Review: Sever

Sever
by Lauren DeStefano
The Chemical Garden Trilogy, book three

Book Description:
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.

Review:
Okay, it's going to be a little tough to review this book without spoilers since it is the final book in the trilogy.

This whole series has left me somewhat of an emotional wreck. DeStefano's books are INTENSE. The way that book two left off gave me shivers and I knew as soon as we got Sever into work I HAD to finish the series, reading responsibilities be damned! I even ended up cheating a little bit by flipping to the last page (WHICH I NEVER DO!) to verify that Rhine doesn't end up dying. I just couldn't take the emotional uncertainty anymore...I had to know that she made it!

I don't want to give anything else away, but I will say there were huge highs and lows in this book and that overall this has been one of the few dystopian series lately that I have gotten heavily emotionally invested in. The whole premise felt really realistically possible and I think that I will remember these books for a long time.

Meeting YA Authors Lauren DeStefano and Beth Revis!

This past Wednesday night, January 18th, I was lucky enough to go straight down after work to RJ Julia's independent bookstore in Madison, CT to meet YA authors, Lauren DeStefano and Beth Revis.  :)

If you do not know anything about these authors, Lauren DeStefano (pictured on the left) wrote the dystopian novel, Wither, and Beth Revis (on the right) is the author of the science fiction novel, Across the Universe.  Each of these books is the start of a trilogy and so the two authors teamed up to promote their second books.  A Million Suns by Beth Revis actually came out last week, so I was able to buy a copy and have it signed, but Lauren DeStefano's book, Fever, doesn't come out until February 21st, so I got a signed copy of Wither instead. (For more information about each of the books, click on the title and it will take you to the book's page on Amazon.)

It was super interesting to go to this particular author event, because Lauren and Beth didn't each talk about their own book and then answer questions.  They let the audience ask any question they wanted and then they both answered (and sometimes argued, lol!) and bounced a lot off of each other. 

We ended up talking about how science fiction is becoming a larger trend in YA, how people are interested in reading about characters that live in broken societies (like Wither or The Hunger Games) because we are afraid of what our own government might do in the future, Lauren's really cute shoes and their matching hair feathers, writing in general, and the pressures of publishing a second book.  It was a really fun and interesting time! I felt so lucky to be able to go. Meeting authors is one of my favorite things to do whenever I get the chance. :)

For more information about Beth Revis, you can check out her website, here: http://www.bethrevis.com/

For more information about Lauren DeStefano, you can check out her website, here: http://laurendestefano.com/