January 26, 2012

Review: Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Wither (The Chemical Garden #1)
Author: Lauren DeStefano
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: March 22, 2011
Pages: 358
Source: Hardcover/Library

What if you knew exactly when you would die?

Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.

When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home.

But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant she trusts, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limted time she has left.

Review: I really enjoyed Wither! I really liked how this book was unique. Guys live until they turn 25, girls only until their 20. First of all, can I say that sucks! If that really happened I'd be a year and a half away from dying and that doesn't sound much fun to me. It must suck to be one of the girls being kidnapped and married off to bread the new generations just so they can undergo exactly what happened to the generations before them in HOPES of finding the cure. Just hope, no concrete science that might say their getting closer, just hope. I really didnt like how the girls were chosen only if they were "Good Enough" and the rest were just disposed of. The "Disposing" of the ones who werent "Good Enough" was just not right. I really felt for those girls. I also felt for Rhine. I mean yes she was good enough, but who would want to be married off? 

Linden... I really didnt like him at first because I thought he was just a massive JERK for kidnapping the girls, but then as we got to know him my opinion of him completely changed. After we found out that it was Vaughn behind all the bad stuff (like the girls being taken, what happened to Jenna, Rose...) I actually liked Linden a little. Not a lot, but a little. He wasnt as big of a villan as I originally thought. I honestly kind of felt bad for him because of how in love he was with Rose and how much he missed her. GABRIEL! I really really liked him! I loved how he was there for Rhine to talk to and he was just such a good friend to her. I hated Vaughn for sending him to work elsewhere in the mansion after he found out that they were close. I also thought it was so cute how Gabriel would sneak candies from the kitchen to bring to Rhine. I also loved how in the end Gabriel trusted Rhine enough to run away with her, and I'm ecstatic that they actually got away! And with Cecily's help as it appeared! Even though this isnt exactly my favorite book I'm definitely excited for Fever to come out. 

4 Stars!