Sever (The Chemical Gardens #3) by Lauren DeStefano

Synopsis: "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. "

Title: Sever
Series: TCG #3
Genre: dystopian, romance
Date I Finished: May 17th (I posted it on GR but not on my blog sorry!)
My Rating: 2.5 stars
One Word: Eh
Fave Quote: ?? Like I said I posted it a month ago on GR

Review

Spoiler warning! It's either that I got a lot more mature since reading the first two books or the third book just got a lot worse. A lot compared to the first two books. This series is sadly an example of a series that has gotten worse with each book.

First off, the characters were all over the place. Rowan confused the heck out of me because in Rhine's flashbacks, Rowan is all impassive with an attitude similar to a rock, and then all of a sudden he is so compassionate and animated. No, Lauren DeStefano, please pick one personality for your characters. I know that the reason for Rowan's change in attitude was due to Vaughn's hope for a cure, but that was just too drastic. Linden was bland, Cecily was just complicated, Rhine was annoying, and Vaughn was just so unrealistic with his "I know all" attitude and immature sarcasm. And Gabriel, the only person I like, is in the book for about 5 seconds in total.

Now that I got that over with *phew*, the plot was....so messy. What the heck even happened in this book? Rhine's at one place and then the next she's somewhere else with somebody else and something totally different is happening. Rhine is in South Carolina with Linden and Cecily and then with Rowan in DC or whatever and then with Vaughn in Hawaii and then with Gabriel, etc, etc. It got me very disinterested and I couldn't read for long amounts of time.

The whole Madame business still gets me confused and the fact that the cure was real led to no impact whatsoever on the characters....seriously?!?! It's the freakin cure that they've been waiting for their whole lives!!

Anyway, I gave this book a 2.5 stars mainly because of Gabriel (despite his minute part in this book) and also because of DeStefano really can write "description"-wise, it's just that the plot and the characters were veeery unrealistic.
★★1/2