Title: Sever
Author: Lauren Destefano
Series/Standalone: The Chemical Garden (Book #3)
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia, Romance
Pages: 371
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Book for Young Readers
Year Published: 2013
Format: Hardcover (Library Copy)
First Line: "In the atlas, the river still flows."
"Time is running out for Rhine in this conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Chemical Garden Trilogy.
With the clock ticking until the virus takes its toll, Rhine is desperate for answers. After enduring Vaughan's worst, Rhine finds an unlikely ally in his brother, an eccentric inventor named Reed. She takes refuge in his dilapidated house, through the people she left behind refuse to stay in the past. While Gabriel haunts Rhine's memories, Cecily is determined to be at Rhine's side, even if Linden's feelings are still caught between them.
Meanwhile, Rowan's growing involvement in an underground resistance compels Rhine to reach him before he does something that cannot be undone. But what she discovers along the way has alarming implications for her future- and about the past, her parents never had the chance to explain.
In this breathtaking conclusion to Lauren DeStefano's Chemical Garden trilogy, everything Rhine knows to be true will be irrevocably shattered."
My Rating: 3.75/5
This is the final instalment in The Chemical Garden series. And I was a bit confused by the plot of this one. I felt as though this instalment went so many directions and I wish it just would have chosen one direction to go on. I was confused by some of the author's choices as I felt they might not have been the original plot but were thrown in upon editing. There is nothing wrong with that it just wasn't the direction I thought that this series was going to take. I will say that I love the characters and the growth they go through. I also enjoyed the plot twists and the world. Some of the twists just seemed to come out of left field for me and I wasn't at all prepared (especially when there were only 100 pages left in the series).
All this being said, I plan to read more of Lauren Destefano's works.
Thanks for reading,
Sidny
Title: Fever
Author: Lauren Destefano
Series/Standalone: The Chemical Gardens Series (Book #2)
Genre: Dystopia, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 341
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Year Published: 2012
Format: Hardcover (Library Copy)
First Line: "We run, with water in our shoes and the smell of the ocean clinging to our frozen skin."
"Rhine and Gabriel have escaped the mansion, but danger is never far behind.
Running away brings Rhine and Gabriel right into a trap, in the form of a twisted carnival whose ringmistress keeps watch over a menagerie of girls. Just as Rhine uncovers what plans wait for her, her fortune turns again. With Gabriel at her side, Rhine travels through an environment as grim as the one she left a year ago- surroundings that mirror her own feelings of fear and hopefulness.
The two are determined to get to Manhattan, to relative safety with Rhine's twin brother, Rowan. But the road there is long and perilous- and in a world where young women only live to age twenty and young men die at twenty-five, time is precious. Worse still, they can't seem to elude Rhine's father-in-law, Vaughn, who is determined to bring Rhine back to the mansion... by any means necessary.
In the sequel to Lauren Destefano's harrowing Wither, Rhine must decide if freedom is worth the price- now that she has more to lose than ever."
My Rating: 4.5/5
This series just continues to surprise me. It's not following every other formula that I've seen for dystopian books. I was so excited to see where this series would go and it really didn't do the expected. What I expected was that they would find her brother and set up a plot to attack the government or House Vaughan. Spoilers: That's not what happened. At all. We saw so many different aspects of this world and how people were surviving. Also, the changes in government and laws were extremely interesting. I can't wait to see where the story goes after the crazy conclusion.
Thanks for reading,
Sidny
Title: Wither
Author: Lauren DeStefano
Series/Standalone: The Chemical Garden Trilogy (Book #3)
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian
Pages: 358
Publisher: Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers
Year Published: 2011
Format: Hardcover (Own It)
First Line: "I wait."
"By age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. She can thank modern science for this genetic time bomb. A botched effort to create a perfect race has left all males with a lifespan of 25 years, and females with a lifespan of 20 years. Genetics are seeking a miracle antidote to restore the human race, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have skyrocketed, and young girls are being kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children.
When Rhine is kidnapped and sold as a bride, she vows to do all she can to escape. Her husband, Linden, is hopelessly in love with her, and Rhine can't bring herself to hate him as much as she'd like to. He opens her to a magical world of wealth and illusion she never thought existed, and it almost makes it possible to ignore the clock ticking away her short life. But Rhine quickly learns that not everything in her new husband's strange world is what it seems. Her father-in-law, an eccentric doctor bent on finding the antidote, is hoarding corpses in the basement. Her fellow sister wives are to be trusted one day and feared the next, and Rhine is desperate to communicate to her twin brother that she is safe and alive. Will Rhine be able to escape-- before her time runs out?
Together with one of Linden's servants, Gabriel, Rhine attempts toe scape just before her seventeenth birthday. But in a world that continues to spiral into anarchy, is there any hope for freedom?"
My Rating: 4/5
This story is so fascinating. I love the idea of the world (and by love I mean I'm terrified, but it's creative). The writing in this book was well paced and well written. The characters were easy to fall in love with and relate too (as much as one can in this scenario). I was super interested throughout and I can't wait to continue the series. The one reason I decided to dock a star off my rating is because I know where the romance in this series is going and I just don't really care for it. To be honest I don't want the main character to fall for anyone, I'd rather there just be a friendship. But it's fairly obvious where the romance is going and why.
Thanks for reading,
Sidny
