Wither By Lauren DeStefano

Hello everyone, this is a review of the seventh Dystopian book this year. I'm really enjoying this genre (any dystopia suggestions would be appreciated). I'd been putting Wither off for a while because it seemed to have a complicated concept and after Mockingjay I didn't want another book that made my head hurt. I couldn't have been more wrong about Wither. Although it did have a complicated plot it wasn't ridiculously fast paced so I could keep up. Wither is set in a world where women live to the age of twenty and men twenty-five. Rhine only has four years left when she is kidnapped to be a bride. She is forced to marry Linden but cannot help liking him when she really wants him to repulse her. But as she and Linden grow closer she realises how oblivious he actually is. During her time as a bride she meets Gabriel, one of the servants and realises they share the same dream. They both crave freedom. Here's the official synopsis:

"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?"

I really enjoyed this book and I loved the concept. It's an brilliant idea. I also really liked the characters, they were deep and developed. Clueless Linden, intelligent Jenna, spoilt Cecily, amazing Gabriel and of course strong compassionate Rhine. Yes you heard me right, I really liked the heroine. This book is really gripping, it pulls you right in. It left me wondering what my life would be like if it was that short. I would recommend Wither to dystopia lovers and even those who don't usually like it. I would give this book 4.5/5 stars and the only reason it's not a five is it was a tiny bit slow at the beginning.

My Favorite Quote
“I always knew I was an excellent liar; I just didn't know that I had it in me to fool myself.” - Rhine

Email me at: confessionsofabookaholic@LIVE.CO.UK