Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Wither and Fever:The Chemical Garden Triliogy by Lauren DeStefano

All About It:


Wither:
At age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years to live. Thanks to a botched effort to create a perfect race, all females live to be twenty, and males live to age twenty-five. While geneticists seek a miracle antidote, orphans roam the streets and polygamy abounds. After Rhine is kidnapped and sold as a bride, she is desperate to escape from her husband’s strange world, which includes a sinister father-in-law in search of the antidote and a slew of sister wives who are not to be trusted. On the cusp of her seventeenth birthday, Rhine attempts to flee—but what she finds is a society spiraling into anarchy.
Fever:  
Rhine and Gabriel may have escaped the beautiful prison of Wither’s mansion, but they are far from escaping danger. First they’re chased for stealing a getaway boat, and then the fleeing pair ends up in the eerie den of Madame, an old woman who collects girls and sells them to the highest bidders. Worst of all, Vaughn, Rhine’s sinister father-in-law, seems to be on her trail every step of the way. Rhine remains determined to get to her brother in Manhattan—but the road they are on is long and perilous.

Now that Rhine has finally regained her freedom, what lengths will she need to go to in order to keep it?

What I Thought:
For just about a year, Wither sat on my bookshelf just waiting for its turn to be read. It took me a year to get to it, and GOODNESS I cannot believe I let that happen! I immediately fell in love with the main character Rhine. Ms. DeStefano blew me away and drew me in all at the same time. I couldn’t get past the world she created, past the dangers and fears that came with it. The short life of twenty years for girls and twenty-five for boys makes any person who reads it think long and hard about their life. Have they lived it well enough? I am twenty at this moment and cannot imagine being on the cusp of death. I am however getting away from the book review now aren’t I? Rhine was kidnapped, sold, wed, and kept prisoner all under the pretense of love and marriage. Linden was the man she was wed too, along with two other girls, creating a sister-wife living arrangement. I loved the characters of the sister-wives. Jenna and Cecily were great entertainment. The fact the tough subjects were not strayed away from makes this series even more enticing. There is sex, polygamy, teenage child birth (as no one lives much longer) and SO much tension and evil. This series has it all! I know much of what I am saying seems cryptic and meaningless but I cannot say much more without ruining not only Wither but the sequel Fever which was equally as fantastic and capturing. I can say one thing; don’t waste a year like me, READ Wither and Fever NOW! I promise they will be worth your time! The future world, the love, the lies, the deceit, the Gabriel…..What more can I say? Read now! The only regret you will have is that it will be another whole year before the explosive finale comes out! Word of warning though….the ending of Fever will leave a bad taste in your mouth and your heart skipping beats….it puts you on the edge of a cliff, hanging by the tips of your fingers, not falling over, not dying as you hit the ground….hanging…just hanging….closure is a thing unheard of in this sequels end. I make a plea though…Like I said before I am dead or dying in this future world! Can’t a dying girl get a conclusion! Show More

Five out of Five Faires!