Sunday, February 6, 2011

Book Review: Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Once in a while, you read a book that gets under your skin so relentlessly, it stays firmly in your thoughts and refuses to be dislodged even by the hordes of books you read after it.  Wither was such a book for me. I was initially intrigued by the premise (because of some medical tinkering, all females now die at 20 and all males at 25), then sucked in by the stark first chapter (our main character, Rhine, is trapped in a van with  many other girls, waiting to be sold or shot), and slowly but surely made to care deeply about Rhine and her sister wives and empathize with them even when I didn't always agree with them.

See, Rhine ends up at a cushy mansion in Florida, married to gentle soul Linden along with the older Jenna and younger Cicely. Despite the luxury afforded her, Rhine has the powerful urge to return to the hovel she occupied with her brother in New York, constantly hounded by human traffickers and bombarded by rats. Jenna won't give her captors her heart, but she's resigned to living out the short time she has left in relative safety and comfort.  Only youngest wife Cicely fully embraces her new situation and can't understand why Rhine would ever want anything more.

There are few highly dramatic set pieces here, yet even the quietest of scenes chilled me and thrilled me. An amazing accomplishment. 5 Zombie Chickens.


WITHER comes out March 22, 2011.  Find out more about it at the author's website.

30 comments:

Unknown said...

I've got an arc of this on on my ereader just waiting to be read. Not sure if it'll be my next one, but I'm definitely getting to in in the next week or so. :)

Trisha said...

It's interesting to consider how the world would change if we only lived 20-25 years. Life would definitely get more basic.

bermudaonion said...

I saw a lot of buzz about this on Twitter not too long ago - no wonder everyone was so excited about it.

Lahni said...

I have this book sitting on my desk waiting to be read. I've read about 2 pages and I had to put it down because I could tell that I was going to be sucked in and I have too many other books that MUST be read first! I'm glad you enjoyed it - I can't wait to find time to read it myself!

Melissa (i swim for oceans) said...

I have been dying to read this forever. Seriously. The premise, cover, writing...all of it sounds just gorgeous. Fabulous review, Lenore :)

Pam (@iwriteinbooks) said...

I looooove this cover so much! Haven't gotten a chance to read it but looks delish. :0)

Amy said...

I read this in one sitting but the further I got from it, the more problems I had with it.

Unknown said...

Beautiful cover! I'm excited that you enjoyed it and can't stop thinking about it! Must read soon! :)

Lenore Appelhans said...

Amy - It's interesting that you say that, because I had some problems while I was reading it (but I did read it on my computer) but the more I think about it, the more it just has me mesmerized.

Readingjunky said...

Sounds fascinating. The cover is beautiful, too.
(oops, shallow, I know but covers matter to me.)

RJ

Sandy Nawrot said...

Oh man. I think I might need to earmark this for after April 1st. And I know we have already had this discussion, but I can pretty much get past any wild dystopianism, and I'm pretty sure I'd just love this book to death.

Cheryl said...

I wish I had this on my desk waiting to be read. This is at the top of my list along with "Between Shades of Gray".

Emy Shin said...

I have a copy of this -- and while the summary doesn't exactly appeal to me, it sounds like a really great book. I'll definitely have to give it a chance.

Mrs. DeRaps said...

I can't even wait to read this book! I've already pre-ordered it. I need time to hurry just a bit!

Kulsuma said...

Can't wait to read this one. I imagine life would turn into something similar to a relay race of producing offspring.

Zibilee said...

Ooh! I have this one up for review very soon and you have made me highly anticipate it. It sounds like a really unique story, and I am wondering what my reactions to it will be. Greatly enticing review, Lenore!

Danny Pettry said...

Thanks for your blog.

This book/ trilogy sounds really interesting.

I love distopia books.

you might want to read "children of men" one day. i can't remember the author.

Cialina at Muggle-Born.net said...

Oh wow, I'm glad to hear you really liked this one. It didn't really catch my eye, but I trust your opinion! I'll definitely bump this one up my TBR and watch out for the release date!

Andrea said...

I read Wither just before Christmas and absolutely loved it, I've been recommending it to everyone. Glad to see it garnered 5 Zombie Chickens :)

lulilut said...

This is on my TBR list - I just love the cover so much. Thanks for the review.

Lola said...

Fabulous review! I can not wait to read this one! Also, I am SO HAPPY to see the zombie chickens back! I really missed those guys! :)

Danielle Zappavigna said...

Oh I can't wait to read this! Glad to know it's not just a pretty face :-)

karen! said...

This one definitely sounds promising

SarahEm said...

"Once in a while, you read a book that gets under your skin so relentlessly, it stays firmly in your thoughts and refuses to be dislodged even by the hordes of books you read after it."

Wither is definitely that kind of book!

Ladytink_534 said...

What a lovely cover but it sounds like her upcoming death hangs over the book. Still going on my list though.

kay - Infinite Shelf said...

Wow, this sounds like a must-read! Not only does it have a fantastic cover the premise is also intriguing. And other than your review, I think I've mostly seen only good things about it. Can't wait to read it!

Misty said...

FIVE zombie chickens! Wow. May have to bump this up on my wishlist.

Michelle said...

loved.this.book

I'm so anxious to get to the second and see how things shake out for everyone.

Unknown said...

I loved this book too and also gave it 5 stars. Loved your review and I'm now following you! :)

Pam Pho said...

Great review of a great book.