A Review for Wither (Wither #1) by Lauren DeStefano

Posted by Donna
Published Date: March 22nd, 2011
Finished Date: February 29th, 2012
Publishers: HarperCollins
Source: Won - 2012 TBR Reading Challenge
Format: Hardback
Pages: 358
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The Blurb from Goodreads: At age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years to live. Thanks to a botched effort to create a perfect race, all females live to be twenty, and males live to age twenty-five. While geneticists seek a miracle antidote, orphans roam the streets and polygamy abounds. After Rhine is kidnapped and sold as a bride, she is desperate to escape from her husband's strange world, which includes a sinister father-in-law in search of the antidote and a slew of sister wives who are not to be trusted. On the cusp of her seventeenth birthday, Rhine attempts to flee--but what she finds is a society spiraling into anarchy. 
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The Review: **Minor Spoiler**
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I have wanted to read Wither for a while now, so when I managed to get book two ‘Fever’ for review, it was a great opportunity for me to finally read Wither – which has been sitting on my shelf for over a year. And after reading it, I’m pleased with how much I enjoyed it.  

Lauren DeStefano did a fantastic job creating an imaginable and cruel world with Wither and I especially loved how easy it was to slip into the story. Not once did I feel confused or overwhelmed with details of how the society works or how the genetics of the races works and I felt it was at a steady and easy pace – one that made me enjoy it all the more.

Now onto the characters.

Rhine:  I loved her as our heroine. I loved how strong she remained through-out the book and how she took to being a Sister wife. Me personally, I don’t think I would have been able to go through the things she did and keep my mouth shut. I was dying for her to really tell Linden what was going on the in Mansion but she is such a patience character and it really paid off for her. I also loved how caring she was despite what Linden’s father has done to her, she still manages to feel for Linden a little bit and I think deep down, she could truly love him.……one day.

Gabriel: I really like Gabriel but he wasn’t a major part of Wither. He was more of a secondary character and even though there is a hint of romance between him and Rhine, the author doesn’t really focus on it in this book, so I’m hoping for some more of him in book two so we can finally see what kind of guy he really is. We know he cares about Rhine but that’s about it so far, so definitely more Gabriel.

Linden: Where to start with him? I have a love hate relationship wit him because at first I thought I was going to really like him. But as the story progresses it’s hard to really love him. His father plays a key role in the way him behaves because he has been lied too so much but I cannot condone the way he acts with the Sister wives. I understand that he has two other wives other than Rhine, but I hated the way he was jumping in and out of bed with two of them which leads to one of them getting pregnant; one a girl of the age of 13 - and then all the while, classing Rhine as his first wife. It really made me angry and I was so hurt for Rhine to have to witness it all. So you can see where the hate comes in.

Overall, I really enjoyed Wither and I really enjoyed the direction this book takes….so now onto Fever.