Wither
by Lauren DeStefano
Set in a
dystopian world, women die at 20 and men at 25, as a result of trying to
perfect the race. Girls are married off as brides to keep the population going.
Rhine Ellery has just been kidnapped and sold off as a bride to rich Linden
Vaughn, who introduces her to a lavish world of wealth that captivates and
stuns her. However, Rhine knows one thing: It’s all an illusion. She needs to
get out and find her twin brother, and not be trapped in this world. Aided, by
Linden’s servant Gabriel, she tries to get out of the illusion, but finds it
may be harder to escape the gilded cage she is trapped in than she thinks.
The world
building in this book is very complex, and DeStefano fails on that front. She
skimps on some of the more important descriptions of clothes. It all feels too
forced. I didn’t enjoy this book, and I don’t feel that many others will. It
begs comparison to The Hunger Games,
but pales in its shadow. It simply sets a too big goal, and cannot live up to
it. It treats a subject that can be expanded on to become a great novel, and
only half expands it. It could be better, but with its mediocre plot and
vocabulary, is simply not. Briana
B.; Teen Reviewer