Book Review: Wither by Lauren DeStefano
Finished: December 24, 2011
Pages: 320 (Paperback)
Author: Lauren DeStefano
Add It: Goodreads
Series: The Chemical Garden (#1)
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Source: Purchased
“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 limted time she has left.”
Read the first chapter of Wither at Simon & Schuster’s website.
Quote: “There’s nothing here to say good-bye to. There’s no dancing girl. No mischievous smile. She’s gone, off with her sisters, broken free, escaped. And if she were here now, she would say, “Go.”
Cover Love: As soon as the cover art was released, my interest in this novel was piqued. Call me superficial, but I love some good cover art. I think that the cover really captures the feel of the novel, of the blanket of glamour that has been thrown over Rhine’s horrible world, to hide all that is beneath. I also really love the purple coloring.
Thoughts: I wanted to like Wither. Considering the fact that I eat up Dystopia novels the same way I eat a tray of cookies placed anywhere in my vicinity, I was fully expecting to love this. I sat down with the beautiful purple book and went forward with no hesitation. Unfortunately, once I got to Linden’s mansion, I began experiencing a strange feeling. We’ll call it frustration.
For me, it was completely unrealistic to see Rhine expressing any sort of emotion toward Linden. Were we supposed to feel sorry for this character as we watched him bed hop between three different girls? One of them being a thirteen year old? Were we supposed to believe that Linden was so naive to his father’s cruel plans despite the fact that he begins the novel by selecting his brides from a line up? If this was the author’s intention, then for me as a reader, she failed to make me believe.
Please head over to my Blogspot page to read the rest of this review: Wither Review @ The Night Bookmobile @ Blogger
Interested in seeing what books I got this week? Also check out my In My Mailbox post.
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