Book Review: Wither by Lauren Destefano

Book: Wither
Series: The Chemical Garden #1
Overview: 
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 she trusts, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limted time she has left.

Before I rated this book, I wasn't sure how many stars I'd give it. I was thinking: this book deserves a 3 stars, then after some time, I was like NO! 3 is too low, needs an extra star. Finally, when I finished reading this book, I knew I had to give it 5 stars. Wanna know why? Continue reading to find out.

I'd heard NOTHING but amazing things about this book before I got a copy myself. So when I finally decided to buy a copy, I thought, let's see what this is all about. I must say. I did NOT regret it at all. In fact, I'm more than happy I got the chance read this book.

Besides, it is not everyday you stay up till 3:40 AM to finish a book. Yes, I did. I have no idea how, because I was REALLY sleepy that night.

Look at that cover. It is BEAUTIFUL! It is VERY attractive. The designers did a breathtaking job designing this cover. It perfectly fits the atmosphere of the story.

Anyways let's talk more in depth about this book.

The Story:
Wither is a dystopian book. It did not exactly feel dystopian to me, but more of sci-fi mixed with dystopian. It is about a society where girls/women are taken to the sort of prince to save the human race. They do this because women die the age of 20 and men the age of 25.
I found this concept very disgusting and horrifying. Yet it seemed to real and reminded me of real-world issues.

The Writing Style:
Lauren Destefano is one of the young authors out there. There are many new authors debuting these days, and lots of them manage to win my interest. Lauren Destefano is one of them. You certainly sense talent in the words. The way she writes is exceptionally impressive.
However, at some points, I felt nothing was going on and I felt repetition. I felt Rhine, the narrator, was emphasizing on things we already know as we progress.

The Characters:
1-Rhine: When I first read her name, I started thinking. What is that supposed to even mean? Where did it originate from? Thankfully, Destefano explained. That really pleased me. I have to say. I liked Rhine. I usually don't like characters who are confused, who don't know what they wanna do, who suddenly get side-tracked. Rhine was different. I think she was a very well-developed character and a strong protagonist.

2-Jenna: Jenna. She's my favorite character in this book. You could just feel her pain, her suffering. She wasn't the enthusiastic. She was - I don't know how to describe her really. You have to read about her for yourself.

3-Cecily: Cecily was great. I loved the fact that Destefano brought Cecily to life. She showed child innocence through Cecily. I really admired how there were different wives,each having a different age and different way of thinking.

4-Linden: The husband. I think Linden was a GREAT character. He was a gentleman. He understood the feelings of his wives and tried to please them, just like every man should be. Linden himself was a victim like the wives, so he isn't the villain.

5-Gabriel: I didn't really like Gabriel much. He bugged me. I was sad by how things turned up with Gabriel.

The Plot:
I think Lauren Destefano masters creating a neat well-organized plot full of twists and turns. The world was great. I loved the descriptions and setting.

Overall:
In my opinion, Lauren Destefano debuts with a strong fine book. It will keep readers captivated and engaged, and most importantly GLUED to the book. I cannot wait to read Fever, the second book in the series.