REVIEW: Sever by Lauren DeStefano (The Chemical Garden #3)

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

My Rating: 5/5 stars 

I love the way Lauren brings to life the story she tells in this amazing conclusion to Rhine's story. The way she starts off the book isn't ordinary, she goes right into where she left off without all the back story nonsense many end-of-trilogy-books have. Rhine is struggling in her relationship with her husband, sister wife and evil father-in-law. Linden, her husband, doesn't want to believe anything she says about his father. Cecily is pregnant (again) and she's more arrogant and selfish than ever. Vaughn won't give up on finding a cure and he'll do so at any cost. Rhine doesn't know where Gabriel is or if he's even alive and she STILL hasn't found her brother. Now they're at Linden's uncle Reeds house, and he couldn't be more different than his brother. Basically, Rhine has to be in a million places at once to fix everything. 

There's many plot twists, I threw my book across the room and yes I'm crying, there called FEELS look it up moments throughout reading this. Despite this, its still a very well written book, with quite possibly the most well wrapped up in a bow ending.  The way the author writes this story makes you want to keep reading. Its basically impossible to loose interest. There's  so many genres in one, its like a old fashioned/dystopian/sci-fi/survival story had a baby. Another thing I enjoyed  so much is the ammount of figurative language Lauren uses, it reminds me of Tahereh Mafi's (Shatter Me) style of writing in many ways. Some of the quotes are deep too like, "Hope, that risky, illustrious thing. It should have gone extinct by now, but we keep it alive...We hope for things we may not get to see, and we hold on with both hands because its one of the few things that can't be stolen from us. " I swear I just got teary from typing that, she's the master of making you FEEL things! 

Now, Lauren DeStefano has taken something away from me that I don't appreciate. I won't say what it is but I cried forever about it. (I STILL CRY) For that I will forever be sad. I must say that Sever is the most perfect title for this book because my heart sure is severed. *cries* This is quite possibly the best, most well written, heartbreaking conclusion I've ever read. You think you know feels?? HA sure, try reading this story. 

*current emotion* 

With that I must say it READ IT!!! Read the entire trilogy, trust me you love it. 

About the Author: 

Lauren DeStefano 

Lauren DeStefano (pronounced: de STEFF ano) is a lawn gnome enthusiast and New York Times bestselling author of some books, which you can find listed below this bio. For the first six years of her life, she thought she was a mermaid and still has her suspicions. When she isn't writing, she is often composing tweets that make as little sense as possible. They can be found here: https://twitter.com/LaurenDeStefano 

Visit her here: http://www.laurendestefano.com/

(Azelyn) 

REVIEW: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

[Synopsis]
Mara Dyer doesn’t think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love.

She’s wrong.

This book was not what I was expecting at all. I was thinking more along the lines of young nobody becomes a heroine when she makes an amazing discovery. But no, Mara is not your typical girl, who has friendship issues and feels like she doesn't fit in. She's so much more than that. She has been through a horrific accident and has somehow survived. Now she has to move and starts suffering from PTSD. Mara also starts seeing things that shouldn't be there, and thinks that weird "coincidences" keep happening to her. Just when she thinks things can't get worse, Noah Shaw strolls right into her life. As the British school hottie, Mara thinks he would never notice her. Yet, why does he have such and interest in Mara and seems to know more about her than she does? 


The way Michelle Hodkin sets up Mara's life is very different, she makes it about something not every teen goes through. It makes you think how scary it would be to live Mara's life, having to take pills to be "normal" and being treated as an insane person. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is not like any book I have ever read, yes people may compare it to several stories but I think it is truly original, and must be read! 

P.S. Noah Shaw is MINE. :) 

About Michelle Hodkin: 

At the age of sixteen, Michelle Hodkin lost the rights to her soul in a poker game with pirates just south of Natchez. Shortly thereafter, she joined an acting troupe and traveled the world performing feats of wonder and mischief. She has been seen on stages nationwide and earned rave reviews for her one woman performance of Titus Andronicus before writing the New York Times bestselling Mara Dyer Trilogy. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer and its sequel, The Evolution of Mara Dyer are available now, and the third book in the trilogy, The Retribution of Mara Dyer, hits shelves in 2014. Michelle currently lives with her three pets and may or may not be a reliable narrator of her own life. 

You can visit her online at:
http://www.michellehodkin.com

[Azelyn]