The Electric Heir

Feverwake, Book 2

By: Victoria Lee

Narrated by: Michael Crouch

Length: 14 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2020 Victoria Lee (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“[The Electric Heir] will leave fans of the first book satisfied. An exciting read from start to finish.”—Kirkus Reviews

“The themes of immigration, deportation, racism, and martial law are so relevant…a satisfying conclusion.”—Booklist

“[A] striking, cathartic conclusion to the Feverwake duology…Victoria Lee weaves together a compelling, terrifyingly plausible landscape of revolution with an intricate and original system of magic…Lee’s Feverwake novels remind us that we deserve a better future, that there is real magic in fighting for justice—and that within the fight, we are not alone.”—Tor.com

A Vaccine Against Staying With Your Abuser

(This review has spoilers for whether the main characters are okay in the end.)

I'm not sure if I'm a sensitive reader. I'm definitely more partial to nice romances and dashing adventures, as opposed to thrillers or heavy subjects. For me, this was absolutely harrowing to listen to. I frequently had to pause -- anywhere from hours to days at a time -- before I could listen to it again.

This is a masterful depiction of abuse. Equally masterful is the narration. The character voices are distinct and the way the emotion is acted out is convincing and captivating. Crouch embodied the characters. This was really impressive to me, in particular, because I'm not sure I could read this aloud without vomiting.

I didn't think the trigger warnings applied to me -- thought there was no reason they should -- and I still don't know if the feelings of dread and physical sickness were "triggered" or just empathy or some genetic memory of things my parents had to go through.

That said, do I recommend this? I mean, that depends. Are you up for 14 hours of tension and stress with a few breaks for witty dialogue and pangs of absolute tragedy? I bought this because I read the first book, then I read the Webtoon, then I couldn't stop thinking about the characters and I needed the 11-minute last chapter where they're okay. I think this book ruined my mood, at times. For a little while it made me troubled and difficult to be around. I'm going to draw fanart and I'm going to think about the characters when I write my own books.

This series is a brain worm. An affliction. You will come out of it with antibodies of thought that allow you to recognize that even though someone you care about is charming, loving, tender, and well-regarded by others... That doesn't mean you're safe. If they hit you, you're not safe. Statistically, they'll kill you. The story of Calix Lehrer and Noam Alvaro is painful to read about, but hopefully it will show people in similar situations that there is a way out. You're not alone. This has happened to people before you and they survived and you will too.

There WERE other things in this book besides abuse, tension, hopelessness, and horror.

This book has a little Falling In Love, though I wouldn't read it just for that. These boys can be insufferable idiots toward each other. It's understandable. I love these guys.

There's a little magic. It doesn't really save the day. It IS a pretty cool metaphor most of the time. There's a battle that's pretty cool. The coolness is overshadowed by the debauched in-universe reality of sending a teenager to cut down real humans.

Calix Lehrer -- though my Audible bookmarks are mostly death wishes toward him -- can be fascinating to watch. He defies being a caricature of an abuser. He loves cooking. He laughs with Noam over bad poetry. He has band t-shirts and moments where you might forget he's bad. I was always asking myself if he was faking some aspect of his humanity or genuinely feeling it. His trauma, is that for show? His concern? Watching him is like watching the graceful movements of a spider. He's disgusting, but there are things I wish I understood.

I think the parts that made me happiest were the quirks of the characters. Mainly Noam as he navigated things -- his half-depressing quip about going home and reading Lolita cracked me up, as did his attempt to Bard his way out of being chaperoned around Texas.

I don't know if the rest of this review has been Spoilers, but definite spoilers for the rest of this paragraph: I really loved the chapter where Dara described the night he realized he was in love with Noam. Apparently they had time to get burgers in the last book. The cool slice-of-life things were not given any page time until now. I'd read a whole book of them being okay and arguing a little (but not too much) and falling in love and fixing the world and eating burgers.

All in all, this is more about abuse than about magic. This is more about barely surviving than it is about being okay. There's one part where Lehrer tries to say something seductive and his Really Villainy German Accent made me bust out laughing. The villain will make your skin crawl and the heroes' plans will make you scream.

Read if you love making bad choices for your health or if you need to see someone surviving.

This is amazing

I loooooovvveeeenthis story I came from WEBTOON, and I’m in literal love, it’s so good anyone who reads this listen SERIOUSLY listen to this book

loved this book!

i read the electric heir and the fever king in less than a week. such a great magic filled universe with a different spin than normal.

the character development and their inner monologues were amazing, i found myself on the edge of my seat at times. highly recommend!

Very good! Michael Crouch made so entertaining

Michael Crouch made this book entertaining and kept on listening. That's all I'm going to say.

A worthy read

It was a really good read, but may not be suitable for some readers as it includes some sensitive parts.

Absolutely amazing

This book is an absolute must read if you have read Victoria Lee’s first book The Fever King. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone who enjoys a drama full and emotional story. This book and The Fever King which is the first book of this pair will forever be a reading experience that I will always love.

wow

i read this because of webtoons expecting a good story, but wow this was beyond incredible and i couldn't do anything till i had finished it

So -so

The Stand meets X men meets an R rated Love, Simon. I doubt if I’ll listen again.

This book drove me to drink 10/10 stars

This book was so intense it had me shaking at times! I absolutely loved it, but i have to mention that i havent been this stressed over a book in actual YEARS.

Had Potential

I like the world and fantasy of magic but I think the author focuses to much on the relationships and rape between characters.