Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Wither (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.

Reviewed by nannah on

4 of 5 stars

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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!

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 26 August, 2011: Finished reading
  • 26 August, 2011: Reviewed