Book Review: Wither By Lauren DeStefano

Title: Wither (The Chemical Garden, #1)
Author: Lauren DeStefano
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Date Published: 3/22/2011
Pages: 358 (hardcover)

Summary: 

Obviously, something went terribly wrong. Genetic mutations have festered, reducing human longevity to twenty-five, even less for most women. To prevent extinction, young girls are kidnapped, mated in polygamous marriages with men eager to procreate. Sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery, a recent victim of this breeding farm mentality, has vowed to break loose from its fetters; but finding allies and a safe way out is a challenge she can only hope she will survive. A dystopian fantasy series starter with wings. Editor's recommendation.

Review: The summer is ending and new books are coming out in the next few months that I can't wait to get my hands on, so it was time to clear my shelves and read books that I "couldn't wait for!!" & "had to preorder, then stay up to download at midnight on my Nook!" Well, Wither got put into that list of books and after reading this book I'm mad at myself for waiting so long to indulge in a beautifully written novel.

Wither written by Lauren DeStefano is based around the idea of polygamy. I had never read a book about polygamy, but I've watched a few shows about it. This has always been an interesting style of living and I always enjoyed learning about polygamy. So with that being said, I was sucked into Wither from the beginning. ((also, if you aren't familiar w polygamy or aren't a fan... its still a good book!! polygamy is just a small theme based around this dystopian type novel)).

The idea that women (practically still girls) only lives until they're 20 and men until they are 25 was an easy concept that was difficult for me to wrap my head around. I couldn't imagine only being able to live for 20 short years- seems tragic. I kept thinking about all the things that I still planned on doing and places that I still want to explore in the years to come- knowing that if I were in this story my life and dreams would have diminished a few years ago. Sad to think about.

Lauren's novel isn't about 3 sister wives who have their lives handed to them while they live in this gorgeous mansion with a wealthy young man .It may look like that to outsiders, but looks can be deceiving! Controlled by Housemaster Vaughn, no one is safe in this mansion- even his own son is being tricked and doesn't have a clue. Away from family and friends, these three young girls are forced to marry Linden, the Housemaster's son.

let's talk about the characters...

I wanted to like Linden, I really did. But my mind was playing a game of 'tug-of-war'. Rhine and the other two girls are practically being held hostage  and Linden doesn't think twice about it << that's what I didn't like about him. Well, the other part of me felt sorry for Linden because it was obvious that everything was kept a secret from him. And he didn't know the story of how his father, the Housemaster brought these girls for his son to marry. I'm hoping in the next book I can fall for the character a little more ;-) & I hope he sees how true of an ass his father is!!

Housemaster Vaughn creeped me out- enough said! 


And I CAN'T wait for the next book to see what happens with Rhine & Gabriel ((btw... I'm team Gabriel right now. He is so sweet! and I felt as though they both understood each other right from the beginning)). Yes, the ending had me in tears...


A question I kept asking myself:  


If I was in Rhine's position, would I try and escape or would I have made the mansion my new home and embraced that this place is better than my previous life?  I'm still thinking about this question... but I want to know what you would've done. 


Recommend?? YES!!!!! but, I'd recommend this book for older YA readers... probably 14 or 16+ Some of the content and the style of writing is written for more mature young adult readers and of course the adults who LOVE to indulge in YA as well!