Wither (The Chemical Garden, #1) in And So It Begins Reading Challenge

Jul 30, 2011 Darlene rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2012, giveaway-won, ebook

I didn’t want it to end! It was *that* good!!

Wither has become my favourite dystopian novel. This book is a good lesson to show what can happen when scientists and geneticists try to play God: Their attempts to create a superior, disease-free race backfires when the offspring of the genetically modified individuals die prematurely, at the age of 20 years for females and 25 years for males. The first generation is determined to find a cure for the virus before the entire population is wiped out. I didn’t want it to end! It was *that* good!!

Wither has become my favourite dystopian novel. This book is a good lesson to show what can happen when scientists and geneticists try to play God: Their attempts to create a superior, disease-free race backfires when the offspring of the genetically modified individuals die prematurely, at the age of 20 years for females and 25 years for males. The first generation is determined to find a cure for the virus before the entire population is wiped out. To do so, they need more test subjects. Polygamy becomes the norm, and young girls of child-bearing age are snatched up by “Gatherers,” who round the girls up to be brides for the sons of the first generation. The girls are expected to have as many children as they can to ensure the future survival of the human race. Even if a cure is not found before the brides die, their children will be studied and tested in an effort to find the antidote.

Rhine, a 16 year-old teenager, is one of the unlucky brides who have been abducted by the Gatherers. She, along with two other girls (13 year-old Cecily and 18 year-old Jenna), are brought to the estate of wealthy Housemaster Vaughn. The young ladies are to be the sister brides of Vaughn’s son, 21 year old Linden, whose first wife, 20 year-old Rose, is on her deathbed. Rhine realizes that the success of her intended escape depends on her ability to gain the trust of her husband and his domineering father. She must pretend to be enamoured by her husband and complacent with her lifestyle in the lap of luxury if she has any chance at all to flee. She will stop at nothing to find her way back to her twin brother, Rowan, the only family that she has left since their parents died. Rhine finds an unlikely ally in Gabriel, who is a servant in the mansion.

I loved, loved, loved Wither! I found this to be a very dark and emotional read, because DeStefano touches on so many moral and ethical issues in the world that she has created: Genetic manipulation, polygamy, murder, kidnapping, teenage pregnancy, abuse. These are very mature topics for a YA novel.

Vaughn was the perfect villain. Although DeStefano tries to create sympathy towards Linden by painting him as a victim of his father’s machinations, I could not think of him as anything but a randy young man who revelled in bedding multiple wives! I was particularly bothered by his sexual relationship with 13 year-old Cecily. That’s just...wrong. I found him nearly as loathsome as his father. Rhine is an intelligent, thoughtful, and gutsy young lady who knew that she had to play the game to get what she wanted. At times, I do not know how she managed to keep up the act of devoted wife. Her strength and determination are admirable qualities.

And who could not help but love Gabriel? His innocence was heart-breaking, as well as his unswerving servitude to his masters. His moments with Rhine were so sweet, but I wanted more!

The gorgeous cover depicting Rhine as the bird in the gilded cage was perfect.

My fingers could not flip the pages of this book fast enough, and I reached the end to pause and reflect only for a moment before I dove into the next in the series, Fever.

MY RATING: 5 stars!! It was superb! I loved it, and I will likely re-read it again in the future! You should definitely read it! ...more

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Mar 16, 2011 Christy rated it it was amazing

I am in love with this book. Rhine is such a strong person, I don't know that I could've been as tough as she was if I had been kidnapped from the only life I'd known and thrown into a world where I would have to marry a complete stranger who would also be marrying two other girls. At first I didn't like Linden but buy the end of the book I was starting to like him, it's obvious that he's in love with Rhine, but I also really liked Gabriel. I guess I'll just have to see how Fever goes!! This is ...more

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Nov 21, 2010 Nicole rated it really liked it

Shelves: dystopian

Find more of my reviews on my blog, The Reader's Antidote

Wither was an interesting read for me. I didn’t think I’d like it as much as I did to be honest. You know how I love my dystopians, but maybe it’s because the name of the series was disconcerting, or whatever it was. Needless to say, I was wrong to doubt it. Wither is like a fairytale gone horribly wrong, and all set in a dystopian and post-apocalyptic world. In this future version of earth, there was a cure found for cancer. Those that we Find more of my reviews on my blog, The Reader's Antidote

Wither was an interesting read for me. I didn’t think I’d like it as much as I did to be honest. You know how I love my dystopians, but maybe it’s because the name of the series was disconcerting, or whatever it was. Needless to say, I was wrong to doubt it. Wither is like a fairytale gone horribly wrong, and all set in a dystopian and post-apocalyptic world. In this future version of earth, there was a cure found for cancer. Those that were given the vaccine ended up being completely healthy and living long natural lives. But their children turned out to be not so healthy. Girls die at 20, and boys die at 25 from a slow unknown disease. This makes life slightly more difficult.

I enjoyed everything about this story. Rhine was an amazing main character, and the other characters, no matter how minor, were not forgotten. I grew to love everyone of them, and while it was important that they were all locked away in this mansion far away from Rhine’s home and twin brother, it was the characters that really made this story. As I said, it felt like a fairytale gone wrong. Like Beauty and the Beast, but instead of the young man being the beast, his father was more of a beast (emotional one, anyway). Rhine is kidnapped, like so many girls of this time do. She has no idea where they’re taking her. Eventually, she is one of three girls to survive. One of the other three girls had two sisters in the truck they came in. And everyone else was shot.

Obviously, Rhine doesn’t like Linden. He’s the reason she’s even there in the first place, and now she’ll be forced to make children with this man she already loathes. She also grows not to hate him though. His first wife is dying of the disease, and he’s still in love with her when he marries Rhine and the other two girls. His wife insisted. This story is already heartbreaking. On top of Rhine, trying to avoid sleeping with Linden, she starts to develop feelings for one of the servants, Gabriel. I was sad that Gabriel basically disappeared in the middle of the book. More of Linden’s father’s doings. But the little romance that they did have was beautiful, and I can’t wait to see more of them in the next one.

This book is full of heartache and betrayal and I absolutely fell in love. If you’re into dystopians and haven’t read this one, definitely check it out. Even if you don’t like dystopians, think evil twisted fairy tale and you just can’t say no. ...more

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Apr 05, 2011 Paula Phillips rated it it was amazing

Review: Wither - Book #1 : The Chemical Garden Trilogy- Lauren DeStefano- March 2011
I had been in two minds about Wither as I had seen it advertised and reviewed on other blogs and some of the new contemporary dystopian novels I have enjoyed whereas others have tended to be a bit weak, so I wasn't too sure what to expect with Wither but OMG it was one of the best books I have ever read , I loved it tremendously and could not put it down and when it ended I was like "I wish Lauren would write a b ...more

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Apr 18, 2012 Cat rated it liked it

I know that we really shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but in this case the cover of this book is a great representation of the story within. Eerie, sad and beautiful, this story really sticks with you. It is a tale filled with beautiful places, dazzling parties and sinister purposes that hold the reader until the last page and leave them with both a feeling of outstanding exhilaration and intense foreboding. I put off reading this book for so long because I just wasn't sure that it would b I know that we really shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but in this case the cover of this book is a great representation of the story within. Eerie, sad and beautiful, this story really sticks with you. It is a tale filled with beautiful places, dazzling parties and sinister purposes that hold the reader until the last page and leave them with both a feeling of outstanding exhilaration and intense foreboding. I put off reading this book for so long because I just wasn't sure that it would be able to live up to my expectations. In the end it mostly did, but a part of me feels like the darkness of this book really weighed it down too much. However, that same darkness is what made it so enjoyable. Perhaps those conflicting feelings are what makes Wither so special.

LIKES:

Beautiful storytelling and world-building: DeStefano's writing has a way of bringing the reader into the story and making them feel totally encapsulated in her world. The imagery used and the history/memory building is really fantastic. I just kept wanting to know more and more about Rhine and her little world and it was so much fun learning about it.
Thought-provoking: This point really goes along with the world-building. DeStefano's picture of this horrifying new America in the not-to-distant future really makes you think about your place on the planet now and appreciate that we are not the only ones here. In Rhine's world all of the other countries have been totally decimated. Paris is just a memory, China has vanished, and Germany only exists in old atlases. Rhine's America is completely alone in the world and for some reason this really bothered me, in the best possible way. Don't get me wrong, I wave my flag and love a good fireworks display on the Fourth of July, just like most Americans, but I also like knowing that there are different cultures and places yet to be explored out there. I can't imagine being the last country on earth and what that would mean. DeStefano has made this world so believable that you can't help but reflect upon it.
We're only here for a little while: A huge theme in this book is time. In the world of Wither men only live to be 25 and women only 20 so throughout the book Rhine and her companions are trying to make the most of the time they have left in different ways. The best part about this theme is that it doesn't just apply to DeSefano's characters. Sure we may have more like 80-something years on Earth but in the grand scheme of things that's no time at all. There are tortoises walking around that were born before our great grand parents after all. While reading Wither, I found myself reflecting on how short of a time we really have here and how important it is not to waste it. This is a great thing to be reminded of, especially in such a fun, creepy way and really helps you relate to Rhine and her sister wives.

DISLIKES:

Again with the child-prostitution: Okay so I realize that there is a reason that this issue is included in the book: to underline the creepiness and cruelty of Rhine's world. Still, I will never get used to seeing this in books. One of Rhine's sister wives is only 13 at the beginning of this book! 13! Gross. Just not my cup of tea.
Why romance? (POSSIBLE SPOILERS): The whole romance aspect of this book just seems pointless. There are basically two potential love interests in the story (yay love triangles, not). First there is Rhine's husband, Linden. He is a whimpy, clueless man who's father is holding Rhine prisoner. Not to mention he goes around impregnating 13 year olds (not cool). Why Rhine would even entertain the idea of being with this guy voluntarily is beyond me. Then we have Gabriel. He has his own drawbacks, mainly that he seems sort of okay living in this awful place and might have a pretty bad case of Stockholm Syndrome. Mostly, though, my problem with him as a romantic interest is that Rhine doesn't really know him at all. This is one of those books where I really don't see the need for romantic entanglements. I feel like they had a good story and then shoved some romance in for good measure. Not a fan.

IN BETWEEN:

Very dark: And when I say dark I don't mean sort of spooky with some gore mixed in. I mean chopping up bodies in a basement dark. In a way this made it really unpleasant to read sometimes. At the same time though, this darkness is what gives the book its appeal and what keeps the reader going. You want to find out what's going on and suffering mentally along with Rhine makes you want that payoff even more.

In the end, I was really glad that I decided to go ahead and read this one. Even though it left me with some icky feelings and questions about my own cynicism, I really enjoyed it. I would recommend this to all lovers of dystopian, not so much for the romantics. I will definitely be checking out Fever and the final book in the trilogy Sever soon! ...more

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Aug 16, 2011 Anasheh Satoorian rated it it was amazing

I would give this a 4.5 if I could. It deserves a 5 becasue they story plot was so unique and so well thought out. But what drove me somewhat crazy was the editing of the book. The chapters did not end and start smoothly, but it still did not take away from how good the book was

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