Sever (Chemical Garden) (vuoden 2013 painos)

So in this finale novel in The Chemical Garden Trilogy by Lauren DeStefano, readers will find out that this whole adventure that Rhine has taken was all for naught. Vaughn Ashby still found her, he still decided to test on her, and he also decided to give her a sneak peek into his let's-find-a-cure-whoohoo world. In other words, Fever (the second book in the trilogy) is pretty much a novel equivalent to Indiana Jones' Raiders of the Lost Ark... Sever on the other hand does have a few more positive aspects to it, but not enough to save the trilogy. The writing's okay, the plot drags a bit, but at least it's productive, and then there's an unspoken bipolar issue Rhine has to deal with (probably due to the virus? I don't know) that makes her uncertain about Linden and Gabriel and the marriage ... blah, blah, blah.
Okay, no, I didn't like this book as much as Wither either. It felt lazy, and schizophrenic. However, I still liked Sever more than Fever. Perhaps if it had been a standalone novel (Wither) it might've made a bigger impact, but as a trilogy it didn't quite live up to my expectations.

The ending, in particular, felt rushed. I mean, okay we get to read in book #1 where a thirteen year old girl gets knocked up by her polygamist husband in order to keep the Ashby name from dying out, but God forbid that Rhine (already seventeen at the time of Sever) loses her virtue to her "true love" Gabriel, even though they were both in a drug-induced prostitution ring for a spell. Oh, and yes, hubby Linden isn't in the picture anymore and yet she's pining for the guy. What the actual hell?
No, sorry, if you want to read this trilogy, just stick to the first book and make up your own story about what happens to Rhine and Gabriel once they escape, because I'm fairly certain that most people will be able to come up with a better story in their heads.

(review originally posted on www.tentaclebooks.com) ( )

2.5 stars ( )

I really enjoyed how the characters grew over the three books. Rhine matured, wanting more than just to find her brother, but that remained her main motivation. Linden learned so much. Gabriel did too. Cecily was wonderful. We really get a feeling of closure by the end. ( )

I have been waiting for this book ever since I read the first installment, Wither. Not even kidding. This world has been terrifying to me from the start, probably because it doesn't seem all that out there. I could see us messing with genetics and diseases and inadvertently discovering that we have created a virus much worse than any disease we currently face. A disease that decreases our life spans significantly.

Besides that I have really loved watching the characters in this trilogy evolve and develop so much. Cecily is the best example of that. The annoying Cecily found at the beginning of the trilogy is nowhere to be found in Sever. Honestly, I really think that out of the ridiculous amount of dystopian trilogies published in the last decade, this is by far one of the best.

Enough gushing about the trilogy. You're reading this because you want to know whether or not Sever was a worthwhile conclusion. I'm here to tell you that it most definitely was! Sure, there were some things that really bugged me and one thing that may have made me a tad angry. (If you've read Sever then I bet you know what made me the angriest.) With that said I think everything was resolved so nicely. I'm very satisfied with this conclusion! That's all I can without spoiling the ending, so you better just go and read Sever!
( )

The woman reading this book read so softly and filled with angst that I was interested and irritated at the same time.

I'm glad the series is over, this was a good ending, but it kind of had a Scooby Doo feeling where the bad guy confesses everything in the last act. Zoinks! I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you pesky kids! ( )