Book Review: Sever

Title: Sever.
Author: Lauren DeStefano.
Series: Yes, The Chemical Garden #3.
Pages: 371.
Source: Purchased.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster.
Published Date: 2/12/13.
Links:
Book Depository

Summary:

"With the clock ticking until the virus takes its toll, Rhine is desperate for answers. After enduring Vaughn’s worst, Rhine finds an unlikely ally in his brother, an eccentric inventor named Reed. She takes refuge in his dilapidated house, though 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 Thoughts:

Sever is the explosive third and finally installment in The Chemical Garden trilogy, and in Rhine's journey to freedom. After spending deliriously drugged months in the basement of the mansion, being Vaughn's science experiment, Rhine is in the hospital recovering. Thanks to her sister wife, Cecily, Rhine was found and saved.

In the hospital, Rhine learns that Vaughn has put a tracker in each of Linden's wife's thighs, so if they ever did escape, like Rhine, they could easily be tracked and brought back to the mansion. Both Rhine and Cecily are crying for help, and asking Linden to accept the facts. But if, one wife in the hospital after being locked up and experimented on, and the trackers in each wife's leg, isn't enough evidence, the two girls don't know what Vaughn has to do, for Linden to finally open his eyes.

In her hospital bed, Rhine watches to the news, and sees the most unexpected thing....her brother...the leader of a rebellion... She couldn't believe her eyes. He was alive, and he was okay!

While Linden is confused and still trying his best to push off these thoughts, Rhine is happy that she at least has Cecily on her side and there for support, and knows that her brother is still walking the earth. Not wanting to go back to the mansion, Rhine is offered a place to stay at Linden's Uncle's house. Unsure of how to respond or how to feel about the offer of staying with Vaughn's brother, Rhine is a bit hesitant.

But Reed isn't anything like his brother, he is actually the EXACT opposite. Reed hasn't even talked to his brother in years, but has become more of a safe haven for Linden, when he can't deal with being at home. He comes off as a bit stand off ish, rough and stern, but he is also very nice, and happy to have helped Rhine get out of that HORRIBLE place. After spending a few days with Reed, Rhine learns that he expects her to pull her own weight in the household, and help out with chores.

Things are good, but Rhine knows that she still wants to find her brother, and Gabriel.

When Linden and Cecily, come to visit Rhine at Reed's house, Rhine is uncomfortable, and tries her best to stay out of their marriage. She knows she isn't a part of it anymore, and in a strange way, she feels sad about it. But Rhine also knows it's for the best.

But time is running out and Rhine needs to get to her brother. Linden and Cecily offer to come with, leaving their baby in Reed's care. Cecily is a bit worried, that Vaughn might come back and try to harm him, but Reed assures her that he would never let anything happen to her son.

On their journey things seem to run a bit smooth, expect for the awkward marriage moments, where Rhine isn't sure what to do with her hands. But all that quickly changes, when the three run into the same carnival from the second book...

Rhine finds her brother, Rowan, in the middle of trying to bomb up a building. He has to take a second glance before he can even believe his eyes, when he sees Rhine standing right in front of him. Rowan wants to introduce Rhine to a very good friend of his, that has the ability to end this HUGE epidemic of dying at such a young age. Rowan reassures her that his friend knows what he is doing.

Rhine biggest nightmare comes to live when she realizes that Rowan's "good friend", is actually.....Vaughn...

Final Verdict:

Before I can talk about all the things I absolutely loved in this book, and that turned my brain into mush, there are a few things that I need to get off of my chest. And when I need to lift off such heavy weights I like to make bulletin lists....so here's one for ya!

• Gabriel, Where Are You? Where the heck was he? I LOVED him in Wither, and FELL IN LOVE with him in Fever...but where was he in Sever?! I understand that he made a SMALL appearance towards the end of the book, but come on! I was expecting so much more from him. AND so much more from Rhine. When she finally sees him at the end of the book, I felt like Rhine just brushed him off. Like he wasn't there for her throughout the entire struggle of the first two books....Ugh! I missed Gabriel and I was hoping to see a lot of him in Sever...

• Linden, Why!? Why Him? Why Did It Have To Happen This Way? My feelings for Linden were back and forth throughout this entire trilogy. He was so oblivious to everything his dad was doing to his wives right in front of him, in the same house! But in Sever I was almost rooting for him. I was almost even wishing that Rhine would go to him, and ask if she could be with him again. I LIKED Linden in Sever, and that's why my heart was completely crushed when he died. He died in the most useless way, completely random, and has no meaning at all...I was SO heartbroken.

I feel a lot better getting those two points off my chest. And I'm ready to rant about how much I loved Sever! So here's another bulletin list!

• Vaughn, You! With all the evil things he's said and did, naturally as the reader you hate him. But he was the perfect villain! He was smart, he did it for science, and even love for his son. He wanted to end this epidemic and wants his son and grandson to live normal lives, and not die at such a young age. Vaughn was complex, and had real reasoning to what he was doing and I liked that about him.
• Cecily. She was still the young naive girl we meet in the first book, but now with a child and one more on the way. But she grew up in this book, granted, not enough, but she did. She took initiative and even told Linden what to do sometimes. 
• Rhine & Rowan, For The Win! In Sever we FINALLY get the opportunity to meet Rowan! After three books of stories and Rhine's memories, we finally get to meet her twin brother. You have NO IDEA how excited I was. Just like Rhine, Rowan is head strong, and has great love for his sister.
• The Ending.....WHAAAT? I thought the endings to Wither and Fever were completely crazy, but those two combined, are nothing compared to the ending of Sever. I don't want to give away what happened, but WOW is all I can say. I would never have expected it, and I never saw it coming...

The Chemical Garden trilogy, is one of my favorites! This will be a set of books that I will re-read for the years to come. The story is like nothing else I've read, and truly addicting!