Fever Dream: A Novel

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"Genius." --Jia Tolentino, The New Yorker

Finalist for the Man Booker International Prize!

Experience the blazing, surreal sensation of a fever dream...

A young woman named Amanda lies dying in a rural hospital clinic. A boy named David sits beside her. She's not his mother. He's not her child. Together, they tell a haunting story of broken souls, toxins, and the power and desperation of family.

Fever Dream is a nightmare come to life, a ghost story for the real world, a love story and a cautionary tale. One of the freshest new voices to come out of the Spanish language and translated into English for the first time, Samanta Schweblin creates an aura of strange psychological menace and otherworldly reality in this absorbing, unsettling, taut novel.

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Published Mar 6, 2018

192 pages

Average rating: 6.53

53 RATINGS

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Sue Dix

Mar 14, 2026

8/10 stars

I read this haunting book in one sitting. It is at once horror story and allegory. If you need your books to be straightforward and clear, this is not the book for you. It is compelling and frightening and filled with a vague evil. Is this how the world ends? Is it too late to reverse course?

TBRdiary_

Apr 03, 2026

3/10 stars

I was confused from the very first page. Maybe it’s because I’m not a mother, or because the way the story was told was so confusing, but I was not scared or in suspense once while reading. The book is far too short to be so hard to understand. Only part of the story worth following is the bond between Amanda and her daughter Nina. I was in a Fever Dream reading it. If that is the point, that’s genius but definitely not for me.

laurenkcoffman

Sep 07, 2025

7/10 stars

Interesting read unlike anything I've read before. Eerie, odd and kind of creepy.

a c

Nov 18, 2024

8/10 stars

One thing I find particularly effective in horror novels is how seamlessly atmospheric and surreal they can become without revealing too much. I'm not entirely sure how I felt about this book, but I’m quite enamored with some qualities the author showcased through various scenarios. The protagonist is hyper vigilant about her daughter, yet her vigilance sometimes falters in critical moments of distress.
I also appreciate how the author blends eco-horror with the parent-child relationship, exploring how loving parents might turn their backs on their child after a traumatic experience, associating the child's different behavior or appearance as something sinister. I liked it but I’m uncertain if I liked the quiet ending.
3.75/5

Catherine Lanyon

Aug 22, 2024

6/10 stars

This is a book for people with a good imagination. Lots of avenues to take the metaphors.