{Review} of Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Wither by Lauren DeStefano
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

GENRE: YA Drama
THEME: Dystopian
RECEIVED: Bought at B&N
AUTHOR: Lauren DeStefano Site
PURCHASE: Amazon

BLURB:

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.

REVIEW:
As a graphic designer I was immediately drawn to Wither because the cover was so beautifully design by Lizzy Bromley. I was intrigued on what the book was all about because it doesn’t give much away of what the theme would be, which I liked, a little mystery is always fun.

Dystopian novels seem to be all the craze and I have finally read a few and have been extremely impressed and intrigued with the unique stories. But there was something about Wither that just drew me in and I couldn’t put the book down for a second.  I can’t imagine what it would be like to be in a world where woman only lived to the age of twenty and men to twenty-five, some people haven’t even really lived yet in our world at that age.

Rhine to me has to be one of my favorite young adult characters, she was really smart, knew what to say and when to say it. She played it safe and never gave up on her goal. Being one of three wives to a man who bought you, is just such an extreme situation and her emotions and connections to each character were so vivid and detailed I felt I was there with her.

The two other sister wives, Jenna and Cecily were great secondary characters along with Linden the girls husband. Jenna the older of the wives was such a strong girl, her story was so sad and I really felt her strength as she always supported Rhine. Cecily the youngest was annoying at points but she had her moments. Then there is Linden, I really liked him, he may have been clueless to a lot that was going on but he loved these girls and only wants their happiness.

Gabriel is still a mystery; we got to know bits and pieces about him and every bit I loved. I can’t wait for the second one in hopes of learning more about him. The villain of the story was brilliant and I really felt the chills of how dangerous he is. I highly recommend this story. It was so original and the writing was beautiful done and paced.  You must read this!

RECOMMENDATION:
This is a Young Adult novel with some adult settings, recommended for fans of Veronica Roth and Suzanne Collins.

View all my reviews