Who: Lauren DeStefanoWhat: Wither
When: March 22nd, 2011
Where: Simon and Schuster
Why: Amazingness
How: For Review
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 Rhine is growing
dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she
has left.
This is one of those rare books that just leaves me speechless (which A) NEVER happens since I talk a lot and B) is a PROBLEM when you review books) but I'm going to try my best to explain this dystopian masterpiece.
Wither is the story of Rhine, a girl who lives in a world where females only live to 20 and males to 25, so the need to reproduce is urgent and brought on at an early age. Rhine is kidnapped and forced into being a bride along with 2 others girl, Jenna and Cecily, into a polygamous marriage with Linden, their new husband. Rhine was level-headed, tactical, and knew what she needed to do to survive.
Lauren's writing is lush, beautiful, and descriptive in a way that isn't too overwhelming for the reader to engage in. Her description of the manor in Florida made me nod in approval (as a Floridian, I especially approved of the oranges) and her character development touched my heart. Seeing the three sister wives bond over the course of the novel and really become a large support system, particularly Rhine and Jenna's friendship.
Really, I think I wasn't supposed to love Linden, but I did anyway. He was sweet and loving, though a bit naive, and I just ended up adoring him when it came down to things. His relationship with Rhine, emotionally, was beautifully constructed and had me in tears. Gabriel was an interesting character, though I feel we didn't get to see enough of him in this first installment to make a proper judgement. The parts with him and Rhine were bittersweet, and I loved it that way.
Noticed I used the word beautiful a lot in this post, because really, it's the perfect word to describe Lauren's debut.
My rating? AWESOMESAUCE
Happy Reading!
-Harmony
