Book Review: Wither

"Wither" by Lauren DeStefano(Chemical Garden Trilogy #1)

Genre-Young Adult, Dystopia, Science Fiction, Romance

Paperback Edition-358 pages

5/5 Lily Pads

Would I Recommend It? Yes. If you liked "The Selection" and "The Jewel" series, you'll love this one

Beware of Spoilers!!

Favorite Quotes:

   “I'll tell you something about true love. There's no science to it. It's as natural as the sky.” 

 “There are lots of love stories here.....They either end happily or everyone dies.”

Hey guys, I'm back with a review. Today I am reviewing "Wither" by Lauren DeStefano. This book has been on my TBR since 2012. I've been wanting to read this book since I first discovered booktube five years ago. I'm so glad I finally read "Wither" because I really enjoyed it. Let's get on with the review.

The Plot(Goodreads summary)

 By age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. She can thank modern science for this genetic time bomb. A botched effort to create a perfect race has left all males with a lifespan of 25 years, and females with a lifespan of 20 years. Geneticists are seeking a miracle antidote to restore the human race, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have skyrocketed, and young girls are being kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children. 

When Rhine is kidnapped and sold as a bride, she vows to do all she can to escape. Her husband, Linden, is hopelessly in love with her, and Rhine can't bring herself to hate him as much as she'd like to. He opens her to a magical world of wealth and illusion she never thought existed, and it almost makes it possible to ignore the clock ticking away her short life. But Rhine quickly learns that not everything in her new husband's strange world is what it seems. Her father-in-law, an eccentric doctor bent on finding the antidote, is hoarding corpses in the basement. Her fellow sister wives are to be trusted one day and feared the next, and Rhine is desperate to communicate to her twin brother that she is safe and alive. Will Rhine be able to escape--before her time runs out?

Together with one of Linden's servants, Gabriel, Rhine attempts to escape just before her seventeenth birthday. But in a world that continues to spiral into anarchy, is there any hope for freedom? 

My Opinion

Like I said before, I really enjoyed this book. This book has a lot of mixed reviews so I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. I'm so glad I gave it a try and I'm surprised by how much I loved this book. While I was reading this book, it reminded me of "The Selection" series by Kiera Cass which I loved and "The Jewel" by Amy Ewing, which I haven't read yet but want to. 

This is the first book I've read by Lauren DeStefano and I have to say, I really like her writing style. It's very beautiful and unique but simple at the same time. 

I really like the plot for "Wither" even though it's kinda creepy. I was intrigued by the story because Women die at age 20 and Men die at 25 which is so different to read about. As a 22 year old, I would've been dead already, haha. It was just so unique. I usually hate Dystopian books but this one was pretty good. Like I said the plot stood out to me and I just thought it was very cool but wrong at the same time. 

Last let's talk about the characters.

I really liked the main character, Rhine. She was a nice, genuine girl. She really cared for her family and I love that she became very fond of the other girls in the mansion, even though she didn't know them very well. I loved how determined and strong she was. She didn't let anyone get her down and I love that she didn't give up and did what she wanted. She was very compassionate and loyal. One thing that irritated me about her was just that she led Linden on the whole time and she never loved him. I understand why she did it, but it still annoyed me. I just hate when people lead other people on, especially if you don't feel the same way, it's just wrong. Other than that, I really liked her character. 

I really liked the other sister wives. Jenna was a great character. At first I didn't know what to think of her because she was very distant. After awhile I ended up really liking her. She was a nice girl and I liked her friendship with Rhine. It broke my heart when she died, I didn't expect her to die so soon. I also liked Cecily even though she was a brat at times. She was only thirteen so it didn't bug me too much though. I liked her because she was nice when she wanted to be, I liked her relationship with Rhine and Jenna. I hated what she did at the end though. It made me made at her. 

I liked Linden. He was a pretty good character. He was a very, sincere, nice guy. He was very naive at times though. He didn't know what was going on and why his Dad made him marry the three girls. But yeah, even though Rhine was in a terrible situation, it was hard to be made at Linden because he was so nice. I wasn't rooting for him though. 

Now let's talk about one of my favorite characters in this book, Gabriel. I loved Gabriel! He was so sweet and nice. I know I said Linden was nice too but I just liked Gabriel so much more. He was a normal guy but he's such a good guy. Like I said he was so nice and sweet and I loved his friendship/romance with Rhine. I was rooting for them throughout the whole book. I am definitely Team Gabriel. 

As for the side characters, I liked them. I liked the girl maids like Deirdre and the others. I didn't like Linden's father, he wasn't a good guy. 

What I learned from this book: I didn't really learn much from this book. But one thing I did learn is, if your not happy with your life, do something about it. It goes with the story because Rhine was miserable in the mansion, she really didn't wanna be there. She was so determined to leave and she did. I was proud of her for not giving up. 

That was my review. Thank you so much for reading. I really liked this book and it's definitely worth a buy. Obviously I gave it 5/5 Lily Pads. I'm not sure if I'm going to continue the trilogy because I heard bad things about the last two books. It also read well as a stand-alone. I'll have another post up soon so stay tuned for that. Bye and happy reading!