so anticlimactic. ( )

This did not end at all how I assumed it would end, but it was still brilliant and amazing.

I deeply loved the moving sections between Rhine, Cecily, and Linden. I loved the tenderness shown between every single set of three here, especially as they walk the very grey and wobbly lines between what is *family* and what is *love,* what chance be changed and what is for good. I love the changing shift of sisters all throughout the book and especially at the end. I was moved so many times by the simple tenderness and empathy between Rhine and Linden.

The twists, oh god. The twists. The things we never knew about Vaughn. The things we never knew about Rose, and how that connected to book 2. The things we never knew about what was going on with Gabriel and why. I spent a good half to two-thirds of this gap-jawed. I definitely liked this book a lot more than the second one, after all. ( )

More like 2.5, I have opinions... Lots of opinions ( )

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) ( )

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. ( )