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Wither (The Chemical Garden, #1)

Lauren DeStefano

Start date: July 1, 2013

Finish date: July 31, 2013

Discussion: Book of the Month (BOM)

Discussion leader: Tara-Jayne (♥ I Read, I Love ♥) Bell

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What Members Thought

Jul 02, 2011 Eloise rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

I was a bit skeptical about whether or not I should read this book, but I got it out of the library anyway...and it was AMAZING! Lauren DeStefano made this book instantly captivating and I didn't want to put it down. I immediately felt sorry for Rhine, because she didn't want to be a bride and she didn't want to leave her brother. I felt like I had to find out what would happen to Rhine so I read through this as quickly as possible. Throughout the book I fell more and more in love with the chara ...more

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Aug 30, 2011 Rachel "Rai29" rated it it was amazing

ISBN: 9781442409057
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 358

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 pol ISBN: 9781442409057
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 358

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 thoroughly enjoyed reading Wither by Lauren DeStefano! I really liked the concept behind this dystopian tale, where rather than the characters benefitting from the genetic experiment, they end up having to alter their society to cope with their shorter lifespans! I also enjoyed how Wither was actually written, it flowed well! My favourite characters were Gabriel and Rhine. Both of them were confined to Linden’s mansion, although for different purposes. Rhine’s purpose was to be a replacement for Linden’s first wife, whilst Gabriel’s role was to be a servant. I love the scientific cover of Wither! The “circle arrows” on the cover are not only quite modern and trendy, they also link up the different elements within the cover to each other (and the story within!).

Available at Amazon.co.uk.
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Aug 02, 2011 Bonnie Colvert rated it really liked it

Wow, when is book two in The Chemical Garden Trilgy? I really liked Wither, it seems like something like this could really happen in the future. I could really feel the character's emotions throughout the story. This book does leave you hanging at the end, which is what it was supposed to do. ...more

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Mar 12, 2011 Becca rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2011-release, 2011-reads, disturbing-must-reads, own, arc, 5stars, debut-bks, ya-dystopian

Fantastically disturbing was my first thought when I read the ARC. Have my hands on the hardcover - my opinion has NOT changed. It's worth a 1st, 2nd and 3rd read-through. All YA fans should give this new series a shot. ...more

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Jul 27, 2018 Rea added it

Shelves: dnf

I had so many issues with this book while I was reading it. It's obvious that the author didn't take the time to think through her world building. The more I read, the more I found myself getting increasingly frustrated and bored with the story. I gave up around the page 100 mark.

DNF. ...more

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