km_books's review
4.0
What a beautifully human book.
I've never read something like this before - a series of essays and observations - but I loved every minute of it. I felt connected to Shilo Niziolek through shared human experiences, and there were many a line that had been so poetically written that I was compelled to scribble them down in my prompt book.
A wonderful read if you want to do some reflecting.
I've never read something like this before - a series of essays and observations - but I loved every minute of it. I felt connected to Shilo Niziolek through shared human experiences, and there were many a line that had been so poetically written that I was compelled to scribble them down in my prompt book.
A wonderful read if you want to do some reflecting.
jess_stetson's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Within the pages of FEVER are fractured thoughts and memories of a mind changed and healing from trauma. Writing of her dreams, memories, hopes, fears, and traumas, in snippets - some a mere sentence - Niziolek innundates the reader with stories about love, nature, loss, sex, pain, sensuality, and humanity.
Reading FEVER is a voyeuristic experience. She has flung open the curtains and let the light flood in on those dark places in the soul and psyche and she invites you to bear witness. She has committed to paper things that normally spoken in hushed tones, if at all. She is not asking for input or answers. She is writing to be heard, to be seen.
One moment I feel pained for, and protective of, this narrator who isn't simply baring her soul but is ripping it out and flinging it down in front of me; it is tattered, torn, and scarred. In the next, I am awed by a strength, a resilience, an unassailable spirit that screams with a primal passion. She doesn't need my pity or my help; she is healing herself and while there might be scars they are proof of recovery. She is learning to assimilate them, to own them, and to wear them as a badge of honour.
FEVER is not an easy read; it takes a toll but at the same time has sublime moments of sheer beauty and wonder. This is an incredible collection of emotions laid bare and I was left feeling honoured that Niziolek chose to share herself in this way.
Reading FEVER is a voyeuristic experience. She has flung open the curtains and let the light flood in on those dark places in the soul and psyche and she invites you to bear witness. She has committed to paper things that normally spoken in hushed tones, if at all. She is not asking for input or answers. She is writing to be heard, to be seen.
One moment I feel pained for, and protective of, this narrator who isn't simply baring her soul but is ripping it out and flinging it down in front of me; it is tattered, torn, and scarred. In the next, I am awed by a strength, a resilience, an unassailable spirit that screams with a primal passion. She doesn't need my pity or my help; she is healing herself and while there might be scars they are proof of recovery. She is learning to assimilate them, to own them, and to wear them as a badge of honour.
FEVER is not an easy read; it takes a toll but at the same time has sublime moments of sheer beauty and wonder. This is an incredible collection of emotions laid bare and I was left feeling honoured that Niziolek chose to share herself in this way.
crystals's review
5.0
Fever is a deep rumination on what it means to be honest with yourself. It is also a love letter to the world of writing and explores sexual desire and LGBT themes in meaningful ways. This book is raw and emotional and it takes a lot of guts to write the way Niziolek has here. There are so many quotes that blew me away. This is a brave book and vulnerable in all the right ways.
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