Sever

by Lauren DeStefano
4/5 stars
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2013
371 pages
YA Dystopia Conclusion

Source: Library

I fell hard for the cover of first book Wither and while neither it nor sequel Fever completely earned my love, I was engaged enough to follow the series through to its conclusion. I think my main my problems are that I have never fully felt engaged with Rhine who has seemed very removed, that my favorite parts are the interaction with the other sister wives which was most prominent in book one, and that I like husband Linden over servant Gabriel even if she had freedom only in choosing the latter.

My main feeling from this book is that it made me feel like I was in a drugged-out haze too following Rhine around as she tries to find her twin brother Rowan and escape the machinations of Vaughn. She just seems so personality free to me. On an intellectual level, I understand not wanting to be forced into marriage, wanting to find a cure so that you don't die at age 20, and wanting to be reunited with your sole living relative. But I never felt those in the character of Rhine. When I connect with a book, I feel the main character's pain and struggles no matter how much they vary from my own life experiences. Never the case here.

Remember how I mentioned potential love interests Linden and Gabriel? Both get pretty shabby treatment here. If you were invested in romance between Rhine and either guy, I think you will be pretty disappointed. Neither boy's life wrapped up in a satisfying fashion. Vaughn's ultimate fate is the more pleasing one though still strangely anticlimatic to me.

Another disappointment to me is the reference to Chemical Gardens. That is the title for the trilogy and yet I feel like it's only in this book that we start exploring what that means and not even in full detail. I have read all three books and I'm still not sure I could explain what they are. (I think they are where Rhine's parents experimented to come up with a cure.)

As I wrote this review, I realize I pretty much only had complaints and yet I gave it 4 stars. My rating system is obviously a bit bonkers but 4 is really the rating I felt in my gut when I completed the book. While I had hoped for an ending to completely blow me away, I do accept the ending in this book and I am very aware that I've read more disappointing conclusions. Hope is a big theme in the novel and that is what ultimately redeems it for me. I want to live in a world with hope and I like that this book allows for this even if other areas were less than for me.

Other Opinions:
Into the Hall of Books
Katie's Book Blog 
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Fever

Fever by Lauren DeStefano
4/5 stars
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2012
341 pages
YA Dystopia
#2 in the Chemical Garden Trilogy

Source: Library

Spoilers for Wither and Fever within-be warned!

I loved the cover for first book Wither. Seriously, I talked about it a lot. I didn't love the story within quite as much but I was still eager to know what came next for Rhine and Gabriel as they broke out of the compound.

However I realized fairly quickly that I did prefer the setting at the mansion where Rhine was confined with her father-in-law Vaughn, her forced husband Linden, and her sister wives. I don't really like stories where they're constantly on the run, away from something, in this case the threatening Vaughn who will never let Rhine permanently out of his clutches (Note: I do like quest novels where they're going toward something). However they do have a goal of reaching New York so that Rhine can search for her twin brother Rowan.

I don't want to share too much about this plot but I would say that I would break the book down into four parts: the carnival brothel (or as April humorously called it Cirque du Brothel), extended period journeying on the road, arrival in New York and settling down in an orphange, and finally Rhine returns to the basement of the mansion so that Vaughn can continue his experiments on her. For me, the book increased in interest the more I read with me vastly preferring the concluding location, which was haunting and gripping with Rhine on the brink of madness and almost always in pain. Then there was the ending, the last word in fact, which ensured that I will be returning. I was fearful as the pair fled but the menace increased one-hundredfold once Vaughn was a constant presence. We never knew when he would return to try out some other drug on Rhine and the days pass fitfully. It was great!

That is not to say that there weren't great moments throughout. There were some amazing descriptions with color and touch, for example.  At some times, I felt the focus was more on the writing rather than the characters or plot which accounted for a bit of a lag. For people who like that though, this should be an amazing read.

Overall: Honestly I was neutral about reading this second book and only grabbed it because it happened to be on my library's shelf. Now that I am done, I am very glad I did because this was a roller-coaster ride for me and I am eager to complete the trilogy.

Cover: Part of the reason I took so long to read this book was that I found the cover less attractive than Wither. I *love* that purple and still enjoy looking at the cover. This one is kind of busy although if Rhine is holding a tarot card, that is relevant to the plot.

Wither

Wither by Lauren DeStefano
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2011
358 pages
YA; Dystopia
4/5 stars

Source: Received an ARC from publisher

Summary: In the future, the perfect child has been created without illness or deformity.  Unfortunately he will die at 25 and she at 20, resulting in a world where wealthy families buy up poorer girls for polygamous marriages to ensure the continuation of their line.  Rhine is one of those girls bought for Linden by his father Vaughn and taken into a world of immense privilege but without the thing she most desires: freedom.

I really liked the relationships between Rhine and her sister wives.  The interplay of three women drafted into multiple marriage and struggling to figure it out was well-done. Rhine, Cecily, and Jenna had separate personalities and I was drawn to each of them. Cecily, grew up very poor and as the youngest, is also the most eager for this new life. Jenna, as the oldest, bears a particular grudge against Linden and Vaughn and waits only for her death.  Rhine, in the middle, will die at the same time as Linden and serves as a reminder of his beloved first wife Rose.

Oddly Rhine felt the least real to me, despite the fact that she narrated the book.  Sometimes she was worried about her twin brother who has no idea where she is but other times she seemed to forget about him; sometimes she's flirting with servant Gabriel; sometimes she's playing Linden and other times, she's genuinely concerned about him; sometimes she wants freedom and other times she seemed content to remain.  I couldn't quite get a grasp on her and consequently I don't think I like her very much, which is kind of a problem for me.  Linden was also somewhat of a cipher but his father Vaughn was a great villain-he freaked me out, even with very little page-time.

I originally thought of this book as dystopian but I would actually classify it more as science-fiction for a couple of reasons.  One is that almost all of the people are very aware that this is not a utopian world; some are willing to make the best of it that they can but no one really thinks that circumstances are ideal.  Two, the presence of science. Vaughn conducts many experiments on people in order to find that cure and the trilogy is even called "The Chemical Garden" hinting at the importance of science. Three, in my opinion, dystopian novels should have the greatest threat coming from the government with perhaps several characters providing the most menace as stand-ins.  Here Vaughn is clearly the villain and he was a great villain with a very real menace that terrified me but as far as I could tell, he was not a stand-in for the government despite its turning a blind eye to whatever he does due to his talents and riches.  Maybe other people would disagree but that's how I see it.

MINOR SPOILER: I did not like the ending.  I could not believe that it happened with so little violence. I kept waiting for Vaughn to appear and add some real danger but I was left with a bit of a "that's all?" face. I guess it somewhat avoids the cliffhanger ending while still leaving you wondering what will happen next. The conclusion somewhat reminds me of the end of The Graduate where the guy and girl are left staring at each other, wondering "what now?" This ending is a bit more optimistic but as there are two more books coming, their peace will definitely be shattered.

Overall: I didn't really think the book would live up to its hype and cover and I don't think it's by any means awful, but I'm not sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for the sequel.  I'm also not disappointed in the time spent reading this and I would recommend it for the YA dystopian fans out there.

Cover: I know I've talked about this cover a lot so I will hold my tongue for now (But it's sooooooo pretty)

Read for YA Debut Authors Challenge.