Fever Dreams
Dev Solovey
Unveiling Nightmares Press, 2024
ISBN-13: 979-8334417175
Ebook, 111 ppg.
It’s rare I come across a book that is so damn hard for me to put down, and that’s the kind of thing that Fever Dreams did for me. This book was so damn good. Fever Dreams by Dev Solovey was an addictive read for me. It was just so captivating and surreal. Reading the book was like having a fever dream! A lot of it doesn’t make sense, but a lot of it does. And that’s the beauty about this book. For those of us who understand, there’s a lot that we totally get. And maybe that was why I kept reading it.
But that’s not to say that this is one of those “WTF did I just read?” books. It’s not. It’s important to remember what happens in the first chapter. Then things will start to click as one keeps reading.
The thing I loved most about this book is that every chapter is unpredictable. At first, when I was reading it, my complaint was that it was just a bunch of stuff happening, with no story. (There’s a story here, though! I promise!) But that’s the thing I really liked about it, how a bunch of stuff kept happening. I mean, at least there was no stagnation. As the Sparrow tells Thaddeus on page 77, “Neither of us can predict what happens next.” Actually, nobody can. Each new chapter is a surprise.
But this is more than just a story about what happens following one sister’s attempt to sacrifice another. This is a story highlighting attacks on trans people. I know that Thaddeus would hate me for saying this, but it did bring to light about how the media will swoop in, grab the trans victim, then say that the whole thing was a hate crime because the victim is trans. And the discussion at the end of the story is something to think about too. About how trans kids see so many bad things happening to trans people, murder among them, and fear growing up in a world where they could be the next victim. It’s definitely something to think about and I’m glad this is one of the messages of this novel.
Fever Dreams by Dev Solovey was a wild ride to read. It is filled with symbolism and metaphor. There’s a lot of trauma which the character had to endure, and I loved how he changes the narrative by fighting back. This novel is ultimately a story of survival and fighting to maintain one’s identity in a world that continues to persecute it. It’s a short novel that packs a big punch, leaving the reader with some serious and important things to ponder at the end.
Five stars
Disclaimer: I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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