Review : Sever by Lauren DeStefano
Sever by Lauren DeStefano
Pages : 371
Genre : YA, Speculative Fiction
Series : The Chemical Garden, book 3
My Rating : 3,5/5
What it’s about :
For now, all Rhine wants is to find her brother. Finding him won’t be easy, but with new allies at her side, she might just have a chance to find him. Facing constant danger and shocking revelations, Rhine and her friends will do all that they can to trace Rowan – and maybe, if they’re lucky, find a cure.
My Thoughts :
Oh. Hum. Ehm.
I’m honestly not sure what I was expecting from The Chemical Garden’s conclusion, but it wasn’t exactly that. It’s hard to put my feelings into words for this one, but after reading Sever‘s last pages, I felt hugely underwhelmed.
Lauren DeStefano’s writing was great. I can’t find fault in her prose: it was poetic and evocative as always, and I plan on reading whatever she writes next for sure. This being said, Sever lacked that little “oomph” the previous book had and that I was waiting for in the series conclusion. Sure, it’s full of twists and important revelations, but I felt like Rhine was so passive in this novel! She was constantly following someone, listening to another, and there was very little place for her own voice.
Everything felt rushed, too. A lot is revealed in the last hundred pages, but it’s a lot of telling in too few pages. Interestingly, this rush of information is opposed to beautifully strong emotional scenes. Grief and loss can take so many shapes, and DeStefano created here powerful scenes with which I really connected. As much as I felt the story lacked a bit of momentum, the emotional aspect of the novel really made up for it.
I also appreciated to see how Linden and Cecily had matured – especially Cecily. Yes, she lost some of her naive side, but she also has some of these moments where she is very much a child. Again, this is something the author excels at, in my opinion : creating realistic and complex characters, who can’t be defined by a single word. This is, more than the story or the worldbuilding, what made The Chemical Garden such a great series for me.
And sadly, I really can’t say more without spoiling everything for you guys! But in the end, yes, I mostly liked Sever : without being mind-blowing, it was a very suiting end to what began in Wither. I am definitely glad I got to read this trilogy, and I look forward to discovering what Lauren DeStefano will be working on next!
Series reading order :
Sorry the series didn’t end on a high note.
Ha, it wasn’t so bad! I still enjoyed it very much, but it just isn’t a favorite. 🙂
I haven’t read the second book in the series yet, so I just skimmed your review, but I am glad to hear that you found this book to have a good ending, and to tie up the series nicely. I must get to Fever soon!
I’ll be very curious to hear your thoughts on the next book! If my memory serves me correctly, I think you enjoyed the first book more than I did. I wonder if our opinions will be more similar or different on the sequels!
1) I had NO idea this series had been completed.
2) I skimmed because I haven’t even read the second book…
3) I’m really sad that this was a disappointment for you. I gave Wither 5 stars (which is pretty rare for me) and was really, really looking forward to the rest of the series 🙁