Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Wither by Lauren DeStefano was a strange yet interesting book for me. It has suspensful moments that leave you hanging, but also moments that leave you feeling a little awkard. These moments are ones that mention sex. So, if you don't like romance books, I wouldn't recomend it; it talks about it all throughout the book!

Wither is about Rhine, a twin from the future. She lives in our world but far from what we know now. A World War III demolished all except North America. While everyone tries to survive the hopeless world, an antidote, now known as a virus, has infected all of the Second Generations. This virus decreases lives, killing men at the age of 25, and women at the age of 20. To keep the human race alive, Gatherers are sent out to kidnap women and bring them to House Governors. These women are then married to these House Governors and are responsible for having children, not at the age of 20, but at the ages of about 13 through 16. When Rhine's first generation parents died Rowan, her twin, and Rhine never left each other's sides, in fear of Rhine being taken away by these gatherers. But when she gets fooled, she too becomes a bride.

The story follows Rhine and her struggles to avoid the housemaster, to please her new husband, and to get back home.

I can't say that this book is one of my favorites, but I did enjoy reading it. It has an interesting topic that I found very different from any other books I have read. Because everyone dies at the age of 20 or 25, it's normal for girls to become pregnant at what seems, to us, a very young age. An age that really no one would even consider having a child. The thought of becoming a mom was the main topic that I really thought about throughout reading Wither.

Even though Rhine has to deal with a life changing situation, she isn't a very emotional girl, which I'm happy with because I can't read a book with the main character complaining all the time! Rhine is very smart and is able to come up with ideas of how to escape where she is "imprisoned." Rhine even tells the story, not from what she has experienced, but actually what she is experiencing then. I enjoyed this factor because you and the character are unsure of what is to come.

The only part of Wither I didn't really like was that it was a little too dreary for me. Even though it is about a girl being seperated from her family, I wish Rhine found some fun or just even had a laugh. I can't say that Rhine was always slouching around, she did have good moments too, as I mentioned above she doesn't complain, but I thought they were just too limited.

I give Wither a B+.