It's late summer 1793, and the streets of Philadelphia are abuzz with mosquitoes and rumors of fever. Down near the docks, many have taken ill, and the fatalities are mounting. Now they include Polly, the serving girl at the Cook Coffeehouse. But fourteen-year-old Mattie Cook doesn't get a moment to mourn the passing of her childhood playmate. New customers have overrun her family's coffee shop, located far from the mosquito-infested river, and Mattie's concerns of fever are all but overshadowed by dreams of growing her family's small business into a thriving enterprise. But when the fever begins to strike closer to home, Mattie's struggle to build a new life must give way to a new fight-the fight to stay alive.
Okay, so let me start off by saying that this is most definitely going to be a rant. If you loved this book and don’t want to hear me bash it, then don’t read this review. If you don’t mind hearing my opinion, then continue on and read the rest of this review if you want to. And I apologize in advanced if I appear heartless on this subject. I do realize that thousands of people died during this epidemic, and I really do care about this time in history. I am just expressing my dislike of this book, not my carelessness of this fever.
I read Speak a few years back and really enjoyed it. I have been wanting to read this book ever since I heard of it in third grade. Now, when I think about it, this might have been my most favorite book ever if I read it in third grade. When I found out I had to read it for school, I was really excited and jumped into this book with high expectations. None of them were met.
The writing just made me cringe. I’m not sure if it’s because it was written like it was meant for a two year old to read, or if it was all of the cliches. Now, I do realize that it’s a middle grade, but I just couldn’t understand how Laurie Halse Anderson’s writing could go from beautiful and lyrical in Speak to absolutely bland in this book. I’ll admit, there were a few good metaphors now and again, but not enough to make up for most of the simple words and blandness of the writing.
The next thing that really irked me were the characters. Matilda is very stereotypical and just plain old boring to read about. She’s the kind of girl who wants to show everyone just how strong she is, and how she is grown up and not “Little Mattie” anymore. Now, this would make for a compelling character if she was done right. However, she came of as very whiny and needy; she definitely didn’t convince me that she was able to take care of herself.
I do realize that the fever made people weak, and some things happened within the story to make her whine and cry, but for goodness sake Matilda! Your mother cooks for you, gives you a roof over your head, and lost her husband. The least you could do is respect her wishes and do your chores. Now, fighting with your mother occasionally would be fine, but you don’t need to yell and complain every single time she asks you to do something.
There were more characters that upset me, but Matilda was the main one. There was no character development, and in the end she was still stubborn and stereotypical.
The last thing I want to say is that everything was too easy. The plot was practically a plateau throughout the whole book. The fever is basically the whole plotline, and everything basically turns out alright in the end, with a few minor bumps. I won’t name those because of spoilers. Every time something “sad” happened, I didn’t feel any emotion, either. I was not connected to the story in any way shape or form, and everyone in the whole book could die; I wouldn’t care one bit.
The best part of this story were the characters Eliza and Nell. I did end up liking them in the end, but they still could’ve died; I wouldn’t have cared. Overall, I thought that this book was a humongous disappointment, boring, and bland. While it did give me a bit more information of yellow fever, it didn’t give me much. I gave this book a 2 out of 5 stars.
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