Wither

Wither

by Lauren DeStefano

In the future, the world has been destroyed by war.  North America is allegedly the only thing left standing on the planet that can still be seen from space.  Everything else is in pieces.

In an effort to rid the world of diseases like cancer, scientists created what they thought would be the perfect children.  They were born healthy, free of illness, and ready to fix the world and make it a better place.

Scientists got it wrong.

The first children were healthy.  But THEIR children were not.

Now all of the next generations have a deadline.  Males die at 25.  Females die at 20.

Like clockwork.

As some scientists strive to find a cure, other "pro-naturalists" fight against them and argue that it's time for the humans to die out as a species.

In the middle of all of this is Rhine Ellery.  Kidnapped and sold to a wealthy household, she and two other girls are forced to marry one man in the hopes of keeping the human race alive.  

All she wants to do is escape and back to her twin brother, Rowan, but she must play the dutiful and loving wife if she ever wants a chance to get out.

Now it's a fight against time.  She's only got four years before she's scheduled to die.  She can only play out her "relationship" so long before she'll be forced to commit herself.  She can only survive so long against her husband's father, who seems to be on to her and will do anything to prevent her from leaving.

Even kill.

Final thoughts:  Another good dystopia.  Was there a memo sent out about this?  Something like "In lieu of vampires and werewolves, try talking about the end of the human race as we know it."  This is very good, but I hadn't quite realized what I was getting into.  I also found myself questioning the fact that, if the human race is dying out, why are girls being murdered left and right?  Wouldn't people keep even the ugly ones around just to help keep the population up?  This is kind of A Handmaid's Tale meets Logan's Run.  It works and I LOVED Rhine.  I look forward to the next two in yet another trilogy.  (And I LOVE the cover!!)

Rating: 4/5