Thank you to Little, Brown for this advanced reading copy as part of a Goodreads giveaway. 
 High school student Deenie Nash and her family, Chemistry teacher father and hockey star brother, are all shaken when Deenie's friends start falling victim to a mysterious illness. Soon spreads beyond Deenie's group of friends, the illness continues to only impact girls. As the town begins to grow frantic, they look to the easiest explanation, the recent HPV vaccine administered at the school. However, nothing is what it appears on the surface, and secrets run deep. 
 With The Fever, Abbott maintains a wonderfully suspenseful tone. A general sense of unease permeates the novel. With a group of teenage girl victims, a tight knit community, and a quickly growing mob mentality, I found myself drawing parallels to the Salem witch trials. This book does not draw on the trials, nor is it inspired by, but the themes remain prevalent. And any time a mob mentality enters into the picture it can paint a scary picture of human nature. 
 The depiction of high school, specifically girl culture, was spot on and raw. It didn't attempt to sugar coat anything, but neither did it strip these girls of their humanity and complexity. It positioned us right at the time of coming of age for these young women. This confusing time is a perfect hotbed for the craziness Abbott crafts, while also forwarding a strong coming of age theme. 
 The Fever was an entertaining read with excellent prose and interesting characters. The twists at the end weren't unexpected, but neither were they implausible. Overall, it's an engaging and fast-paced read that will be perfect to sink into for its summer release date.