Wither by Lauren DeStefano

In Wither by Lauren DeStefano, Rhine is kidnapped to become one of three "sister wives" of a wealthy young man.  The girls who are not chosen are killed.  This is not an uncommon practice in this future America where girls all die by the age of 20 and men die by the age of 25.  The only older people left are members of the "First Generation", a generation of test tube babies all born to be perfect in every way.  Their children, however, have a "virus" that kills them off early.

When the reader considers that early death is Rhine's only option and that includes struggling for food and fighting orphans and thieves, her lot in the home of this wealthy young man and his First Generation father is actually fortunate.  Her younger sister wife can't imagine why Rhine wants to leave, and her older sister wife is just waiting to die.  Bleak?  I guess so.

This bleakness crept into my bones as I read this book.  DeStefano makes the young husband, Linden, sympathetic, almost pathetic.  He knows nothing of the kidnappings.  He thinks his wives are all orphans who have chosen to be wives.  And then there is the shadowy Gabriel, the servant that forms an attachment with Rhine.  His character seems to exist only as the other leg of a love triangle.

 Rhine's actions at the end felt contrary to her character and to the loyalties she had formed while in captivity. 

That said, the book gives the reader a lot to think about - a lot of bleak why-are-we-all-here things to think about.  I just wish that Gabriel was as fleshed out as a character as Linden was.  Perhaps in the next book.


September Giveaway:  Don't forget.  Comment on the September Giveaway post with your first name and town and you could win a signed copy of Origami Yoda, a copy of Darth Paper  AND a Darth Paper finger puppet made by the author himself.  So amazing!