Wither

By Lauren DeStefano

A stunning debut YA novel, destined to blow the dystopian genre wide open – The Handmaid’s Tale for a new generation.

Sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery has only four years left to live when she is kidnapped by the Gatherers and forced into a polygamous marriage. Now she has one purpose: to escape, find her twin brother, and go home – before her time runs out forever.

What if you knew you exactly when you would die?

In our brave new future, DNA engineering has 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 threatens 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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK
• Release date: Aug 4, 2011
• ISBN: 9780007425464

Lauren DeStefano

Lauren DeStefano is the author of The Internment Chronicles and The Chemical Garden trilogy, which includes Wither, Fever, and Sever. She earned her BA in English with a concentration in creative writing from Albertus Magnus College in Connecticut. Visit her at LaurenDeStefano.com.

Reviews for Wither

[sammusher · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Disclaimer: I only read 4 chapters. This is reasonably well written, if it's your thing. But I am so tired of this formula. Implausible apocalyptic premise (a virus that kills every woman at exactly 20, as though people are ticking clocks?). Protagonist who still doesn't feel like a person 4 chapters in, just a doll to be dressed up. She supposedly hates her situation, but still expends loving descriptions of her sumptuous clothes and food and makeup so we can vicariously appreciate the rich-person porn. Dystopia constructed around restricting women's sexuality, which is supposedly horrible, but most of what we see is a rags-to-riches tale more akin to Regency romance than Handmaid's Tale.

Like I said, I only read the first 4 chapters. It's entirely possible that Rhine develops into an individual and the book turns those tropes on their head. But I was so bored/vaguely disgusted by the first chapters that I didn't keep going to find out. If I'm missing out, please tell me! I don't want to misjudge a book I haven't finished.

[devilwrites · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The premise: ganked from BN.com: By age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. A botched effort to create a perfect race has left all males born with a lifespan of 25 years, and females a lifespan of 20 years--leaving the world in a state of panic. Geneticists seek a miracle antidote to restore the human race, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have skyrocketed, and young girls are being kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children.When Rhine is sold as a bride, she vows to do all she can to escape. Yet her husband, Linden, is hopelessly in love with her, and Rhine can’t bring herself to hate him as much as she’d like to. He opens her to a magical world of wealth and illusion she never thought existed, and it almost makes it possible to ignore the clock ticking away her short life. But Rhine quickly learns that not everything in her new husband’s strange world is what it seems. Her father-in-law, an eccentric doctor bent on finding the antidote, is hoarding corpses in the basement; her fellow sister wives are to be trusted one day and feared the next; and Rhine has no way to communicate to her twin brother that she is safe and alive.Together with one of Linden's servants, Gabriel, Rhine attempts to escape just before her seventeenth birthday. But in a world that continues to spiral into anarchy, is there any hope for freedom?My Rating: Problematic, but PromisingThere are SO many issues with this book. The premise, while wonderful, reveals world-building that's so full of holes that it's hard to take seriously. Perhaps it's a case where those holes will be filled in as this trilogy moves onward, but they're also the kind of holes that will prevent many readers from continuing onward. I know I struggled with continuing for a host of reasons, not just the world-building questions, but because of awkward phrasing, stupid actions or reactions from the heroine, and a overall general sense of emotional detachment from everything that happened in the story. Yet I kept reading because the book is readable, a fast-read despite being character-driven and low on action. I also found the interaction between Rhine and her sister-wives utterly engaging and fascinating, and the world-building on that level was fantastic. So it's definitely promising, though unless I find the sequels in the bargain bin, where I found this one, it's highly unlikely I'll continue on. I'm more interested in hearing how the sequels are received first, and if those world-building holes are getting filled with any kind of satisfaction whatsoever. Some of those holes, there's simply no hope for; others may yet turn into a fascinating story.Spoilers, yay or nay?: Yay. There's quite a lot to discuss, everything from the world-building to the choices the plot makes and why, so if you haven't read this yet and want to remain unspoiled, do not read the full review. For those of you who have read this and/or don't care about spoilers, onward! The link below will take you directly to the full review at my blog. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome. REVIEW: Lauren DeStefano's WITHERHappy Reading!

[strongpieces · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Review also posted The Wandering Fangirl.I'm not sure what it is about the YA dystopian trend right now, but I love reading all the novels I can find, no matter the content. Good or bad, I try to get my hands on them. The great ones (such as The Hunger Games, which is what everyone is aiming for right) know how to create a terrifying, if believable, future, and how to make us connect to the characters as they navigate their worlds. The bad ones focus on boring romances and love triangles and shoehorn the plot in. Then there are the novels like Wither, which fall somewhere in between.I will forgive a novel or TV show a lot if the world building is fantastic. There's nothing I love more than a new world to explore. I love reading how things got the way they did, I love experiencing new societies. I love maps. Holy crap, do I love maps. But I digress. I'll also forgive a novel a lot if the characterization is great, or I'm drawn into a world despite it all.Wither's world building falls apart if you think about it too hard. This great review highlights everything I found wrong with it -- from the gene therapy to the class discrepancies, the details don't make sense when you add them up, and if it weren't for the writing and character work, I would have abandoned this after a hundred pages in.Thankfully, Lauren DeStefano's writing cloaks you in our heroine Rhine's world the way the rest of the world is cloaked from those living in the house of her new polyamorous husband. Seeing everything through her captive eyes and her heart makes the book bearable, even makes it good, because DeStefano has a beautiful way with words. Rhine is fully believable, from her unwillingness to fall for her new life to the occasional bouts of sympathy she may have for Linden, her husband. Her longing for the twin brother she misses and her new attachments to her sister-wives -- the quiet, older Jenna and the eager Cecily -- are written well. And, for once, I didn't mind the inevitable love triangle. It's treated as more like a building friendship, which makes me roll about in glee. So many dystopian romances are built on the boy simply being wrong for the girl, and while Gabriel, one of the house servants, is taboo for Rhine, he's a friend first.Wither is a breath of fresh air in a crowded genre, and I'm looking forward to the second book.

[mrso822 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This review is also posted on Mommy's Reading Break

I’ve had Wither on my TBR list for a while, but I recently started following Lauren DeStefano on Twitter, and after seeing all of the angry tweets regarding Sever (the final book in the trilogy), I knew I had to move this series to the top of my list so I could find out what everyone’s talking about!

I felt like Wither started off with a bang. It picks up with Rhine in the dark, which we quickly find out is the back of a van. Next thing she knows, she’s in a line-up, being examined by a wealthy young man. She is chosen, along with two other girls, and led to the back of a limo. The first chapter was fairly short, but I just loved it. I liked that we were thrown into the middle of this situation. There was no build-up or exposition.

I found the writing style really interesting in Wither. It was slower than I usually like, but at no point did I find it boring. Honestly, it kept me sucked in mostly because I just didn’t know how to feel or what to expect. I was confused, in the best of ways, throughout most of the book. I found myself constantly forgetting certain aspects of the book. First, this book takes place in Florida, in what I assume is around the 2160s. I could be off by a decade or so, but that’s where I figured it to be. Rhine mentions the 21st century a lot, and says that the First Generations were born around the turn of the century. (I think. I may be remembering incorrectly.) However, at times, and I can’t even articulate why, I felt like I was reading a historical fiction. Maybe it had to do with young girls (13-18 years old) being brides, having babies, and living on sprawling estates, but sometimes I forgot that it took place in the future. Also, Rhine is married to a wealthy man, so she is living in the lap of luxury. Who wouldn’t love that? Sometimes, while reading about her day-to-day life, I forget that she was taken forcibly from her home and forced into this marriage, because it just seemed so amazing.

The characters kept me just as unsure about my feelings as the world did. I was never sure whether or not to trust Rhine’s sister wives, Cecily and Jenna. Sometimes they seemed like the best friends Rhine could have, but sometimes there was just something about them that made me uneasy. And Linden, Rhine’s husband. He is such a confusing character. For most of Wither, neither Rhine nor the reader really know what to think of him. He seems to really care about his wives and to be a good guy, but at the same time, he has basically forced these girls to marry him. I was never sure whether he was supposed to be a villain or not. I think my favorite characters in Wither, though, were the attendants, specifically Deirdre and the head cook. I’m not even sure why, but I just found them appealing. The only character I never questioned my feelings about was Linden’s father, Vaughn. He was just a creepy old man!

Due to my fluctuating feelings throughout reading Wither, I honestly have a hard time deciding how I felt about the ending. I suppose, in a way, it was satisfying, given Rhine’s perspective throughout the book, but I had really mixed feelings about it. I’m wondering if that was Lauren DeStefano’s goal in the book: to keep you guessing and never sure who to trust or how to feel. I don’t know. I haven’t read any other reviews of this book, so maybe it’s just me! lol Either way, I was glad that I also had Fever in my possession, and I was anxious to see what would happen next.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading Wither. It was not what I expected when I read the description, but I was pleasantly surprised.

[heatherlinc · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I am always drawn to a great front cover, but unfortunately the book often doesn't meet expectations. Thankfully, "Wither" does. It has a gripping first chapter that's hooks the reader in from the start and although it wavers a bit throughout the story, it is a great read about a polygamous marriage and the relationship between the three sister wives. Added to this, in this dystopian society cancer has been eradicated but at a cost. Girls now only live to the age of twenty and males to twenty-five. Looking forward to the next book.

[oxlabyrinthxo-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was one of the books on my Goodreads suggestions list. All it had to tell me was that it was dystopian, had polygamy, and dealt with kidnapping and stockholm syndrome and I was sold!

Rhine is a sixteen year old girl in Manhattan who lives in a world where science has screwed up and has made it so girls only live till they're twenty and boys until they are twenty-five. Rhine's parents were working on a cure when they were murdered in a terrorist attack and she was left alone with her twin brother Rowan. They take turns sleeping each night to protect their home and each other from thieves and the "Gatherers" who round up young girls to be sold into prostitution and sexual slavery as brides to rich men.

Rhine ends up getting "gathered" with a bunch of other girls and forced to marry Linden. a wealthy governor in Florida, along with two other girls. Far from everything she knows and love she decides that she must escape and return home to her brother. But escape seems futile because the brides are watched and restricted to certain areas of the mansion that is impossible to escape. Her only way out is to make Linden fall in love with her so he will make her the First Wife. First Wives are the favorites of their husbands and get more privileges and freedom than her sister wives. Rhine achieves this goal and attends parties and events with Linden all the while determined to escape with the servant Gabriel whom she has fallen in love with.

This book was good for the first book in the series. I enjoyed the feel of this decaying society clinging to the hope of a cure and the disenchanted older generation that due to science are near immortal and all major illnesses have been done away with. Rhine doesn't feel like a sixteen year old to me but that is easily explained by the world she lives in and the death of her parents. Her sister wives can get a little annoying (especially Cecily but she's like fourteen). That also bothered me a lot. Linden's underaged wife. She's fourteen! Hardly at an age where she can give consent and know the consequences of her actions. She feels like a kid playing house the entirety of the book.

All in all it was an enjoyable book I look forward to the rest of the series because this book has so much potential.

Predictions for the rest of the series: Because Rhine and Rowen have heterochromia (two different eye colors) and because their parents were some big wig scientists I think we're going to find out that Rhine and Rowan are the key to the cure (or are test tube babies/clones and will age and live normally). Rhine will end up with Gabriel (though I would not entirely mind if she ended up with Linden) and Linden's father will be killed by one of his horrible experiments.

[fennecgirl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Interesting concept from an unknown, new author. Nice, quick summertime read and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.

[nevong_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have read this whole trilogy. I enjoy when a writer writes so well they draw you into their world. It's not hard to feel the desolation of being sixteen like Rhine and knowing you'll be dead by the age of twenty. Even in the light of day the tone is dark with more than a hint of sinister. Children having children because that's all there is left. The scene in the truck is devastating. It made me gasp at the disregard for life. The ending was bittersweet. There was one character I kind of wish had made it.

[chelseaknits-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Bleh. Finished out of spite. Can't decide what was more annoying; the lack of logic in the worldbuilding or the weird passivity of the main character. I mean, even Stockholm syndrome would make some sense, but the almost maternal affection for her "husband" was just squicky in the extreme.

[kristymk18-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Initially, I thought this book would be full of suspense and surprises. While that was not the case, this book was still enjoyable and had an abundance of intrigue. What I liked most about the book was the world building and character development. It is very character driven and I found the supporting cast to be well shaped, which is important since they play an integral part in the story. The book cover synopsis gives a great overview and while there are not really any huge revelations or climatic moments, when I turned the last page I was eager to go out and get the next book. A day later and I am still thinking about Rhine's (the MC) world and this is what leads me to round to 3.5 stars.

[littlebookowl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Rated 4 1/2 starsOriginal review from Little Book OwlWither is a beautifully written novel. The emotions conveyed and the world created by DeStefano are all so vivid. The story is heart-wrenching and tear-jerking, the characters leave you with an aching heart, and the dystopian world is so tragically disturbing. I cannot conjure up the right words to appropriately express how talented Lauren DeStefano is. The way that she writes and her ability to simultaneously infuse beauty and horror is just indescribable.The pace of the story was quite slow and calm. This gave way to the character development and world building which was magnificently done. The plot focuses on Rhine's journey to build trust with Linden and his father, as she attempts to undermine them and ultimately escape from the life she has been thrust into. There are plenty of emotional moments, as Rhine develops strong relationships with her sister brides as well as Linden's dying wife.Rhine is an admirable character. Her strength and dedication does not falter one bit, from the moment she is kidnapped. She wants out and that is the only option she will accept. She was so incredibly brave and strong.I will admit, that I didn't like Cecily toward the beginning of the book. She began to grow on me as the story went on but she let of a childish and immature vibe that really frustrated me. On the other hand, I loved Jen the whole way through. Her reaction to her situation was not what I expected from her, but I still liked her personality. She brought out a lot of emotion in me when it came down to some intense scenes.This is really hard to write. I just can't put into words how beautiful the story was. The story itself was quite horrifying, but DeStefano's writing was gorgeous and perfect for this type of dystopian book. She managed to combine these two elements so well.

[sedelia_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This came out during the dystopia hype (which actually might still be going on, but anyway), so I didn’t really have any high hopes for how good it would be — I tend to be cautious towards really popular books, since I’ve been burned a few times by following the hype. :p However, even years later, it still seemed interesting to me, so I decided to at least skim it and see what it was about before outright deciding not to read it.I have to say, Wither is a lot better than I expected it to be. I think there are a few logical holes as to how a society like this would have developed from the problem of short lifespans, but that aside, it’s actually quite a well thought out story about a girl in a desperate situation who tries to win back her freedom. The story itself dragged a bit, but I’m chalking that up to it being the first of a series and hopefully now that the worldbuilding is done, we can get into some really in-depth, complex looks at the characters and the society they live in within the next books of the series.On the bright side however, the characters are well done and I loved learning more about them and learning how their lives fit into this strange world as a whole, and what their attitudes said about the world they’re living in. I also thought that DeStefano did an amazing job portraying Rhine’s internal conflict, where she needed to show that she was buying into her new life in order to win her freedom, but then felt guilty for maybe buying into it a little too much. Very, very well done on those counts.While it’s not on a must-read list or even a definitely recommend list, it is interesting and I definitely want to make a point to read the sequels to see how this series turns out. If it sounds good to you, then I will say that I enjoyed myself, so maybe you will too.Originally posted on Going on to the Next .

[codename5012 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The book takes the reader in quickly and is very engaging.

[lostinthebb · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

'Wither' has a good premise and strong teenaged women characters. The men in the novel are not as fully formed because they are only observed by the the narrator, who is under the control of her father-in-law; her husband is naively unaware of the world outside his home, and her contract with the servant Gabriel is limited. A couple of times something in the the writing seemed jarring and pulled me abruptly out of the the book, which dropped it to 3.5 stars for me. I've already reserved the second book at my library.

[kellyhenk · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book moves very quickly. It is an interesting story, and I am looking forward to reading the other two books!

[nicdar111 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Took me a day to finish it. It was a good book.

[corazie · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I can only really say "meh" when it comes to this book.

The cover is gorgeous, the blurb promised something spectacular and I'm a sucker for a good dystopia-novel.

Only spectacular this is NOT. Not in anyway other than spectacularly bad. It doesn't even start very well and I only continued reading to see if it would get any better. Which it didn't. It just got worse. Much worse. And absurd.

Don't bother unless Twilight is your usual fodder - it's that kind of sub-standard writing.

[lemurkat · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The cover is exquisite, and the writing style rather beautiful. The dystopian world may seem a little far-fetched and rather like DeStefano has tried to be as dark as possible, but her narrative makes it work. Whilst it does move at a relatively slow pace and is devoted more to the development of the characters, rather than being filled with action, it still kept me turning the pages, and eager with curiousity about what else the world might hold. What caused the virus? Will there ever be a cure? Is there more to the world than America?

I suppose I shall have to read the sequels!

[justablondemoment · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I absolutely LOVED this book. The whole world was rather simplistic in it's building as we were not really let in on how things are outside of the mansion walls only enough to understand how the girls were in the situation they were in and bits and pieces about how there lives were before.That didn't seem to matter to me while reading this as it has with other books. I really felt as if I was right there along side the characters and I so love it when I can feel the story as I'm reading it. Can not wait to continue the story and find out where it's going to go next.

[dverdecia-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

There are no spoilers in this review.

I recommend this book. It is a good story. Semi-post apocalyptic, genetic engineering threatens to destroy humanity where Males only live until they are 25 and Females live until their twenties.

This is the story of one Rhine Ellery. A girl living with her Brother Rowan, 16 years old. Parent killed in a tragic accident. She was captured by a wealthy scientist who is trying to find the antidote for the genetic disorder that has taken place. Her purpose? To be one of his son's 3 wives and to produce children for him.

There are many sub plots to this story all interwoven that brings out the human in all the characters. Rhine gets caught up in the day to day of her captivity. She fades in and out of which would be better, a life of poverty and freedom or a life of wealth and prosperity in captivity.

This book has all sorts of interesting characters none more interesting then Rhine's would be father in law...the wealthy but evil Vaughn. Rhine has many adventures inside the mansion as she pieces together what happened to her. How she was captured. Why she was captured and who is behind this entire lifestyle. Seems that Dr. Vaughn is more than he seems and his control over all that goes on in the mansion is extensive.. But how extensive? Does Rhine have the capacity to escape?

Rhine also forms new relationships between his sister wives (the other two girls that were kidnapped into this life) her new husband Linden and a servant named Gabriel. Soon it comes to pass that the lines between love and hate blurr as she starts to have feelings for her husband and is also torn between that love and the love she has found with Gabriel.

I like the way the author interwove the plots. Some of the sub plots I thought were a little unbelievable. I found the author struggling with time, as Rhine has so many precious seconds left as her light was set to expire by her 20th birthday. I thought that the story could have been told in a shorter length and that parts of it were just simply dragged out and went into tangents that it really did not need to go through. And of course, in saying this, there were some sub plots that were just disconnected from the rest of the story so, I was left wondering why they were even included.

I will leave it up to you to decide but even with it's flaws (which I found to be minor) It was a good read. The writing captivated me from the very beginning and it kept me interested enough to move on and say, "what's next?"

Being a guy, I will be the first to say that I was a bit confused as to how Rhine thought, but I used my confusion as lack of knowledge and a willingness to learn. As this story was told from the perspective of Rhine's thoughts you got her opinions only. I felt that this was insightful (as her character was insightful) but it also kept me guessing. I was always left with the thought that maybe Rhine could be wrong or did not have all the information. This made the read both interesting and frustrating at the same time.

So, if you are interested in an interesting plot with good character development, I would recommend this book. Overlook the fact that some of the story is somewhat redundant and you have a very good read!

[laurenkathryn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I surprised myself with this one - I actually enjoyed it.
I mean, I wasn't really expecting to as a lot of my Goodreads friends rated this one extremely low, but you've got to make your own opinion, right?

Firstly, I am a sucker for dystopian stories; maybe this tainted my view but it meant I started out ready to enjoy. I've read that a lot of people struggled to get into this one but something grabbed my attention from the early stages. The characters were believable and I grew to emphasise with their situations.

Maybe I am an anomaly, but I'd recommend.

[rosetyper9 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I seem to be reading a lot of dystopian and post-apocalyptic novels recently. I find that I either love or hate each one that read, there hasn't really been any middle ground. I think that this book is very dark, it has a gothic feel to it, even though it's supposed to be set in more of a futuristic society. That made for a very good juxtaposition and I also found it sort of entrancing. I started this book in one night and I finished it the same night.
I had to get past some of the dark and twisted things in this novel such as the shooting in the beginning, the way the whole world works really, and then the pregnant thirteen year old. I know all of these things sound like "What the hell did you read this for?" but I really liked that the author wasn't afraid to get into the nitty gritty of her world.
I enjoyed Rhine the most. I loved the fact that she never lost sight of what was important and she kept her goals in the forefront of her mind the whole time. I can get behind a women who knows how to persevere. I am really entranced by this novel and can't wait to read the next one in the series.

[jwarren42 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This Review Contains (kind of) Spoilers: Destefano makes a great effort, here, but unfortunately the book alternates between melodramatics and coldness with almost no middle ground. I was extremely frustrated by Rhine's continued insistence that she get back to her brother, but then seeming acceptance of her captivity even beyond what her plan calls for. In the end, her escape is far too simple to justify the previous 300 pages of angst. There are moments of brilliance here, just not enough of them.

[glitzandshadows · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The first thing i noticed about this book is the cover (lol, oh gosh that's such a stupidly obvious statement). It's so pretty. Like, I kept closing the book and looking at the cover because it's so captivating and perfect. Now, in my experience, when a book has a cover like this that means that it has a lot of expectation to live up to, and, well, a lot of times the books don't live up to their fantastic covers. I was so pleasantly surprised when from the very first pages i was greeted with a story that was captivating.
Another thing that made me suspect whether i would enjoy this right off was the content. I'm not a huge fan on plotlines that deal with fertility and marriage and things like that. So, i was a little unsure when i saw the words 'sister wives.'
Thankfully though, this book blew away any doubts i may have had about it on sole basis of the synopsis. Even from the very beginning my first thought was how pretty this book was. The setting was pretty and the characters were pretty and the writing was just pretty. It was flowery without being wordy and too much (if that makes any sense AT ALL).
The story is set in a future where every generation dies when the women hit age twenty and the men hit twenty five. There is one generation, the first generation they're called, who were not born with this defect and thus are scrambling for a way to fix this deadly defect in the younger generations. To do that, girls are kidnapped off the streets to be wives for rich men. Their aim to find a cure for the 'ailment' through their children. I admit it, i was a little put off when the idea of sister wives came in and Rhine was married by the third chapter.
The story won me over with it's progression, however. Rhine is determined to escape and return to her twin brother, no matter what. Even when the mansion is at it's most alluring and Rhine even suspects that she has fallen in love with her husband Linden, she still wants freedom. Over all she will do anything for freedom. I appreciated how that was always at the forefront of her mind, that she didn't let herself forget. Because it would have been quite easy for half the book to have Rhine 'planning' her escape but because she wasn't thinking about it, it would seem like she was merely resigning to her fate. (This book is in first person, so i must say i did end up liking Rhine and thinking that she had a distinct personality.)
Another thing i appreciated was that each of the three wives were so very distinctly different. Rhine was the one who aspired to be the 'favourite wife' simply so that she could better plan her escape. Jenna was the eldest and closest to her final years. She hated Linden and his father so much that she became the resigned wife, the one that never grew attached or close to their husband. Cecily was the youngest wife, a fiery, short tempered orphan who's dreams came true with this marriage. I ended up liking all three of the girls by the end, because they were all so very distinctly characterised.
What struck me the most, though, was Rhine's progression as a character throughout the book. At the beginning, her narration sounded like the narration from a scared sixteen year old girl who was just kidnapped and about to be married to a stranger. By the end her narration sounded like a mature young woman who had been held captive and learned to deal with it and find her escape and freedom. She matured as a character so beautifully, and well, especially for a short YA novel that i devoured in one day.
The world and setting left me fascinated and wanting more, especially as we only saw a very small glimpse of it through Linden's mansion. The writing was lovely and enjoyed every minute of it.

[loftyislanders · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is kinda depressing, another dystopian book. It has less of a revolution, and more of one girls plight to live her life. In this society a virus has stopped girls from living past 20 and boys die at 25. Rhyne lives with her twin in what is left of Manhattan until she is kidnapped and forced to marry a wealthy house governor. While she plots her escape she becuase friends with her sister wives and has a thing for one of the servants. She finds out that her father-in-law is plotting something evil and she must get away. But time is running out and she is very far from home. I found this book intriguing, mostly because the author is so descriptive and I have been listening to an audible version. On to book two!

[dharma05_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I came across this in paperback at a cheap shop for $2. I thought what the heck, might be o.k. Well I couldn't put it down. I had never heard of this author or this series of books. I surprised myself, enjoying every minute of it. In fact I ordered the other 2 in the series, and they were in hardback, but have yet to read them. I felt I was kind of too old to really enjoy this, and maybe it was more for teenagers, but there you go. A bit of fantasy, a bit of disaster movie type theme, looking forward to seeing what happens next.

[lovelylime · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The First Generation was genetically enhanced at birth to be healthier, stronger, and live longer. The result? Their children and their children's children all die. Girls die at 20. Guys live to be 25. The Virus doesn't discriminate. Now there's two sides--people who want to find an antidote, who continue to have babies, and those that just want to let the human race die out.

Rhine and her twin brother are children of two First Generation, who were working towards a cure when they died because of a protest against their research. Her brother does the best to take care of her, but she's taken by the Gatherers, people who snatch up young girls old enough to bare children--from streets, from orphanages, and even from their own beds. From there, they're sold into prostitution, killed, or sold as brides.

Rhine's story is a heartbreaking one as she navigates through a marriage she never wanted to be a part of, with a sweet but naive husband who she can never love, continuously pursuing freedom from a situation that seems hopeless with the ever looming threat of a short, short life.

[liveshipvivacia · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It was good, but good Lord, it was one of the most depressing things I've read in a while. There was a combination of factors for why- one, the girls only live to twenty and the guys live to twenty five. I'm twenty four and I kept thinking, "In that world, I'd be dead." It's so horrible to think of these children, because children they are, at sixteen only having four years left. For another thing, they don't even attend school because it's a waste. Third- a thirteen year old bearing a twenty year old's child because they're searching desperately for an antidote, even while people are starting to lose hope there is one. Adding the three things together and you contribute to the overall feel of the novel.

There's the atmosphere of hopelessness. It feels hopeless that anyone will survive (people will die from Gothic novelism). It's hopeless that Rhine and Rowan will live beyond their prescribed times. It's hopeless that Rhine will ever escape, be with Gabriel, and see Rowan again. She'll always be confined, away from the people she needs, and that a grim fate awaits her with no chance for happiness before it.

Even the ending didn't feel quite like they were free. It feels like Vaughn is lingering, waiting to swoop down on them. Poor, poor Rhine and Gabriel. And Jenna.

Rhine didn't think Cecily's motives at the end were genuine, but I think she, in her twisted way, realized what she'd really done. I just wish that these children could be children.

I think that's the greatest crime of all in this series. Children have no childhood. There is no such thing as adolescence anymore and parents aren't really parents. No one survives to see their children grow.

So depressing. Just horribly depressing.

[lyrrael · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book has just driven me nuts in the most polite way.

The ending felt..sort of abrupt. I don't know why. And I just can't get past the fact that she never just..told Linden about her life. About the truth. About the fact that Rhine had a brother, that Jenna's sisters were murdered, that all the girls were kidnapped and the rejects were discarded. I can't get past the fact that if he'd just known the reality that he would have made changes. That he'd have been horrified. And there was really no reason NOT to tell him. Vaughn couldn't have done anything about it once Linden knew. And that really, really bothers me. And the book took way too much suspension of disbelief -- so she's first wife but they've never consummated? O.o Really? And no details about the virus at all.

Calling this A Handmaid's Tale for kids is a good comparison, but A Handmaid's Tale took very little suspension of disbelief -- that's what made it so frightening. This was just frustrating.

[floratina · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

READ IN DUTCH

Another Dystopian YA that hit the bookshops and my library after the success of The Hunger Games.



I had some problems with the genetics part of this book, as a training Biomedical Scientist. With advancing technology a way is found to cure people from all diseases. The only downside to this wonderful plan is that the offspring of this improved people happen to die at the age of 20 or 25 for females and males respectively. It's a strange disease, just kicking in after said birthday, and you will wither. (But no explanation on what kind of disease this is supposed to be, did they create a gene that can actually read a calender or count the candles on your birthday cake?)

Making sure you don't get diseases is a serious threat to your offspring it would seem, as this is also has a similar effect in TV-series Spellbinder which I liked to watch as a child.

The problem is set to be genetic, so why are they trying to make an antidote? Should another genetic manipulation not suffice? This is always my problem with books where genetic experiments have gone wrong. If you have the technology, why don't you just reverse the experiment. See, I'm not even graduated yet, but I can see the solution for this problem.



As especially women die young, their wombs are extremely important. Probably to make sure humans don't extinct or something, I can't really think about why people would like to have children that will grow up orphans (if they need kids for some reason or another, why don't they just take the orphans?) So important that everyone who doesn't get chosen by wealthy men, gets shot. That makes perfect sense of course?!



Those things said, I quite liked to read this book. It's not something you should analyse too much (see evidence above) but it's enjoyable. I liked the story in the mansion with the sisterwives, and the eminent feeling something is wrong there. It's a nice quick read, so I also planned to read the second book in this series.