The Random Bibliophile

by Renee Alexis

Renee Alexis
20-something Filipina, an introvert who loves young adult fiction, brush pens, Taylor Swift, and BTS. Coffee runs in my bloodstream.

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2023 Reading Challenge

2023 Reading Challenge
Renee Alexis has read 0 books toward her goal of 30 books.
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The Chemical Garden Trilogy by Lauren DeStefano


The world of fantasy and fairy tales has always captivated me ever since I was a child. When I learned to read, it was books about princesses and castles and talking animals that I really enjoyed. My love for fiction and anything magical was not lost when I grew up. Later on I discovered these "dystopian" worlds and I instantly fell in love. I remember The Hunger Games Trilogy were among the first books that introduced me to these futuristic worlds that fascinated me a lot. Right then, I have embraced and loved these kinds of stories that these awesome authors create.

The Chemical Garden Trilogy are books with gorgeous covers and that was one of the reasons why I picked them up in the first place. The first book, Wither, was published in 2011 while the third book was published in 2013. These have been in my TBR (to-be-read) pile for so long already so I decided to finally read them.

These books are mainly about a sixteen year old girl named Rhine and her struggle to be free from the people who are chasing her. She and her twin brother has Heterochromia and somehow, that was enough reason for a certain doctor to capture them. The story is set sometime in the future where a certain society has two kinds of people - the first generation and the second. The scientists' botched effort to create a perfect race has left the world with males having only a lifespan of 25 years, and females with a lifespan of 20 years. Decades of research yet nobody has found the antidote or cure to this virus. What has Rhine and her brother got to do with this abomination? To read more of Wither's synopsis, click here.

I finished Wither in a week, Fever in five days, and Sever for almost a month. Book one was good, book two was great, but book three became dragging. As I started book one, I was kind of weirded out because I really did not know what the plot was. I am mainly like this, I pick up books with fascinating covers without bothering to read what's inside so half the time, I really have no idea what I'm going to read about. I won't dive in with close-up reviews of each of the three books, instead I will wrap up my thoughts about them as a whole.

The story was compelling but at the same time, troubling. I don't really know genetics and micro-biology so I cannot judge if the backstory of the sciences involved in the book is possible. What I can judge is the run of the story itself. The beginning chapters made me curious on how a girl with different colored eyes came to be the main character of the book. I enjoyed reading through her misadventures. DeStefano created strong characters and tying them up together was wicked. Her plot was undeniably unique, using terms such as "sisterwives" made me really think through if this world would exist in the far future. I say far because I do not want to be in this world! The second book was better than the first in my opinion. It has more thrill and the excitement it gave me made my heart beating faster and faster by the minute. The curiosity and angst piled up until the ending of the book, and then by book three, the story began to drag. The ending though was okay. It answered all of my questions, it had closure for all the characters, it was concluded well.

This wasn't the best trilogy I've read, but it wasn't the worst too. Some people may love this, some people may not. The choice is yours if you want to read it. ☺️


Rating: ❤️‍❤️‍❤️‍❤️‍ (3.5 hearts)

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