Wither (Chemical Garden Trilogy, #1)

by Lauren DeStefano

A stunning debut YA novel, destined to blow the dystopian genre wide open - The Handmaid's Tale for a new generation. This edition will contain a sneak preview of Fever, and a brand new short story by Lauren DeStefano: "The First Bride".

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.

• ISBN10: 1442409061
• ISBN13: 9781442409064
• Publish Date: 6 December 2011 (first published 22 March 2011)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[Kim Deister]

The plot: Wither is set in the future, in a world that somehow seems both futuristic and primitive at the same time. War has literally changed the world as we, the reader, know it. Modern science and technology have changed humanity, illusions and holograms having replaced reality and the humanity of relationships. The desperation that society feels is evident in the way it has changed and the lines between what is right and what is wrong have been thoroughly blurred. Although an set in an alternate reality, there was a very clear parallel between that world and our own. The alternate reality was fully believable as a real possibility for our future which made the entire story that much more intriguing.

The writing: I thought the writing of this debut novel from a young author was exquisite. I was immediately drawn into the story and into the lives of the characters. The author excels at drawing out emotion from the reader and blends the surreal and reality seamlessly. The very first paragraph set the tone for the rest of the novel:

"I wait. They keep us in the dark for so long that we lose sense of our eyelids. We sleep huddled together like rats, staring out, and dream of our bodies swaying."

The characters: I love characters that I can fall in love with, root for, feel for, become involved with. The characters in Wither didn't disappoint. I liked the fact that no one character was pure, whether purely good or purely bad. The fact that the good and the bad, the selflessness and the selfishness, was a part of each character further demonstrated the theme that humanity had changed people. In different circumstances, maybe these people would have been different, but the reality of their world as they knew it changed how they thought, how they behaved. This made the characters far more relatable in the setting of the story.

Emotional significance: I was drawn into the story from the moment I began reading. I didn't want to put it down once I started. I absolutely love a novel that calls you to it and makes you want more when you finish it. I love a novel that makes you feel all the things the characters are feeling and makes you care about those characters as if they were real. This novel did that for me!

The conclusion: The ending of the novel didn't answer all the questions or tie up all the loose ends, but it wasn't supposed to. It gave enough to satisy, but left the way clear for the next book. I truly did not want the book to end and it saddens me that this, the first of three, isn't due out until the end of March. Why? Because that means it is going to be even longer until the next one comes out! Cover art: I know that you aren't supposed to judge a book by its cover and I really don't, but sometimes a cover is so striking that it really hits me. Not only is the cover art of this book stunning, I love the fact that the image of the girl matches a scene within the book. Too many times, the covers seem to be unrelated to the story inside, but this one was perfect. I also loved the symbolism of the caged bird, a detail I didn't truly appreciate until I got farther into the story.