Wither by Lauren DeStefano (Chemical Garden Trilogy #1)

Apr 4, 2013
4 min read

In the dark future, where men only live to be twenty-five and women only live to age twenty, it's not uncommon for unwilling girls to be snatched off the streets and taken away to be brides, sold to the rich. Rhine Ellery, who has lived with her older twin brother her whole life, is captured and swept away to be married to Linden, a wealthy young man, along with two other girls. The mansion where Linden lives is full of servants to cater to the girls' every whim, and, unlike in their previous lifestyles, the wives have a warm bed every night and enough to eat without having to work at all. Nevertheless, Rhine is determined to escape, and under the surface, the house is more sinister Hell than a haven. Linden's father is a scientist looking for the cure that kills humans so young, but in doing so, he's willing to do whatever it takes to make sure the girls, and Linden, comply with his every word. Anyone who steps out of line is in danger of... going misssing.

With a single look at the cover, I could tell that I was in for a dark, alluring read. The world of Wither is very dark, and the mansion where the girls and Linden live is creepy and complex. As DeStefano describes it, the house has a very empty feel, helping it seem lonely and eerie, and the girls are kept mostly isolated from the world. This leaves them with holographic games and each other for company, which might not be so bad if they weren't being held against their will. Linden's father wants everyone under his finger, and he's manipulating the staff as well as his own son to get what he wants, adding a delightful chilling air to the story.

The characters were heart-wrenching. Rhine is determined to escape, and at first she hates her prison. Even so, she grows to understand that Linden, unknowing as he is, is ignorant about her life before coming to the mansion and doesn't understand why she might hate her new life. She can't help but feel sorry for him. In time, she does grow to care for him, although I wouldn't say that she loves Linden. She can't forget that he's the reason she's not free. It leads to a moral conflict as Rhine tries to remember that she is a prisoner while she is surrounded by wealth and plenty that she finds slightly wonderful, having never really had such luxury before.

Jenna, another of the wives, hates Linden with a cold sort of fury. She never outwardly shows any sign of anger or rebellion, but she loathes him for being cruel and for thinking that there's nothng wrong with being with Cecily, the third wife. Jenna longs for real love, burrying her nose in romance novels and soap operas as guilty pleasures.

Cecily is the third wife, and, sort of like with Linden, I love and hate her. She's a child, only thirteen, but shew ants to be adored and is eager to be a wife and, slightly alarmingly, a mother even though she's so young. Even in a world where lifespans are short, she is a child!

I'm slightly conflicted about Linden. I hated him at first. After all, he's stolen these brides, who are, with Cecily's exception, unwilling. How can he think that's okay, I wondered? Later on, I realized that he doesn't fully understand the outside world because his father controls him so much. Much like Rhine, I began to feel sorry for him. I still dislike the fact that Jenna and Rhine are held against their will, but it's the facts and not the character himself I really dislike. He's also dealing with the death of someone he loves, and I can sympathize with him on that front. In the end, it's not a win-win scenario. If Rhine leaves, he'll be heartbroken because he's come to love her. If Rhine stays, she'll be miserable. Both of them can't end up happy.

In Wither, Rhine has a love interest not with Linden, but rather with one of her servants, a boy named Gabriel. I don't see how they have very much chemistry. They get along fine, and Gabriel comforts Rhine, but apart from that, they don;t have much in common, and I don't see all that much of Rhine's feeling about him. I would like to see more of that in the sequel, Fever. I'd also like to see more of Rhine's personality, as I feel it could have been explored more, and I can't wait to get a look at the world outside the mansion. Overall, I really enjoyed the story. It was haunting and frightning, twisted and creative. The secrets of the mansion resulted in a complex web of lies and mystery that was thrilling to unravel, and while the book was not very action-packed or romantic, there was some suspense to keep me on my toes. As dystopian books go, this was very dark, but it was enchanting in a shadowy, slightly disturbing way. 4/5 stars.