The Seeds of Wither

The Chemical Garden #1.5

by Lauren DeStefano

Step into the Chemical Garden with an all-new eBook sampler!Discover the world author Lauren DeStefano created in Wither, a riveting dystopian thriller. In the not-so-distant future, fallout from genetic engineering causes all females to die at age twenty, and all males to die at twenty-five. Kidnapped from her home and torn from her twin brother Rowan, sixteen-year-old Rhine is forced into a polygamous marriage and taken to live in her husband’s mansion. She has everything she wants—except for freedom. But her plans to escape and return home are complicated by a devious father-in-law, as well as Rhine’s growing attraction to Gabriel, a servant who works on the estate. Read the first 100 pages of Wither and be captivated by Rhine’s journey.

This eBook sampler includes an EXCLUSIVE, never-before-published short story by Lauren DeStefano! “The First Bride” reveals the events leading up to Wither, from the point of view of the bride that came before Rhine.

Delve even deeper into Wither with a map of the wives’ floor, the Wither book trailer, and a video that takes you behind the scenes of the Fever cover shoot.

You'll also get a sneak peak of Fever, the second book in the Chemical Garden trilogy, before it goes on sale 2/21/12! 

Genres: Young Adult, Dystopia, Romance, Short Stories, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Novella

77 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 15, 2011

Reviews

[Deanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

It probably would have helped it I had read the description before reading this book.

Most of the book (about 75 percent) was the first six chapters of the first book in The Chemical Garden Trilogy "Wither". As I had just finished reading Wither I didn't bother with this part.

The BONUS content was basically a map of the wive's floor, the "Wither" book trailer and a behind the scenes "Fever" cover shoot.

There was a NEW short story by Lauren DeStefano included that had never before been published. "The First Bride" is Linden and Rose's story. However, it was REALLY short...5 pages.

Also included was the first chapter of the second book in the trilogy, "Fever". Considering I already had the second book this was a bit pointless for me.

I guess for huge fans of The Chemical Garden books this may have been a fun little treat. Although this eBook was 100 pages, probably only 10-15 pages of it was new or bonus material.

I know this was published as people were anxiously awaiting the next book in the trilogy, but it just seemed like it could have had a bit more new or bonus content.

[Ruth Silver · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read The Seeds of Wither after finishing The Chemical Garden Trilogy. I had hoped that it would give some additional insight into one of the characters (specifically Rose). The Seeds of Wither, at 77 pages includes content from the first book Wither which I always find awkward considering the reader that is purchasing the novella has already read the novel. It also included a small excerpt from Fever, which at the time hadn't been released and made a little more sense. Though for me, I'd already read it the novel and didn't seem worth the purchase.

The new novella, 'The First Bride' Short Story as titled in the contents, is about Rose. From the first page they are married with Rose a mere eleven years old. It continues to just briefly touch on their first kiss, burying their child and then focuses more on Rose's decline in health. Rose tells Linden that he must remarry and let it be a muse - someone that will encourage him to draw again. Of the 77 pages, 13 was 'The First Bride'. Not much for new content if you've finished the series.

Included in The Seeds of Wither was also a map of the wives floor. Included on the final page was a link to the Fever Cover Reveal (behind the scenes video of the cover shoot) and the book trailer for Wither. I'm not sure if either of those videos are available to readers that haven't purchased The Seeds of Wither.

All in all, I rated the entire book The Seeds of Wither three stars based on content. The good it came with: a new novella, a mere 16% of the book (and a rehash of information we already knew about Rose), the wives map and two exclusive videos. For the date of its release, it included an excerpt of Fever which was highly anticipated by readers. The unnecessary (and the content that always annoys me to be paying for a second time after already previously purchasing the first book): several chapters from Wither.

[Alexandria · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I first bought this I thought it was a mini prequel to the series, but then I find out it's just the first couple chapters of WITHER. At the end there is an additional chapter from a different characters POV, which I don't think we get at the end of Wither, and I think a chapter of FEVER (the next in the series). I wish I would have know this when I bought it. I liked the story, but I feel like I should have just bought WITHER.

THE FIRST BRIDE (a chapter) was interesting because it gives an insight on how Rose (a minor character) and Linden (assuming major character) came together.

I didn't read the FEVER excerpt because I didn't want to spoil anything for myself.

But with the early glimpse of the next book and THE FIRST BRIDE being really the only thing you can't get from WITHER. I wouldn't say to waste your time on this unless you are really interesting in Rose and Linden's history.

[nshowsherbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really short story, but I was really curious about what happened in it. I'm satisfied and hurt by this short story so much grief and mixed feelings! It was beautiful though and a good addition to the first book!

[jessica ☾ · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wouldn’t even consider this a novella, winthout the excerpts from the first and second books, we get a super tiny short story that wasn’t worth it at all. Rhine is not a character I particularly care about, so this held no interest for me.

[Alana · Rating 2 out of 5]

My star rating isn't for the story itself (all five pages of it in an eighty-two page download) because the story was fine enough even if it wasn't much of anything, but my rating is for the fact that this particular e-exclusive isn't quite worth even the $1.99. Several chapters of the existing book and only a single short chapter from Fever? Oh Simon & Schuster, you need just a little bit more for something like this to be satisfying.
Download this if it ever goes for free, but otherwise you can skip it.

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars
This was a bit pointless really. 77% of it was the first few chapters of Wither (So if you've read Wither, you've obviously read these already!), then there was a very short story about Rose and Linden - literally a few pages in which she tells him to remarry, and then that's it - on to an exceprt from Fever. Pointless.
5 out of 10

[Euridice]

mas de lo mismo, solo que rose no quiso escapar sino que enfrento su destino.

[MisskTarsis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eso es el verdadero amor, dejar marchar cuando sabes que aunque lo ames, no eres buena para él.

[Book Sushi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just started this book and its already annoying me. The description says its a short on Rose's point of view as the first bride, but so far its just a big extract from Wither. So Im actually having to skip a few pages... Why they couldn't put the POV first, i dont know....

well i managed to finish this. lots of skipping till i found the short, and I am dissapointed. Seriously, this was just a money making ploy...

[Betty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would have been rated higher if it had been the prequel I thought it was. But the first part was the first six chapters of Wither, the next bit was a short story told from the perspective of a different character (which did function as a prequel of a sort), and then an excerpt of Fever. The Wither excerpt was good and made me want to continue with the book, but I already had it in the library and was planning on reading it next anyway.

The First Bride was a good read, nicely paced and a solid introduction to Linden and Rose. And it helps to understand some of Linden's behavior in that first six chapters of Wither that preceded it.

I haven't bothered with the excerpt of Fever since reading it before Wither is getting the story out of order even more than this collection of excerpts already has caused.

[Trisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was a little disappointing.
Since it was only about 100 pages, I figured it would be maybe 25, 50, 25
25 pages to Wither
50 to new content
25 to Fever

Instead it was about 80 to Wither, 15 to Fever, and 5 to new content.

I was hoping for more new stuff. I would love to know Rose more.
but I'm glad to know she really did push Linden into marrying and finding a new muse. And their small amount of interaction was cute, but I'd love to know the history of her candies.....

[Myndi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice to be able to see how Rose and Linden came to be a couple who actually cared for each other in this world. Interesting to see Rose's thoughts and not just words to others as she spiraled towards her own imminent death. I think I could have really liked Rose had she been around a bit more in the first book.

This book also had a teaser of book 1 and a preview of book 2, but since I'd already read book 1 and I have book 2 waiting for me, I chose to just read the bonus story.

[Kat Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

When they say "short story" they literally mean short story. But I really love Rose so I bought this sampler the other day. Rose's story is brief and simple, explaining how young she was upon meeting and marrying Linden. And the darkness that befell her after losing her child and succumbing to the virus. I wish I could have read more.

[Γιώτα Παπαδημακοπούλου · Rating 1 out of 5]

Νιώθω τόσο κουρασμένη, που αρνούμαι μέχρι και το να αναπτύξω για ποιο λόγο έβαλα ένα αστεράκι. Αυτό το... "πράμα" δεν είχε λόγο ύπαρξης. Ουσιαστικά σου επαναλαμβάνει τα πρώτα 6 κεφάλαια του πρώτου βιβλίου, ενώ σου προσφέρει κάποια... "σφηνάκια", προφανώς για να δικαιολογήσει την ύπαρξή του, αλλά μάλλον το κάνει αποτυχημένα.

[Isa (Pages Full of Stars) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This short story was a disappointment for me. Most part of it was the excerpt from Wither and then the excerpt from the beginning of Fever. In between, we got a short story about Rose and Linden, but it didn't bring anything new to the overall story for someone who has read the first novel.

[Sandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was okay... I'm glad I only paid 99cents for it. I skipped over the chapters from Wither because I've already read that. Rose's story was extremely short and not anything we didn't already know.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

It certainly wasn't necessary to put in all those extras. Rose's stir would've been enough..

[Beautifulday4makeup The-book-and-Me · Rating 1 out of 5]

honestly I would not call this a seperate book. it contains the first six chapters of the first book and some content of the second. the only addition is a short story of about ten pages.

[Lorena Suárez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cuento corto que en realidad no aporta nada a la historia. No dice nada nuevo.

[Vendea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Ta povídka má tak čtyři stránky, zbytek jsou jen ukázky z Pasti a Horečky. Povídka o Rose byla okay, ale to je tak vše.

2/5*

[Anna Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short story of Rose and Linden life together. Also includes an excerpt of the first book and a sample of the second book.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, I recently (today) bought this book on my phone, and here was my general reaction:

First 15-ish pages:
"Wait, is this Wither? No, no, this can't be. No, wasn't this supposed to be Rose's story?"

Page 16:
"Why is this the first chapters of Wither?"

Me, looking back on the table of contents:
"Okay, so here is Rose's story; I'm so excited! Wait why is it only 10 pages?!"

Yeah. I bought this book for a dollar. Pretty cheap, I know, but I only read this to know the story of Rose, Linden's first wife. I knew it was a short story, so 183 pages sounded right. Enough for a simple and sweet overview.
What did I get? Ten pages of broad, general statements of their relationship and stuff that wasn't fulfilling to my needs as a person who likes this book. AND IT WASN'T EVEN THAT GOOD!
Not that it was bad, and it was great at showing the devotion the characters had to each other. That part wasn't bad. Sad but sweet and true to the heart of the trilogy and to the characters.
But it was just...we know that Linden eventually had to choose to have the brides. And we know that it was because Rose wanted it to because she was sick. All of this is revealed to us beforehand, and even if we get to see some heartwarming scenes between the ever benign Linden and the sweet but tough Rose, it almost seems for nothing, because the brides are everything they're talking about. It's sweet...but empty.
Honestly, it would be better to see him reacting to her death if we saw how devoted he was to her. Meaning, their ENTIRE marriage. Childhood and on. We know how he loves her, and how he reacts to her death, because it all happens in the first book. And we know that this book is meant to be read AFTER the first book, because its book #1.5 and not #0.5, like other books in other series are. And we know all the stuff about Rose's baby and the heartbreak. So why is it in there? And if it's #1.5, why is there an excerpt for the first 5 chapters?
I would understand if this was the prologue to the first book, because then it would give us some insight and explain why Linden is getting these wives and why he is being pressured to do so and why he finally cracked after all these years, and it would make Rose's death all the more tragic because we have some prior knowledge, where her death kind of fell flat in the beginning.

[JudgyK · Rating 1 out of 5]

In my review of The Shadow Cats, I explained the trend of YA series to publish an e-book between two full novels to promote and, in theory, provide new and interesting information to fans of the series that they otherwise would not know. The Seeds of Wither is one of such e-books, but it does not manage to do damn near anything useful. I want my $.99 back. It was wasted.

The Seeds of Wither purports to give you new and exciting information about (surprise, surprise.. the background of Wither) Linden (Rhine’s husband)’s first wife, Rose. It was alluded to Rose not really choosing her spot as wife to Linden but loving it (and him) nonetheless in Wither. It was also suggested that Rose had, once upon a time, attempted to escape the house just like Rhine tried. I hoped that The Seeds of Wither would build on that, tell us where Rose came from, how she ended up engaged to Linden, how she learned to love him, and what, pray tell, the evil father-in-law did to her. Psht.

Instead, it was the first 6 chapters of Wither (I’ve already read them, as I would assume most people reading this book have) and then 6 pages called “The First Wife” told from Rose’s voice about how she convinced/forced Linden to take new wives and why. Seriously. SIX PAGES.

No background information other than she expected to hate Linden but then fell for him. That she wanted one of his new wives to be blonde like her to make him happy (enter Rhine). That’s it. SIX PAGES.

I want my $.99 back.

[Carina Olsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've had this short story ever since it got published in late 2011. And now I finally read it :) And yeah, it was a whole lot shorter than I had thought. Although this ebook is more than one hundred pages, that's just because it's several chapters of Wither. Which is kind of awesome, if you don't have the book. There's also a preview of Fever, which is kind of cool. But then there is the real short story, which is only a few pages long.

The First Bride is a short story told from the point of view of Rose, Linden's first wife. We don't get that much from her. But I loved a look into her mind, even if it was at such a depressing time. We get to know some things about her before she dies. Before she get Linden to get new brides. Oh. It's depressing, because she's so sick, and all she wanted was to die in her garden. But Linden won't let her. He just don't want her to die. And I get that, but I wanted her to be able to choose for herself; not to be more tortured by Vaughn and his medicines. Sigh.

But anyway. I loved reading this from Rose's point of view. And while I don't really like Linden, I can understand why she loves him. He's kind of pathetic, and he knows nothing about his dad, but he's also kind of sweet. And he does need some protection. But yeah. I don't like him much, still. But this short story is five stars, because Rose is an amazing character. If you have read Wither, then you really should read this short story, because it is pretty amazing :) Go buy it.

[Big Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read this whole trilogy. I enjoy when a writer writes so well they draw you into their world. It's not hard to feel the desolation of being sixteen like Rhine and knowing you'll be dead by the age of twenty. Even in the light of day the tone is dark with more than a hint of sinister. The ending was bittersweet. There was one character I kind of wish had made it.

[Lia Br · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jediné, čo som čítala tu bola pár stranová poviedka "The First Bride" ostatné stránky boli len ukážky z prvej a druhej knihy + obrázok poschodia manželiek...Bolo to dosť depresívne, keďže sme mohli čítať o tom, ako Rose umierala - celý ten proces, ako vírus zabíja

[La La · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning is the first six chapters of Wither. I only read the short story about Rose befire the girls got there. It was sweet. There is also a preview of Fever at the end.

[Babs | babs_reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

The smallest of smallest glimpses into the first Bride - Rose's mind. It was okay.

[B.A. Malisch · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short novella that comes between books 1 and 2. It's not as exciting as I hoped, but I don't regret having read it.

Book 233 read in 2018

Pages: 77