Wither: Book One of the Chemical Garden (Chemical Garden Trilogy, #1)

by Lauren DeStefano

A 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 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 limited time she has left.

• ISBN10: 0007425473
• ISBN13: 9780007425471
• Publish Date: 4 August 2011 (first published 22 March 2011)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 30 January 2012
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: HarperVoyager
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 320
• Language: English
• URL: http://harpercollins.co.uk

Reviews

[celinenyx]

Set in a world where girls die when they are twenty years old and boys when they're twenty-five, Rhine is abducted and sold to be one of the three new brides of Linden. There is only one thing on her mind - escape. But as the months fly by, the luxurious life she's leading now begins to ensnare her.

I was drawn to Wither by the premise. A dystopian where people don't age above puberty? Sounds like a good ground for an action packed novel! I was sorely disappointed by that aspect. Absolutely nothing happens. At the start, when Rhine is getting kidnapped, I was very excited, but after that she just sits around. She jumps on a trampoline with fellow brides. Rhine goes to a party. Rhine eats sweets. Rhine reads a book in the library. Wither is almost four-hundred pages long, but it could just as well been one hundred. Ms DeStefano has a very distinct writing style, often called "haunting" and "beautiful". For me it felt more like "lifeless". Every page is written in the same way. There is no speeding up, no slowing down.

I get what Ms DeStefano was trying to accomplish in Wither. The big action isn't important, it's the little details. It's in the little ways the brides rebel against their captors. On me, all this detailing was completely lost. That only works when you're invested in the characters, but I never felt that sorry for Rhine. She sits around for months doing absolutely nothing but eating and sleeping and having fun. The reason she wants to escape so bad is her twin brother, but as he only gets mentioned by Rhine herself, he feels more like a convenience than an actual character.

Even the ending, for which I was hoping that it would shock me and make me go, "Whoa, this is awesome!" was a huge anti-climax. They waited a year to do that? Really?

One last thing I would like to point out is Ms DeStefano's extreme love for her country. I quote from page 55 of the paperback version:

"All we were taught of geography was that the world had once been made up of seven continents and several countries, but a third world war demolished all but North America, the continent with the most advanced technology."

Most advanced technology?! Ha, they wish! The continent with most advanced technology is clearly Asia. Ever seen a documentary on Japan? If there is a country with advanced technology, it's Japan. Unless Ms. DeStefano calls weapons of war "advanced technology", then I guess she's right. The whole book is filled with remarks towards America's superiority over the other continents. As a European, this rubbed me completely the wrong way.

I know a lot of you have loved and will keep on loving Wither, but this wasn't for me. I think that if you go in expecting a subtle novel, you will very much enjoy this one. I will read Fever (mostly because I already bought it) and see if I like that one better.

[Briana @ Pages Unbound]

The story of Wither is built around an intriguing, disturbing premise. In the future, people die, without fail, in their early twenties, and humanity is left in a desperate race to find a cure before the entire population disappears. Readers will be drawn in from the first pages, wondering how the scenario will play out.

Most of the story, however, is not focused on this search for a miracle. Instead, it closely follows protagonist Rhine as she is sucked into the alien world of the wealthy, who are eager to spend fortunes on stunning home illusions and parties in an attempt to enjoy their lives while they last. DeStefano’s depiction of the luxurious world is imaginative and captivating, as tempting to readers as it is to Rhine. She must continuously struggle against the life that has been forced upon her, always remember that beyond the endless gardens and orange grove and course for miniature gulf, that she once had a different home, one with family if without wealth.

She begins to find, however, that it may be possible to build a different sort of family. One with her sister wives and the servants, if not with the House Governor, her husband, whom she is determined to hate. The relationships that develop between the girls are complex, sometimes strained but sometimes moving. The fact that they are in a polygamous relationship can occasionally escape the reader’s memory because they spend so much time together trying to be friends. This is doubtless the result of a concerted effort by DeStefano to soften an incredibly creepy plot aspect. Her other main endeavor to make the polygamy palatable is evident in Rhine’s consistent refusal to actually have intercourse with her husband. Nonetheless, their strange sister wife relationship to each other and to their husband is disturbing.

It may honestly be the most disturbing facet of the book. In many ways, DeStefano fails to deliver on her dystopian/post apocalyptic ideas, and her world ends up inconsistent. For instance, readers may wonder why, if women are in such high demand, they are frequently murdered. Or why women must be kidnapped to be brides. Or why only the upper classes are eager to reproduce. Or why no one bothers with education anymore if they really want to find a cure. Or even what purpose it serves to the plot for North America to be the only continent left in existence. (Perhaps this is supposed to be an easy solution to the question of how everyone in the world, including very poor countries, would have all turned to genetic engineering so quickly?) Answers are not forthcoming, and the lack of explanations makes Wither less believable and therefore less powerful.

The level of potential fear is also diminished by the fact that there is absolutely no hint as to what evil deeds Rhine’s father-in-law is supposedly up to in the basement. He is doing something—he is murderous and controlling and has corpses he of people he claims had been cremated—but without an idea of what his experiments are (besides the fact that they must evil), readers cannot be overly concerned about them. One can only imagine that the whole mystery will be cleared up later in the series, but by the ending of the Wither, it seems though an interesting plot turn will have to occur for that reveal even to happen.

Wither is unique and rather fascinating. It is filled with a cast of strong and unforgettable characters. Its most obvious characteristic, however, is its failure to live up to its own potential. The plotline, concept, and relationships are enough to lead readers to the sequel Fever—after all, who wants to leave a story without discovering whether the human race survives?—but there are so many ways by which readers could have been made even more eager to find out what happens.

This review was also posted at Pages Unbound Book Reviews.

[Nicole Lynn]

This review previously appeared on my blog, PopCrunchBoom Books

Wither is surprisingly very refreshing. The novel is the first in DeStefano’s Chemical Garden Trilogy. The plot follows that of sixteen year-old Rhine Ellery who lives during a future time period within the United States. In this future time, women die at the age of 20 and boys die at the age of 25 due to meddling in genetics to create a perfect (immune) race. So obviously there is a scramble to find an antidote to cure this inherent disease and while scientists work on research the population has erupted into poverty, violence, and breeding. With an added emphasis on the breeding, many girls are kidnapped into prostitution or sold as brides to men who are polygamists to continue on their “line.”

Enter in Rhine who with just four years left to live is kidnapped (unbeknownst to her brother) and sold to Linden, a twenty year-old architect who has a controlling father. Rhine is sold along with two other girls, one eighteen and the other only thirteen. Linden, however, does not know that the girls were kidnapped, nor what happened to others who weren’t chosen. He is blinded by his sheltered life and his father’s controlling ways.

During the story, Rhine’s main goal is to escape from her imprisoned life with Linden. Readers see her relationship with the other two “sister wives” and her growing relationship with Linden. However, Rhine also grows close to a servant boy, Gabriel (important name choice anyone?). Soon Rhine is torn between not hating Linden that much and her growing feelings for Gabriel as well as her passionate need to escape it all.

What I enjoyed most about this story is that DeStefano made this scenario believeable. She laid the groundwork and tied all the right things together making me really enjoy this story. I also loved the feel of the novel–not quite sci-fi but very much creepy in certain areas (modern mad scientist). Also I just loved the fresh approach to a young adult novel. I haven’t read a lot like it before, so I’m not sure if I’m missing out on a genre I didn’t know existed. Either way this was such a fresh experience after all the supernatural trends that are still happening.

Anyway the plot grabbed and it has its somewhat slow moments like almost any novel, but I never really noticed. I felt the plot moved along well and although I kinda knew what was going to happen at the end, I didn’t know nor expected how the characters would get to that ending which kept me very much in suspense.

Overall, I enjoyed DeStefano’s debue novel and I can’t wait to enjoy the next book in the trilogy. I would recommend the book for any YA lover and don’t be scared by the semi sci-fi feeling the book is very much enjoyable and gives the whole sci-fi thing a modern and believable twist!

[bookishzelda]

Intriguing was the word that kept popping into my head when I was reading this book. Lauren DeStefano did an excellent job of making the gears in my head turn the entire way through Wither. I have read many books in the dystopia genre and I feel like the world that was created here is believable. People trying to mess with genetics to create the perfect child...haven't we heard this before in the news. Lauren DeStefano's writing is beautiful and haunting in this book. I easily got lost in the book and it's premise. I feel like most dystopia novels the characters are trying to escape from a situation like this, but here we find the characters knee deep in it right off the bat. I wasn't sure if I would like the whole sister wives idea in this book but honestly it seemed normal while you were reading. Like everyone does that these days.

Rhine, what a great main character. She's strong and has her wits about her. She doesn't give up on her ultimate goal, even when she finds herself getting comfortable in her new life. Rhine's sister wives Jenna and Cecily were the perfect compliment characters. Jenna was so easy to love and Cecily, well you get used to Cecily.

The romance was a little flat for me. I couldn't connect with Gabriel. Even Rhine herself mentions that she isn't sure what the outcome will be between them. I found myself extremely sympathetic to and liking Linden. He was such a weak person in the beginning and you could see how Rhine was making him stronger. It almost seemed that he was standing up to his father about certain request that wouldn't be fulfilled previously. Of course in the mansion there is not much that can go on when someone is always watching.

Vaughn definitely had the creepy factor and who knows what was really going on in his basement. He had the whole mad scientist aura about him and it seemed that many people alluded to how dangerous he was. You almost feel like Rhine could have a happy life at the mansion but you never knew what Vaughn would really be up to. Could Linden's love be enough protection.

All in all, I was extremely intrigued by the book. We find out pieces of what happened to the world through Rhine's memories. Like pieces of a puzzle fitting together. I'm excited to see how things evolve.

3.5

I can’t even imagine being in Rhine’s spot. At first, I was pretty hesitant to read this book but the premise did sound intriguing and in the end I’m glad I read it! I really enjoyed it!

Rhine was an enjoyable character who was defiant from the start. As soon as she became a sister wife, she knew she wouldn’t do it and I found this rebelliousness enjoyable. Cecily, on the other hand, was completely annoying! Ohhhhhh how I didn’t like her…..at first. Even though she is the youngest, all she wants to do is grow up. She thinks that being a sister wife is all there is to life (that’s what she was taught) so she wants to be the best one out there. She was just an innocent girl doing what she was taught. I also had a love/hate relationship with Jenna. On one hand, she was also defiant, yet she gave in. While this is explained why it doesn’t bother her, it still was kinda of frustrating to me. However, in the end she was a sweet girl who cared for her fellow sister wives.

Now to the boys in the story. Linden…..how sweetly oblivious you are! Even from the beginning I liked him even though what he was doing was wrong. It was simply b/c he was also doing what he was taught like Cecily. They both thought that how they acted was the “norm” so they just followed suit. He was a respectful and sweet man and I hope to see what happens to him in the sequel. Gabriel was sweet too, though I don’t feel like I know him very well. That is one thing that bothered me about this. He was the love interest, yet I just didn’t feel it. I hope in the next book we get to see more of him. And Lindens dad……I don’t feel like he came across as evil as he was supposed to. He just didn’t……click I guess.

The plot was very interesting. Honestly, I can’t even imagine being in that situation! I have no idea what I would do! And that bring me to a great part of this book. It makes you think! Crazy, right? Just imagine yourself in Rhine’s situation…..would you rebel like her? Would you strive to be the perfect sister wife? Or would you hate it but simply give in? I know that I would hope I was the defiant, rebellious one doing my best to get out but who knows?! I do know one thing, I would probably be a hermit if our world was ever like that. I’d be terrified of going outside just in case I was captured!

There was one thing I couldn’t wrap my head around….the world. I mean I just had a hard time believing that the only difference between our world now and their world was the fact that everybody died young. like at the end? they get out and voila! she describes their world just like ours! I'm sorry, but that's just unbelievable. people are out and about walking when theirs always a chance they'll get caught and coerced into marriage or freaky experiments? I just don't get it. I wish she would have done something different with the world.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! I really liked the characters, although I wish we got to know some of them better, and the plot was very interesting and I will definitely recommend this book! Just another book to add to the amazing dystopia list!

[Michael @ Knowledge Lost]

Wither is an interesting tale of Rhine; a sixteen year old kidnapped and sold to the rich. Rhine a long with two other girls were sold off as wives to Linden, an ignorant and people pleasing boy, living under the shadows of his father, Vaughn; the evil Victor Frankenstein character.

I think the real reason why I enjoyed this book, was the simple fact it almost reads like a homage to [b:Frankenstein|18490|Frankenstein|Mary Shelley|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1311647465s/18490.jpg|4836639]. The whole ‘Man playing God’ and the ‘dangers of science’ are heavily themed in this book. It also mentioned the masterpiece on a number of occasions which pleased me a great deal.

The book isn’t full of action or anything like this; but it does contain so well written YA characters, who displaying their strengths and weaknesses thought out the book. [a:Lauren DeStefano|4103366|Lauren DeStefano|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1305725851p2/4103366.jpg] did a great job in capturing the struggles and the emotions that would be involved rather well. I think the three (very different) wives, helped in covering all the different emotions that a kidnapped victim might go though.

Wither is the first book in an upcoming trilogy and while I’m interested to know what happens next to Rhine, I think the homage to [b:Frankenstein|18490|Frankenstein|Mary Shelley|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1311647465s/18490.jpg|4836639] has ended, so I won’t rush out to read the next book. Overall it was a decent drama in the YA/Dystopian genre, and if you are interested in reading a YA book, then this one is definitely worth the read.

[nannah]

This book was dark, beautiful, and very emotional. And above all that, the concept was absolutely original and stunning. Lauren DeStefano introduces the plot and the characters to us with wonderful, vivid writing. I love the flow of the prose and how it just immediately fills my mind with images.

I do have to mention, though, that I loved the book up till maybe 3/4 of it. After that, I was expecting a climax that I didn't really get. There was no heart-pounding, gut-wrenching action or emotion, just "this is what happened." It kind of let me down, after such a vivid and exquisite setup. I'll definitely read the second, though!

[Stephanie]

I wasn't sure about Wither, but I decided to give it a try because the concept seemed really interesting, and I'm glad I did. This story is kind of scary because it could happen, humans creating a virus that kills off the population.

I was kind of stuck between whether I wanted Rhine to escape or not. The way she described life before she got kidnapped didn't sound pleasant. She had to worry about people breaking into her and her twin brothers house and she had to always be careful if she ever went outside so the Gatherers wouldn't get her, and she had to work for little money.

So when she does get kidnapped by the Gatherers and is taken to this huge mansion, she has everything she needs right there. She doesn't have to do anything besides be Linden's bride. But she's still not happy because she wants to be with her brother and not be in a mansion that has a terrible man living in it and doing terrible things.

So I could understand why she would stay in the mansion, but I could also understand why she would want to leave. I couldn't help but feel so sad for all the characters. Well, besides Housemaster Vaughn. Rhine's sister wives really became Rhine's sisters and she became so close to some of the domestics and attendants. I was hoping she would find a way to get all those people out of that mansion.

Actually, thinking back to it, this book is kind of sad. How could it not be? Everyone is a ticking time bomb. They have so little time to live their lives.

Wither was a very pleasant surprise. I did not expect to feel so close to all the characters, and the writing was very pretty. Though I did feel like some things were repeated when they didn't need to be. I found myself think 'OK, I got it the first time'. But that only happened a two or three times.

Overall, I really enjoyed Wither and was very happy that I decided to give it a try.

[Stephanie]

Originally posted at Once Upon a Chapter

Lauren DeStefano creates an incredibly addictive world in Wither. It is set in some unknown date in the not so distant future. The world has been decimated by nuclear war and only North America has come out of the battle with remaining land. Everything else is buried under the ocean. A cure for cancer and all other horrible diseases has been discovered but at a cost so high no one could conceive of it. The first generation of children with the vaccine are healthy and happy and they are ensured to have long lives. It seems like everything should be fine from now on. Until they start to have children. The children of the "first generations" don't get the same guarantee as their parents. Their children die so early in life. Men can live up to twenty-five years and women until twenty. Then a mysterious virus claims them. No one has ever survived. No one has found an antidote.

Rhine is born into this world. For the most part, life has been good to her. She had two wonderful parents. They were genetic engineers and then one day they weren't there anymore. They had been murdered and life for Rhine changes forever. At least she has her brother Rowan. She and Rowan are able to make their lives better than most. They take turns at night protecting themselves and their meager belongings. Rowan is able to do delivery work for the warehouses and Rhine can occasionally get work taking telephone orders. Life is better than what most people have.

Then one day Rhine answers an ad for bone marrow donations. The ad states that the researcher is willing to pay good money. Rhine doesn't tell Rowan that she's going. She doesn't want to worry her twin needlessly. Except that there is no bone marrow donations. Instead there are Gathers. Men who kidnap young girls and take them to be used in one way or another. The girls are either sold into prostitution or sold as brides. If they don't make the cut, they are murdered. Wealthy men often buy their brides in hopes of generating a family to keep the line going. Rhine is thrown into the back of a dark van and that is where our story opens.

Rhine and two other girls are chosen from the line of girls that have been locked in the van together for days. They are ushered to a limousine and then knocked out with a sleeping gas. Not quickly enough. The girls hear one gunshot before they fall asleep. When they wake up, they know that all the remaining girls were murdered. Rhine, Jenna and Cecily are now to be the wives of a rich man who lives in Florida. Rhine is distressed to hear she is so far from her native Manhattan. She doesn't want to be here, she doesn't want to be Linden Ashby's wife and she will escape this horror.

The wives all occupy the same floor of the mansion where they now reside. It is huge and has everything a girl could want or need. It is also fully staffed and the girls are treated lavishly. If only Rhine hadn't been stolen and viciously ripped from her life, she could get used to this. Rowan is alone and probably half out of his mind wondering what has happened to her. Thankfully Rhine finds solace in her sister wife Jenna and their meal attendant Gabriel. Gabriel and Rhine share something that neither has to communicate. They have a bond with barely having a conversation. It's in the way they behave towards each other. They have conversations with their actions because their words could be overheard at any time. They steal moments together when they can get them and cherish them.

Rhine's husband is as much a prisoner as she is and she begins to grow fond of him. Linden's father however is a different story. He controls everything in his house. From his staff to his son to his son's new wives. Everything done in Housemaster Vaughn's mansion is known to him. How can Rhine possibly hope to escape him? Rhine begins to include Gabriel in her fantasies of escape. Can she trust him with her secrets?

My Thoughts:
Oh my gosh! I can tell you right now that joining the Story Siren's 2011 Debut Author Challenge was made completely worth it with this book alone. I probably would have never picked up this book had it not been part of the challenge options. The cover is stunning but still, the storyline didn't sound like something that I would like traditionally. Lauren DeStefano grabs you in the first few sentences of her debut novel and she will not let you go. I came to care for each and every one of her characters as if they were real people. She paints a story of a world that to me is inconceivable and she makes me believe it. The world in which Rhine lives isn't impossible to imagine. There's a lot in it that very well could happen it just might not be in my lifetime. Imagine thinking we've found a cure for cancer. Then twenty years later we find out that our children have such shortened life spans? It's a cruel and horrible price to pay.

Wither deals with some pretty heavy material: forced marriages, abduction, polygamy, early pregnancies and death. I would recommend this for young adults sixteen and up. While you would think that this may be some pretty depressing material, DeStefano writes with an underlying hope. You believe in Rhine as much as she believes in herself and you cheer her on and hope for the best. It's a book, it HAS to have a happy ending, right?

While the book isn't resolved by the end, it is a trilogy. I am eagerly anticipating the next installment in the Chemical Garden Trilogy.

[Amber]

Wither begins with our main character, Rhine, being picked up by a gray van and sold to a rich businessman, along with two other girls. The story picks up straight away, and the reader learns that in this futuristic world, women die at twenty and men die at twenty-five. Therefore, the logical thing to do, is to buy a load of women to make them your wives, and turn them into baby machines, right? Wrong, but that’s what happens all the time.

So Rhine and the two other wives, Jenna and Cecily, are married to Linden and confined to a floor of a huge mansion. And that is where 99% of the novel takes place, aside from the occasional outing or flashback. I love the fact that this novel is dystopian, but it just didn’t have the generic dystopian feel to it. I couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing until I finished reading. It wasn’t that good.

I didn’t like that we were confined with the mansion. Sure, it suited the purpose and made me feel claustrophobic, but I would have liked to have seen more of this futuristic world. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be that different to 2011, but the only really differences I could see were the holographic video games and sharks in the pool. And the advances in medicine, of course.

I liked the three wives. Rhine, whose point of view the story is told from, doesn’t want to be a wife. She will do almost anything to escape, yet she goes about it in a cunning, smart way. I loved that. I was definitely rooting for her to get out.

Then there’s Jenna, who figures that as she’s going to die in two years anyway, she doesn’t really care about what happens to her. Jenna was a brilliant character, and she was very loyal toward Rhine. A great friend! Cecily is the youngest, and she’s the wife that gets pregnant first. At thirteen, she is already set to become a baby making machine.


I also loved Rhine’s love interest. He wasn’t introduced straight away, nor was it love at first sight, which was incredibly refreshing! It was obvious what was going to happen between the two of them, but I was kept hooked when reading about their friendship - and then later on, their relationship.

Lauren Destefano’s writing was good, but I felt that many scenes were too rushed through. I got confused at some points, and a bit more description and explanation would have been nice. This was the main reason why I didn’t love the book as much as I wish I could have.

In short, I was hoping to love this book a lot more than I did. Some things just didn’t work for me, and others did but they were either rushed or left undeveloped. I recommend reading this if you’re a fan of dystopian fiction, as a lot of people have loved this book, but I can’t say it’s a favourite, unfortunately. That said, I will definitely be picking up the sequel, as the ending to this book is left very open, and I can’t wait to see what happens to Rhine!