The Chemical Garden Trilogy
By Laura Destefano
Wither
Dystopian/ Post Apocalyptic/ YA / Polygamy/
Easy Read
First Person Narrative
7.5 Stars
I went into this book blind, I didn't look at goodreads, I didn't read the synopsis, and while I had heard the name I didn't have a clue what the book was about. I had also never heard of the author Laura Destefano.
I had my doubts about this book when I figured out that it was a dystopian which I love, but has been overdone so much with YA as of late. I was concerned that this would be another spawn of the Hunger Games. This novel had a much different tone, there was no finger to point for the situation, the lack of rebellion by single figure (small group) against government/ impossibly big powerful authority figure was refreshing. The world captivated me, it was beautiful and tragic. I felt for the characters although a (small) downfall of this book was my inability to relate to the main character Rhine. I occasionally found her "voice" whiney is a very immature childish way. I found the author repeated information about her past and brother a few to many times (it would have been one thing if it was new information each time but it wasn't... for instance I learned that her lost twin brother Rowan loved to fish about half a dozen to a dozen times). I find it very frustrating that she never told Linden more about her past as I feel that would have made some very interesting plot twists. This was a little bit predicable in some places but the ending was a surprise. I will definativly be continuing this series.
This is one of the rare sequels that rivalled the first novel. I finally thought that the characters matched the story and the world. During the first book Rhine's behaviour seemed childish and naive there was a whiny tone that I couldn't grasp considering the world she was living in and the life she had lived before. I was left in disbelief and the end of the last novel when she escaped the Ashby mansion. I was not in love with Gabriel and was very much against a relationship between the two of them.
