"I wait. They keep us in the dark for so long that we lose sense of our eyelids. We sleep huddled together like rats, staring out, and dream of our bodies swaying.
I know when one of the girls reaches a wall. She begins to pound and scream - there's a metal in the sound - but none of us help her. We've gone too long without speaking, and all we do is bury ourselves more into the dark.
The doors open.
The light is frightening. It's the light of the world through the birth canal, and at once the blinding tunnel that comes with death. I recoil into the blankets with the other girls in horror, not wanting to begin or end.
We stumble when they let us out; we've forgotten how to use our legs. How long has it been - days? Hours? The big open sky waits in its usual place.
I stand in line with other girls, and men in gray coats study us.
I've heard of this happening. Where I come from girls have been disappearing for a long time. They disappear from their beds or from the side of the road. It happened to a girl in my neighbourhood. Her whole family disappeared after that, moved away, either to find her or because they knew she would never be returned.
Now it's my turn. I know girls disappear, but any number of things could come after that. Will I become a murdered reject? Sold into prostitution? These things have happened. There's only one other option. I could become a bride."
For my full review of The Chemical Garden's Trilogy click the links bellow
Summary (From Back Cover)
Time is running out for Rhine.
Having escaped from Vaughn's mansion, Rhine finds respite in the dilapidated home of her husband's uncle, an eccentric inventor who hates Vaughn almost as much as Rhine does.
Rhine's determination to be reunited with her twin brother, Rowan, increases as each day brings terrifying revelations to light about his involvement in an underground resistance. She realises she must find him before he destroys the one thing they have left: hope.
In this breathtaking conclusion to Lauren DeStefano's The Chemical Garden trilogy, everything Rhine knows to be true will be irrevocably shattered. 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
I only finished reading this a couple of hours ago and I'm still wiping away the tears! This is my favourite of The Chemical Gardens books and I'm going to try and give a non-biased review, but in all honesty, I think I'm going to struggle.
The story itself picks up a couple of days after Fever left off, with Rhine in hospital and Linden by her side. It has quite a slow start in comparison to the other two books with a lot of trying to convince Linden his father's a complete sociopath but once uncle Reed is introduced the whole thing picks up pretty fast. All your unanswered questions from the previous two books are answered and there are more than a couple of surprises on the way. Along with some familiar faces we thought - maybe even hoped - we had seen the last of.
In the past I've been in two minds about Rhine and it's all come down to the fact I have a soft spot for the men in these books. Both Linden and Gabrielle have this naivety to them that makes you want to jump into the page and protect them from all the evil things this world has in store for them. And more often than not Rhine's the reason - even if unintentionally - they're hurting. But in this book you're able to look past that, to really get behind some of the decisions she makes. Because no matter what, you can see her heart is in the right place.
There is one new face in this instalment that you need to look out for and that is Reed - Linden's uncle. Rhine goes to live with him pretty early on in the book so I don't feel bad telling you about him. He's an eccentric first generation recluse who's grumpy mannerisms had me smiling when other events in the book made my heart ache. Although, I was a little worried when he started showing Cecily how to shoot a gun!
Speaking of Cecily, throughout these books she turned from a child playing wife to something I never expected her to be when I opened the first book. She's gone through just as much as Rhine, and learned a lot of lessons the hard way, making her into a strong and independent woman that I hope you all come to love as much as I have.
I don't feel like I can say much more because I don't want to give the story away! There were so many surprises in this book that make you see previous events in a whole new light. There's also moments that will make you cry, moments that you won't see coming. One in particular, that if I had know was coming I would have shoved the book in the freezer faster than the speed of light!
If there was any part that I felt disappointed with it may have been the ending. It wasn't bad, it just felt a little rushed. I would have like another 50 pages or so, to unravel the final events of the books a bit more. But that might just be because I really don't want this series to end. It's well written and will captivate you mind while steeling your heart. If you haven't read this series then I don't know what you're waiting for!
If you haven't done so check out my reviews on the previous books in The Chemical Garden's Trilogy.
Summary (From Back Cover)
What if you knew exactly when you would die?
Running away from her forced polygamous marriage leads 17-year-old Rhine Ellery straight into a trap: a twisted carnival whose ringmistress desires the beautiful and unusual Rhine as her start attraction. But with Gabriel - her lover and fellow escapee - Rhine remains determined to reach Manhattan, find her twin brother, Rowan, and start a life far from the gilded prisons the have confined her.
The road to freedom is long and perilous - and in a world where women only live to age 20 and men die at 25 - time is very precious. And worse still, Rhine's sinister father-in-law, Vaughn, is determined to bring Rhine back to the mansion... by any means necessary.
Review
In Wither you got an idea of that harsh world Rhine is a part of, although with the majority of the book set in the Florida mansion with is locked windows and holographic illusions you don't get to see the whole image. For Rhine leaving the mansion is freedom, but once she and Gabriel have escaped you come too see the full extend of the cruel world outside the gates. Was running away the right decision? After all if she had just placed nice she could have lived the last four years of her life in luxury... but what is luxury worth when you're a prisoner?
First things first I have to say that I feel a little sorry for Gabriel going into this book, he's obviously in love with Rhine and I think she may have started to develop something resembling affection towards Linden. And things don't get better for the poor guy, it's just one thing after another with this book, with the land outside the mansion's gates turning out to be nothing but hell for the couple. But at least Rhine knew what was coming, Gabriel had been told only half truths about the world he now finds himself in.
I really liked the story line with Fever, it's constantly moving forward where as with Wither it was all very much about Rhine's escape. Now outside the gates the evens unravel quickly, with everything developing in an eery way that tells you that nothing is ever going to go right for these characters.
Although being the second book it had some of the classic blunders that sequels have. For instance the way certain character's act in this book were every similar to the character's in the previous book, giving you a serious case of deja vu. Another thing about the writing that frustrated me a little was the amount of times we were told about the musty perfumed smell of the carnival tents and it's tacky ringmistress. You can barely go a page without it being mentioned, and if Rhine had stayed there much longer I don't think I would have been able to cope!
Overall though it's an exciting continuation of the first instalment and shows the reader exactly what this kind of world this dystopai future is capable of. Can't wait to read the third and final book and find out how DeStefano concludes one of my favourite dystopain series.
Official Book Trailer:
If you haven't read my review for the first The Chemical Garden's book Wither that click the link below and give it a gander.
Summary (From Back Cover)
What if you knew exactly when you would die?
In our brave new future, DNA engineering had resulted in a terrible genetic flaw. Women die at the age of 20, men at 25. Young girls are being abducted and forced to breed in a desperate attempt to keep humanity ahead of the disease that threaten to eradicate it.
16-year-old Rhine Ellery is kidnapped and sold as a bride to Linden, a rich young man with a dying wife. Even though he is kind to her, Rhine is desperate to escape her gilded cage - and Linden's cruel father. With the help of Gabriel, a servant she is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in what little time she has left.
Review
I'm currently re-reading this book as I wanted to refresh my memory before I started on the third and final instalment of The Chemical Gardens trilogy. I started last night and I've almost finished. You're thrown straight into the harsh world, that is future America with no apologies or a chance to hide it's forth comings. A dangerous world for women and a concept that feels all to real. The science behind the book makes it feel like this could be a possibility, which in a way makes it all the more heartbreaking.
DeStefano wastes no time getting started, throwing you straight into the story. There's no setting the scene, instead it integrates the back story into the first couple of chapters, dropping little snippets of Rhine's past here and there. Which, makes it a very easy book to get into. When I started reading Wither it had a kind of Beauty and the Beast feel to it, in the sense that there's a young girl locked in a mansion with an a monster of a capture and a handful of warm, loving servants. But as the book goes on and the story begins to unravel you start to connect with the House Governor, Linden, and come to realise the threat is coming from a different source entirely.
Stolen away from her life in New York, Rhine is sold to a rich man named Linden. Along with two other girls, she is forced to marry the rich House Governor. Locked in the Florida mansion, half a world away from her home Rhine becomes close to Lindens first wife, Rose. Rose is at that fatal age of 20.
After Rose passes Linden starts to focus on his new wives. The only relief she has in this world is Gabriel one of the house attendants. The book follows Rhine as she tries to escape from her luxury prison, and Housemaster Vaughn's wicked clutches. But in doing so she discovers things within the mansion she was never meant to see. Will she be able to find away out of this new hell? Or is Linden a kinder man that she thought? Is there a chance she could be happy here? And if so, will she stay long enough to find out?
I'll admit I have a soft spot for Linden. I mean, I don't support buying wives off men in grey coats but at the same time I can think of worse people to be married to. He has a kind heart, and I feel reading this that the real monster in this story is his father, Vaughn. But at the same time I can't blame Rhine for wanting to leave, she has a family that she has to get back to. After all she didn't choose this life.
It's a story full of danger and surprises. A vivid world and written in such a way that you will find it easy to get lost within it's pages. A must read for any lover of dystopian fiction, and even if you're not, it's a great story that will make you wander...
Official book trailer:
There are so many books currently lying unread and unloved around my house at the moment that i've actually put a ban on buying anymore. These are just a few that I'm rather excited about getting my teeth into.
The Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
For people who don't know this is the first book in Cassandra Clare's Infernal Devices series. The books take place in the same universe of Shadowhunters and Downworlders as her Mortal Instruments series. Although these books are set in Victorian England rather than present day New York City.
I hope that the characters in this book are just as feisty, sarcastic and stubborn as their predecessors, as I find that the people are what make Clare's books come to life.
Changeling
by Philippa Gregory
I have nothing but praise for Gregory's books and I am a huge fan of her Cousins War series. Changeling is her debut into the YA world and if it is half as enchanting and captivating as her Historical Fiction then we're in for a treat. Sever by Lauren DeStefano
This is the third and final book in The Chemical Garden trilogy. Set in a world where genetic engineering has gone too far and the females of the population die at 21 and the men at 25. This is the story of a young woman named Rhine as she's snatched from her life and sold to a man who intends to make her his third wife. A really exciting series thus far, can't wait to see how DeStefano concludes this story.
A New York Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin
Now I know this isn't strictly a YA book but I'm looking forward to it non the less! I don't know about you but I'm one of those people who has to read the book BEFORE they watch the film and there's no way I'm not going to see Mr Farrell in this one!
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