; they creep me right out. It's the multiple eyes, the fact that they learn your routine, some of them kind of kill you, some are as big as my cat, and now some drive you insane. So, at any point, would the horror part of this book have been enough for me to go. Nope, not for me, thanks.
But I did, I kept coming back. Multiple days of falling asleep with this book in my hand. My copy is beat to all sorts of crap because I took it everywhere with me. I shoved in my concert bag to go see a K-pop band. Had several people stop me to ask me about the book. It was awesome, but I digress.
What kept me coming back to The Fervor was the story itself and the characters. Even the characters I found I didn't really like, I wanted to see how their story was going to unfold. A few we didn't get to see their fates, but you probably imagine what happened to them. It doesn't feel happy or shiny.
The reason it's different because this book meant something different to Alam Katsu herself. It's a book about her family's past and her heritage. So maybe that changed the way she wrote this book, which made it feel different. Because the story itself didn't just come from her, but from everyone who helped her write. Whatever it was, it was amazing and I so enjoyed it.
It was so uncomfortable at times, but that was the point. It was written to make me feel better about this being in our past. Because it was, but it wasn't. The amount of highlighting I did in this book about parallels of what was happening then, to what's happening it. I'm kind of surprised the book is filled with highlighter marks. Yes, this is a book of fiction. Because I so hope there are tiny, clear spiders with madness in them doing the bidding of a Japanese demon. So much, no thank you.
For all the fiction that filled the book. For all the creepy Asain Folklore in this book. It wasn't the scariest part of this book. It was watching history repeating itself, knowing people were denying it, rationalizing it, and letting it happen. Which makes this book so very important, spiders and all. Which makes this book a thing people should read, even if you don't like spooky things. Because the base of this story, the point of the story, is something we need to read. This is history is something we need to not forget.
So, for that, a huge thank you to Alma Katsu for taking that on. And this review will not do this book justice for everything it was. But it is so good, and it's not staying on my shelves. Highlight markers and all, I'm putting this into a free little library in town in hopes someone else picks up and reads it, and passes it on.
HAPPY READING!!
