Review Wither by Lauren DeStefano
Author: Lauren DeStefano
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Date: 3/22/2011
Synopsis: 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 limted time she has left.
This book is hard for me to review as I didn't love or hate it I just had a hard time with it. I think I need to first say that this is solely MY opinion and response to the book. Overall I thought the writing was good and I did like the main character, Rhine. I thought she was strong in the choices she made and how she continued to stay focused on her goal despite the temptations. Where I had the most difficulty with this book was the sex and sister wives. When Rhine is kidnapped she and two other girls are forced to marry and become sisters wives. The youngest of the group (14) is excited to get pregnant and sits around reading Kama Sutra books. There is another scene when Rhine walks in on Linden, the husband,with another wife. Linden proceeds to get dressed and then kiss Rhine on his way out of the room. I just find that incredibly creepy. And again the Kama Sutra book makes an appearance.
I think had someone handed this to me as an adult book and not a YA book I would be more comfortable with it. I still don't think I would like it but I would be more comfortable with the concepts. When I discussed this book with a friend she pointed out that she was ok with the sex and sister wives because she could picture the world that the story took place in which was different from ours. I think for me, because I work with teenagers it was too hard to picture any world where this story would be palatable for me.
I think people who are in love with dystopian as a genre will find this story intriguing. It will definitely leave you curious to see what happens next. Again the writing is good but the storyline just wasn't for me.
I think had someone handed this to me as an adult book and not a YA book I would be more comfortable with it. I still don't think I would like it but I would be more comfortable with the concepts. When I discussed this book with a friend she pointed out that she was ok with the sex and sister wives because she could picture the world that the story took place in which was different from ours. I think for me, because I work with teenagers it was too hard to picture any world where this story would be palatable for me.
I think people who are in love with dystopian as a genre will find this story intriguing. It will definitely leave you curious to see what happens next. Again the writing is good but the storyline just wasn't for me.
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1 comments:
I see where you are coming from. I, personally, really enjoyed it because I too could picture the world. But I do see how you would find it disturbing. I AM a teen and I found it disturbing. But I felt that any book that could keep me interested WHILE making me uncomfortable is well written. It reminded me of The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. Reading that book (I do realize it is an adult book and that was part of your argument) I had never felt more violated or uncomfortable in my life, yet I found it extremely interesting and my favorite school novel ever.
Britta
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