Release Date: February 12th 2013
Published By: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 371
Goodreads: Add it to your reading list

Rating: 4 out of 5

Synopsis: 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 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.

Review: Sever is the book where my adventures with The Chemical Garden series all comes to an end, and honestly kudos to Lauren DeStefano for tying up those loose ends in Sever, because it ended in the only way I could have imagined it ending. Perfect.

Lauren DeStefano is a beautiful writer. She has a way of taking any subject and crafting words in a way that you just want to stop to take notice of the paragraphs and sentences she writes. I usually am not one to be so taken in by things like that (I am more of a “get to the heart of the story” type of chick”), but I appreciate good writing when I see it.

I was a little torn with Linden and Rhine in this book. As per the cover, Rhine has her wedding ring off, and based on Fever it’s no secret she wants out of this marriage. They really do have this love/hate thing going on sometimes, and sometimes they act so sweet and tender towards each other that I can’t help but actually really like Linden, as messed up as the whole forced marriage situation really is.

The whole premise of this story from Rhine’s perspective is all about getting as far away from Vaughn as she possibly can and to track down her twin brother Rowan. And along the way we encounter no less than three major twists that turn this story on it’s head and leaves you going OMG. OMG. OMG.

So much happened in Sever, and I’ve given a lot of thought as to how exactly I am meant to review this book without giving any of those spoilers away, because there are multiple huge twists and I feel going in blind is the only way to really feel the effects of the story.

If you haven’t read Wither or Fever, please give them a chance. It’s a fantastic series, very layered and entertaining. I challenge anyone to say they found this series boring!

Quotes:

“We’ll squeeze every second that we can from our lives, because we’re young, and we have plenty of years to grow. We’ll grow until we’re braver. We’ll grow until our bones ache and our skin wrinkles and our hair goes white, and until our hearts decide, at last, that it’s time to stop.”

“We figure out what death means when we’re born, practically, and we live our whole lives in some kind of weird denial about it.”

“There’s a limit to how much living can be done in a life without freedom.”

“When we’re alive, life consumes us. But when we die, all of the color and the motion is gone so quickly, it’s as though it can no longer stand to be wasted on us.”

Trailer: