Time is running out for Rhine in the conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Chemical Garden Trilogy.
With time 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, and she takes refuge in his dilapidated house. However, 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 on 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.
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Carrie Ryan
Lauren DeStefano crafts an all too believable future. I loved the world, the romance, the writing exactly the kind of book I've been craving to read.
Lisa McMann
"Creepy and elegant, shocking and romantic, dreadful and rewarding, and delivers unexpected twists. It'll leave you longing for book two."
starred review PW
A “harrowing debut . . . DeStefano has an observant and occasionally pitiless eye, chronicling the cruelties, mercies, and inconsistencies of her young characters. . . . It will be intriguing to see how DeStefano develops [the larger world] as this promising trilogy progresses.
Children's Literature - Sandra Eichelberger
In this final installment of the “Chemical Garden” trilogy, Rhine heals while staying with Linden’s uncle Reed, who is the antithesis of his evil brother Vaughn. Her ultimate goal still is to find her twin brother Rowen and finally she has clues to his whereabouts. But Vaughn is not done with her yet; while the treatment at his hands here is not as gruesome as in book two, she suffers it because of her brother and Gabriel. Linden and Rhine’s sister-wife Cecily plays a big part in the book and both grow in understanding and maturity. DeStefano tells of brothels with young girls, girls sold into polygamous marriages, and medical experiments on children and teens that are horrific. She has created a gruesome dystopia and yet the story does not wallow in depression. Rhine and many of the girl victims are resilient and strong. Vaughn’s fixation with her does not quite make sense; and despite the sexual overtones of the dystopian world, Rhine remains chaste and unsullied. That is not to say she is not victimized or abused, but the sexual exploits are part of the background instead of being titillating. The ending of the trilogy contains sadness but offers hope for the future. Reviewer: Sandra Eichelberger; Ages 14 up.
VOYA - Beth Karpas
When readers left Rhine at the end of Fever (Simon & Schuster, 2012/Voya April 2012), she had just been rescued from the clutches of her father-in-law, Vaughn, and whisked away to a hospital by her husband and her sister-wife. At the start of Sever, Rhine is just awakening in a hospital bed, and all she can think of is getting back to her twin brother, Rowan, before he bombs another clinic. Sever is set in a dystopian future where a "virus" kills every female at twenty and every male at twenty-four, and governmental structure is minimal. For Rhine, freedom, and her brother, and perhaps her friends are the only ways to live, and survive. As in the early volumes of the Chemical Garden Trilogy, Rhine finds herself constantly drawn into Vaughn's manipulations as she struggles to regain her independence. This concluding volume explains many mysteries: the chemical garden of the series title, Vaughn's master plan, Rowan's turn to the dark side, the history of the virus, and the decline of the world and its governments. It is a book of backgrounds, tying all the characters from the previous books together, resolving plot lines, and eventually, setting Rhine on a new path where her hopeful tendencies might not be betrayed. Sever is well written and is a satisfying, if not always happy, conclusion to the trilogy. However, it has so many references to characters, scenes, themes, and plot lines from the previous two books, it is not recommended for new readers. This is a trilogy where one must start at the beginning to truly appreciate the conclusion. Reviewer: Beth Karpas
Kirkus Reviews
In the third book of The Chemical Garden Trilogy, readers finally learn what exactly a Chemical Garden is. Rhine has returned to evil Vaughn's compound, reconnecting with her husband, Linden, and sister wife, Cecily. In Bella Swan fashion, she wonders about missing Gabriel, the servant with whom she escaped and found comfort in Fever (2012), yet rekindles her feelings for Linden and their strange relationship. The first half of the story crawls as Rhine once again makes plans to outwit Vaughn and search for her twin brother, Rowan. At long last she has the support of Linden and Cecily, who slowly realize Vaughn's deception, as well as support from Linden's hippie-ish uncle, who lives off the grid. Once Rhine discovers that Rowan has become a celebrity vigilante terrorist, destroying virus-research labs across the country, and the true nature of her deceased scientist parents' work, the pace picks up. Readers, along with Rhine, learn more about the virus that kills off young adults, how American society destroyed itself, how the virus may have been unleashed and Vaughn's secret experiments to find a cure. Ironically, in this rushed effort to tie up loose ends, holes are left in its wake. Fans will delight in the symbolism and clues from the cover, but they will ultimately find the trilogy's conclusion unsatisfactory. (Dystopian romance. 14 & up)
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