Fervor

by Meg Smitherman

He has called to her all her life, but she could never reply. . .

Midonia, a freelance interplanetary transporter, is on thin ice after a fatal accident on the job. So she doesn’t argue when she’s given the tedious task of flying devout Sister Irena to a remote fringe planet, where a tiny religious colony worships a strange deity called Anguish.

Until now.

When a solar flare grounds her ship, Midonia finds herself stuck with the cult-like sisters. Even worse, he comes to her in the night, his familiar voice louder than ever. He invades her mind with his hunger, sparking a ravenous obsession that will be near-impossible to escape.

Genres: Horror, Science Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, Dark Romance, Gothic, Novella

132 pages, Paperback

First published July 30, 2026

About the author

Meg Smitherman writes science fiction, fantasy, and horror books (all of which involve kissing). She studied Creative Writing at Brunel University London, where she obtained both her MA and a staggering amount of student loan debt. When not writing, Meg spends her time playing video games, reading fan fiction, and couch rotting. Based in Los Angeles, she shares her life with a chihuahua, a cat, and a handsome Englishman.

Follow Meg on social media!

Instagram: @megsmitherman
TikTok: @megsmitherman

Reviews

[Laura Greenhalgh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am going to eat up a Meg Smitherman sci-fi/horromance novella EVERY. DAMN. TIME. They feel like a fever dream in the best way possible. I loved the cult vibes in this one, constantly questioning the morality of the characters and of course ANGUISH. I desperately wish this was a book instead of a novella because i couldn’t get enough!!

[Bailee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meg Smitherman has the weird sci fi spicy novellas down to a damn science at this point

[Rachel Louise ☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

you know what? HELL YEAHHHHHH 🙂‍↕️🤌🏼 4.5 stars!! ⭐️

"He is a cacophony inside my skull, the swell of an ocean storm. He is within and without me, filling me to the brim, threatening to undo me."

I had no idea what to expect with this one but let's just say I DEVOURED this 🤭 absolutely loved how atmospheric it was (a complete fever dream), I was pulled in straight away - it was like claws were sunk into me & didn't let go for the whole book. the overall eeriness of it was so good, the plot pacing was excellent & I adored how thrilling it was!!

for such a short read, it really packed SO much into it & I'm genuinely so sad it wasn't longer. like how can you give me this insanely intense, spicy, weird, lusty cosmic sci-fi horror with cult elements & it only be 150 pages? I NEED MOREEEEEEE



pre-read
continuing the spooky season vibes with a sci-fi/horrormance 🙂‍↔️🖤

[Nenia Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I pick up a book by Meg Smitherman, it's never a question of whether or not I'm going to like the book, only how much. Before FERVOR, THRUM was my favorite of hers, but I think this one has supplanted it. Very firmly. There are very few authors who do cosmic horror romance well-- the only two that come to mind are Tanith Lee and R. Lee Smith-- but Meg Smitherman is up there, too. Especially with this book. GOD, this book. Never have I wanted a heroine to burn it all down as much as I did with Midonia.

Ever since she was young, Midonia has been drawing pictures of a shadowy figure that haunts her dreams. By day, she works as a space pilot, transporting people to where they need to go. But right now, she's on probation, after one of her trips ended in ghastly death, which means her boss is handing her all of the shitty jobs as punishment. Her current job? Taking a weird space nun to her commune on a distant planet that's supposedly uninhabited and unsafe.

Well, the first thing was wrong, but the second? Very true. Because Midonia soon finds herself stranded, trapped in this place that's exposed to the elements, surrounded by a giant cliff, a sinister ruin, and a black bell tower that chimes every evening. And a presence-- the one from her dreams-- who's been growing louder all this time. Except he has a voice now, and he knows her name... and he's coming for her.

I read this in less than 24 hours. The pacing was excellent, and Midonia was an incredibly sympathetic morally grey FMC. I also loved Anguish, too. This was almost like if you took the idea behind Legend and made it into a gothic cosmic space horror, with cult vibes, interstellar travel, and fated mates. It felt like this was just a fantastic mishmash of all of my favorite tropes and readers, I ate it up on a silver spoon. I was eagerly anticipating FERVOR for months, seeing the author's promo for it, and I'm pleased to say that it wasn't just worth the hype-- it exceeded it in all possible ways.

5 stars

[Iqra · Rating 2 out of 5]

What in the fuck even was this book actually?

It made absolutely no sense whatsoever which was the only thing going for this book because it was intended to be read that way. Other than that, the fmc? Boring as hell. The plot? Not even worth the 150 pages. The sex? Horrific (derogatory)

Important note: There was no romance babes so don’t even expect it x

[Em (semi-hiatus) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I could see the vision. I just couldn’t see the book.

[ari ⁠♡ · Rating 1 out of 5]

I genuinely struggled to picture what was happening because every scene felt so hazy in my head. That made it really hard to connect with the story, and I finished the novella still not entirely sure what it was trying to do

[shre ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5~4 - more....i demand MORE

she is so good at making you feel claustrophobic, like something's chasing you to make it to the end of the book.

this was cosmic midsommar with a culty plot, gothic atmosphere, and a mysterious and dark fated romance (?). i went into it expecting to feel unsettled, and that's exactly what happened. i'm only giving it a 3.5 ish because, in comparison to Thrum, it didn't leave me AS mind-fucked and wasn't AS unpredictable.

pro tip: i wish i could have finished it in one sitting, this is such a one sitting kind of book.

tw: body horror....

✩✩✩✩

when the world needed gothic cosmic horror romance the most, meg smitherman came to deliver…everybody clap!

[Shannon | readingwithmarlow · Rating 5 out of 5]

reread June 2026 (official arc!!): everything I said before stands. Fervor is officially my new favorite Meg book!!!?

—
another BANGER from Meg Smitherman!!!! Had the absolute PLEASURE of getting a very early copy of this so im forgoing a star rating since it’s technically still being edited but YALL!!!!

CULTS? ALIENS? ROMANCE? MURDER, MAYBE IDK????

In typical Meg Smitherman fashion, I wish this book had been 300 pages longer. How she was able to enthrall me so fast while also making me feel so wildly unsettled is such an insane skill.

This almost felt like it could have been Thrum-adjacent and I am OBSESSED with that idea.

[Lauren · Rating 1 out of 5]

No because WTF did I just read? 😅 I'm so confused.

There are way too many genres mixing together, and it kept taking me out of the story. It's like a dark gothic medieval cross with sci-fi, and I just couldn't get into it.

One minute she's on a planet being told they harvest things and wear nun like clothes and there's apparently no technology apart from a random radio... and then suddenly it's, "I went to my spaceship." 😂 It just throws you off because nothing really feels consistent. Like I knew what I was getting into but to me it just didn't work.

There's also no real build up with the characters. I think because the book is so short, you just don't get enough time to really connect with them or even care about what happens to them.

And then she can't make up her mind from one minute to the next. Even the book ends without her actually making a decision. 😂 Like girl, PLEASE!

And then the spice? WHERE?! Is it in the room with us? Oh, right... my mistake. It was so disjointed that I genuinely couldn't even tell what was happening half the time. I didn't know if he was fucking her with his shadows from the front, the back, or if they were on the floor. 😂 I'm sorry, but it just wasn't good.

Ngl I was sold by the book cover and I really wanted to like this one, but unfortunately... this was a no from me. 😅

[Kseniia · Rating 3 out of 5]

єбаааать це наркоманія 😅 сон при температурі 40

жгг трохи неврівноважена, ні з чим не може визначитися, бігає туди сюди, а може в цьому й «сенс» її подорожі у свій внутрішній світ

як на такий маленький обсяг, тут всього достатньо, не замало, і не забагато

сподобався уривок поеми на початку, він ідеально підходить цьому твору

також стиль письма мені до душі, соковитий і вишуканий😁

[Luce · Rating 4 out of 5]

i actually really enjoyed this, my fave of meg’s books so far and let me tell you why!! our fmc!! she wasn’t manipulated easy, i really bought into her emotions and her actions.

this book is the embodiment of a fever dream. i love how meg blends genres in such a refreshing way and this was a crazy mix of horror and sci-fi, with this otherworldly, lusty cosmic entity.

the ending had me whirling through the acknowledgments like wth?! where’s the rest?! we cannot end on that cliff hanger!! but i guess we are and whaaaaat am i supposed to do now 🤯

[Steph ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this. I think immediately after finishing it, I had some mixed feelings but after sleeping on it, I did like it. I just wish we could have more from the story and the characters. I loved Midonia and I wanted to get to know her more. And its left pretty open ended for the reader to make their own theories on what happens next. I wouldn't be mad to see another book from these characters to be honest.

[purlpur · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️
відчуття, наче мене затягнули в кровожерливу секту. але цей дурман виявився настільки атмосферний і химерно-звабливий, що мені аж сподобалося 🌚
і фраза «її пестив вітер» набула нового забарвлення після цієї історії 😈
хотіла знизити оцінку за фінал. але.. хіхіхі вай нот. тріпувати так на повну 😶‍🌫️

[Ana Campos · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing was absolutely gorgeous, and I loved how immersive and atmospheric everything felt. There was something so unsettling about being thrown into this cult, the obsession surrounding it, and a story that constantly made me question the morality of the characters.

It’s horror with sci-fi at its core, but the whole experience felt like being trapped inside a fever dream. The kind where you’re not entirely sure what’s real anymore, but you're having a great time questioning everything.

My only complaint is that I desperately wanted this to be a full-length book instead of a novella. There was so much potential here, and I genuinely think this story had the legs to become something much bigger.

And that ending? Macabre. Just... macabre.

[Natalie · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

Those two absolute morons squeezed through a smashed stone arch in the ruined cathedral, puffing cigarettes and snickering at the warning sign they had treated like a cheap joke, especially after three days of free coffee and warm blankets from the front desk lady who kept obsessing over their wet coats. Then the driver leaned over the rusted railing, dropped his lit cigarette into the dark, and suddenly spotted every single resident of the nameless town standing below in the moonlight, swapping their knitted aprons for stiff, yellowed rags wrapped around gray, leathery skin. The register guy stood near the altar with his lower jaw completely missing, exposing a black, dry throat where flies crawled in and out, while the front desk broad stared up with milky white eyes and a chest cavity torn wide open to reveal hollow ribs with no heart or organs inside. The driver felt his stomach turn to ice as he realized her breakfast story about a skin-sacrificing squad slaughtering a settlement seventy years ago was not local history, but her own brutal death, and these preserved corpses were just playing friendly hosts to lure new sacrifices for their parasitic blood-god. Right then, the rotting townspeople opened their mutilated mouths to push out a low, inhuman, wet grinding of cartilage and tongue-clicks that rattled the floorboards under the passenger's shoes, sending him scrambling back toward the narrow stairs only to find the wooden door swollen shut in its frame. He thought of his mother, his apartment key sitting on his desk at home, and the sheer, absurd filth of dying in this godforsaken hole for a broken fan belt while the driver slammed his shoulder against the wood screaming "Fuck! Open up!" until his collarbone popped. The wet chant spiked in volume, forcing crude variations of their real names into their ears, and as the driver's mind buckled under the sound, the black coffee in his mouth turned to liquid copper, blurring whether their car had actually broken down on Friday or if they had been trapped on that balcony for fifty years, unable to tell if the black under his fingernails was engine grease or the same gray, dead rot crawling up from the stone.....

Anyway....None of that bullshit actually happened in the novel. That’s just the generic ass creepy pasta nonsense we all heard growing up...or, if you didn’t, congrats on not having an absolute dickhead 14-year-old cousin who decided to psychologically terrorize a room full of prepubescent children during a sleepover. My 9-year-old brain was so thoroughly fried by his little bedtime horror show that I developed a lifelong, skin-crawling phobia of weird flavor-aid-drinking freak-show communes.

So naturally, because I am an emotional masochist with zero self-respect who actively pays money to re-traumatize myself, I saw the premise of this book and immediately sprinted toward the hazard. The second I realized it was dripping in that exact same claustrophobic, suffocating, track-suit-wearing, drink-the-kool-aid paranoia? Oh, I was hooked....I was so fucking hooked!!!

Midonia is a broke, deeply fucked up space pilot dragging her traumatized ass across the galaxy in a cramped metal tin. She is running from a brutal past that left her with massive guilt and a creepy shadowy demon with glowing red eyes that haunts her sketches and stands in her peripheral vision. Desperate for cash to avoid her pissed-off boss, she agrees to fly Sister Irena who's a total religious freak, back to her all-women colony. The catch? This planet literally does not exist on any star map. The second her ship touches down, her radio dies, her comms go black, and she has zero way to call for help. Irena plays the sweet host, promising a hot meal and a soft bed. Midonia is starving, exhausted, and dumb enough to fall for it. The second she steps out, shit goes sideways. The whole planet is a dead rock with zero civilization except for 43 psycho broads in white nightgowns who worship a dark god called Anguish. They immediately restrict her moves, swipe her stuff, and force her onto the floor to join their insane chanting rituals just to get a plate of food.
The bath scene is where the nightmare really takes off. She gets soaked in hot herbal water that turns her muscles to jelly, only to step out and realize someone crept into her room while she was naked to steal her clothes. They leave her a scratchy white dress and ugly-ass underwear. That is not hospitality, that is a whole-ass trap. Then the group prayers start, and things go completely off the rails. A room full of women holding hands starts humming, and within minutes everyone is having a full mental collapse. We are talking sobbing, convulsing, tearing out their own hair, foaming at the mouth, and choking on their own tongues. Midonia stands there suffocating while the chanting unlocks all her buried memories of blood, death, and screaming. She is terrified, edge-of-her-seat thrilled, and completely frozen. These freaks treat her like some special chosen savior which is the oldest brainwashing trick in the book. Meanwhile, the shadow monster starts invading her actual reality, moving from her drawings to a voice in her skull and a physical hand touching her skin.
(In my story, At least when those two idiots got trapped in a ghost town, they were still stuck on actual Earth with a tiny chance of hiking back to civilization. Imagine being stranded on a dead, uncharted rock in deep space where the absolute only form of life is 43 psycho broads in white robes🤡🤡)

Then the author pulls a massive bait-and-switch. After the first few chapters, the terrifying brainwashing squad gets pushed to the background. The weird rules, the watching eyes, and the suffocating atmosphere just vanish. Instead, the plot morphs into this dark, predatory, wildly possessive passion between Midonia and the shadow entity. It is basically two toxic monsters locking eyes and calling their fucked up obsession destiny. Don't get me wrong, I am a filth-loving degenerated mess, so I ate up the horny, sacrilegious madness. But I wanted the brain-fuckery to stay front and center. I wanted the 43 psycho sisters to keep ruining my night and making my skin crawl. Instead, the book trades the psychological terror for a supernatural love affair. It was still hot and deeply unhinged, but the absolute best part of the book got watered down way too fast. I wanted to drown in pure, confusing horror, but the story shifted gears right when it had me hooked.

The final act showed up like a bitch with a vengeance and dragged this book out of the grave by its hair. We are talking straight-up gore, blood everywhere, and vile hints of cannibalism that had me gagging and gasping at the exact same time. I am not dropping any spoilers on who is chewing on who, but just know shit gets disgusting. The kind of foul that forces you to lock your screen and stare blankly at the wall to process the filth. The raw obsession and adrenaline between these two hits like a freight train. Zero sweetness, zero healthiness—just two completely broken, toxic psychos locking eyes and making their issues everyone else's problem. That final stretch single-handedly saved the book, jumping my rating from a boring 2.5 straight up to a 3.5.
The author writes morally ruined characters with absolute perfection. Midonia is not some soft hero or cartoon villain; she is just a fucked up woman carrying a hideous past, trying to figure out if she even gives a shit about her own guilt. And Anguish is a straight-up monster, but one with needy, possessive cravings and a twisted sense of devotion. Plus, the technical sci-fi details are ridiculously sharp, right down to the ship's metallic clicks and cooling engines, which makes the whole nightmare feel horribly real.
I am 100% telling you to pick this up. The sheer psychological brain-fuckery is living rent-free in my head forever. The only reason this didn't score higher for me is because I am a depraved, sick-minded masochist who wanted way more of the psycho sisters, their disgusting group prayers, and their brainwashed zealot routine. That is entirely my own issue, not the book's fault. The story is twisted, gross, and completely worth your time. Just don't go eating a meal while you read it.

Now before my review's word count starts matching the novella's, I would keep my mouth shut but but one last thing, Meg writes spice like dark poetry with teeth. The acts are on but the language is lyrical, sensory, and cosmic....but sometimes even she gives a tonal whiplash with gems like

"MY CUNT WAS THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE"🤡🤡🤣🤣
(Yes, that is a real line from the actual book, no, my brain did not hallucinate it...One squirt and she accidentally birthed three new solar systems, wild💀💀#MySupernovaCoochetteIsLiterallyHoldingTheGalaxyTogetherrr
#KeplersThirdLawOfCoochieMotion
#BigBangTheoryButMakeItAFuckingOrgasm
#CoochieCentricModelCopernicusIsShakingInHisGrave
#SolarEclipseStepAsideTheCoochieIsBlockingTheSun
#TheoryOfGeneralRelativityMoreLikeGeneralCoochitivity
#NASAWhereIsTheFundingForThisSpecificOrbitalBody)

[patricia · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️

Happy Pub Day!!

“Just like you were born to sate me, I was born to sate you.”

call me anguish because this book left me insatiable and hungry for MORE.

holy shit, this was so incredibly good for a novella that’s just over 100 pages. i’ve been wanting to start a meg smitherman book for a while now, and fervor is exactly the type of book i was expecting it to be and more. meg smitherman, i am now your fan, and i will absolutely be rushing to read your other books. i’m even putting meg up there with some of my favorite horror authors.

i needed something to stop me from slumping since this reading month has been pretty mediocre as of late, and, wow, meg delivered. fervor is disturbing, creepy, unsettling, yet so addictive, it had me ensnared from the first page. i was surprised by the amount of emotions it evoked out of me for a relatively quick, short read. for meg to fit all that into a novella is super impressive. it truly read like a full-length novel with just the right amount of dimension and depth added to the characters and world.

midonia was a great FMC. the sigh of relief i let out when we finally got a FMC with a sense of self-preservation, who realizes this new planet she’s found herself in with these overly-devout women with cult-like tendencies is creepy, and wants nothing more than to get the fuck outta there. her backstory was really messed up, and i do not blame her for what she had to do. but i also love seeing her succumb to her feminine rage and more violent impulses, which felt justified after what she’s been through.

the build up in tension and horror was done so well where i genuinely felt unnerved by the characters, writing style, and the violent display of gore and carnage. i was kept on my toes the whole way through, never entirely sure how things would play out. the revelations were so good.

anguish was also such a fascinating character with a surprising amount of dimension to him. i don’t want to say much for the sake of spoilers, but the toxic codependency and mutual obsession between him and midania was absolutely what i came here for. together, midania and anguish are far from lovers. what they have is something more twisted, ravenous and disturbing, yet strangely addictive.

it feels absolutely criminal that this isn’t a full-length novel because i’ve now had a taste of this world and want absolutely more.

huge thank you to meg for letting me be part of her street team! this does not influence my review in any way as all opinions are my own :)

[⋆˙⊹ · Rating 3 out of 5]

cruel ending for a nosy girl like me

[tahaslibrary · Rating 2 out of 5]

this is what your parents think will happen to you if you're a woman and get in an uber. a cautioning tale.

anyways, this sucked. made barely any sense. so open ended i'm still confused. so much non-con all over the place and it's strangely tied to the main plot. like why did any of these events happen? meg smitherman doesn't want me to know.

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meg Smitherman owns erotic scifi horror, but this was probably my least favorite of hers. I wanted more from the scifi elements and Anguish was a bit too generic morally gray shadow daddy for me (which unfortunately reinforces my lack of interest in Deathsworn.)

[bella fazzati 🌟 · Rating 4 out of 5]

meg smitherman just knows how to do it a really good sci-fi/horror novella, and this one with all the gothic vibes? i loved it 😮‍💨🖤✨

[brittany:) · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

This was such a fun little gothic/sci-fi novella! The plot was definitely unique, and the vibes were VIBING. 🖤✨ It was the perfect read for this time of year and such a good, atmospheric palate cleanser to throw into the rotation.

Quick, creepy, intriguing, and just different enough to keep things interesting. Definitely a vibey little read when you want something outside your usual rotation. 🌙🖤

Pre-read:
I heard mix things about this one, but I’m excited to start it!!✨

[Emma McCoy · Rating 1 out of 5]

😭 what kinda temu twilight x Dracula fanfic is this

[Esmay Rosalyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, Fervor is just Meg Smitherman doing what Meg Smitherman does best, by which I mean I have absolutely no idea what the fucked-up feverdream hell I just read, but I kinda loved it. This is a dreadfully dark yet freakishly fun little sci-fi horrormance full of culty space nuns, haunting trauma, cosmic gods, dark desire, and all the feral ‘good for her’ energy, and I still don't know if I devoured this novella or if it devoured me.

At this point, I trust Meg Smitherman so blindly that I didn't even care what Fervor was about before eagerly diving into the chaos, and I honestly think that is the best way to experience her stories. I personally instantly latched onto my morally gray space shuttle transport pilot babe Midonia, and I loved following her as she is forced to spend the night on a remote planet inhabited by a sisterhood who worship a god named Anguish, who may or may not invade her mind and spark an obsession that has actually been years in the making… yeah, it all escalates rather quickly, I am afraid.

The early hints at her traumatic backstory combined with the mysterious cult vibes on this planet created such an addictive air of mystery and intrigue, and I genuinely could not look away even when I was actively crawling out of my own skin from anxiety and unease. I found Midonia just so easy to love and root for, even when she was making decisions that had me questioning my own sanity and morality, and I really loved how powerful her character arc was considering how few pages Smitherman had to work with.

And listen, I can't sit here and pretend that I ever fully understood her budding feelings about the cosmic god Anguish because I absolutely did not, but just when I thought this was going to be a predictable fated mates instalove situation, Meg Smitherman managed to play around with that trope in the most twisted way possible. I mean, I may not have fully felt the feels, and I will admit I skimmed some of the more intense steamy scenes (because apparently I do have limits), but for the love of Anguish… there is no denying that these two disasters are made for each other in every possible sense of the word, and I honestly love that for them.

I do have to admit that I think Fervor could have been even stronger if we’d had more pages to let the world building, trauma, and romance breathe a little, but then I also can’t complain too much because I just had the best time inhaling this in a single sitting. This was exactly the kind of wildly twisted sci-fi horrormance my brain needed at the moment, and I would highly recommend it if you are in the mood for a short but unforgettable read full of female rage that somehow manages to be creepy, horny, emotional, unsettling, and genuinely addictive all at once.

[αиαιƨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

🛸⛪🩸𝓒𝓵𝓪𝓼𝓲𝓯𝓲𝓬𝓪𝓬𝓲𝓸𝓷:𝟑/𝟓 ⭐⭐⭐✩✩

"𝑌𝑜𝑢'𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑖𝑡𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓. 𝐻𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟. 𝐷𝑒𝑣𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛. 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒. 𝑅𝑎𝑔𝑒. 𝐸𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑠𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔, 𝑠𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑢𝑙, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑. 𝐾𝑒𝑝𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒. 𝑄𝑢𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑, 𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡, 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦."

Primera vez que leo algo de la pluma de Meg Smitherman y solo puedo decir que construyó una novela con una estética bastante peculiar, donde se mezclan lo gótico, la ciencia ficción y el horror.

La historia sigue a Midonia, una especie de conductora de Uber espacial que termina atrapada en un pueblo profundamente religioso, donde deberá enfrentarse a la presencia que la ha acechado durante toda su vida.

Sin duda, esa combinación de elementos góticos y de horror le da un atractivo especial a la novela y hace que su worldbuilding resulte muy inmersivo. Si tuviera que compararla con películas, diría que tiene una mezcla de las vibes de Midsommar y Nosferatu.

Sin embargo, el hecho de ser una novela corta terminó jugándole en contra, especialmente en el desarrollo de los personajes.

La relación entre Midonia y Anguish necesitaba más tiempo para construirse de forma natural. Su evolución se siente precipitada y, al final, parece que Midonia toma una decisión de un momento para otro. Creo que el personaje tenía mucho más potencial y habría sido interesante verla desarrollarse con mayor profundidad.

También quiero destacar que la portada es preciosa y refleja muy bien la esencia de la historia.

En conclusión, Fervor presenta una premisa muy original, una atmósfera cautivadora y una estética que la hace destacar. Es una lectura que deja con ganas de seguir explorando ese universo.

[Bon · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

Sadly my least favorite of Smitherman's horror romance novellas. All the elements of the story felt strangely disconnected and barebones, which lead to an overall lackluster experience.

[ohna · Rating 2.5 out of 5]

scifihorromantasy?

[‧₊˚✧lelelvsbooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

and the crowd is... confused?

[Zana · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reads like a sixteen year old's first dark scifi-romantasy novella that she wrote and didn't care about much about developmental edits because she was overexcited about posting it on Wattpad

[Emily-Rose At The Rose House · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 🌟 *pending*

“I feel unmoored, uncontrolled. I feel feral. I feel alive.”

I thought I was done with this book…

Except…during my night at work it snuck into my every thought. Why didn’t it give me the 5 star feeling like her other book Thrum? It was insane, yes, unsettling? Absolutely. But I can’t shake the feeling that I missed *something*

So apparently I’m not done with this book at all.

Diving into an Immediate re-read — this time with the e-book so I can highlight all my favourite quotes and spiral properly.