This is the first book in a new young adult series by first time author, Lauren De Stefano. De Stefano paints a post-apocalyptic story where, thanks to genetic engineering , males only live to be 25 years old and females only live to be 20 years old. When the children hit that age, they come down with an incurable virus.
Girls are a top commodity for the rich and powerful. They pay top dollar for truck loads of girls to be kidnapped. The ones that are deemed good for child bearing are married off into polygamous marriages to the sons of the rich, to keep the population going. The others are sent to brothels or just simply killed.
Rhine is living alone with her brother after their parents died. They took turns staying awake at night watching out for burglars and kidnappers. One day, when her brother is at work, Rhine goes to answer an advertisement for a job. However, it was a scam to kidnap a truckload of girls. She is picked to be one of three brides for Linden, the son of a wealthy doctor in Florida.
Linden falls in love with Rhine because she reminds him so much of his first wife who dies soon after Rhine is brought to live with him. She quickly earns his trust and becomes "first wife", which gives her extra privileges. The entire time however, she is trying to plan her escape. She dreams of being reunited with her brother.
This is a dark story. Linden is pretty clueless as to what is really going on in his household. His father has a laboratory in the basement where he keeps dark secrets and performs experiments, trying to come up with a cure for the virus. Linden has no idea that the women he married were kidnapped. He thinks they somehow chose to be married off.
Wither is an engaging and fast reading story. This story has been described as romantic but I saw very little of that. Yes, Linden had sex with his wives and he romanced Rhine but it was all one sided. I don't call that romance.
This would make a great book club book as there are a lot of issues to discuss. Teenage pregnancy, polygamy, poverty would all make for good discussion, perhaps with an adult present, for guidance. I really liked this story. The end leaves the reader hanging and I would like to read the next book, in what I believe is to be a trilogy.
I am trying out a new rating system, please tell me what you think. I shamelessly took this idea from Caribousmom.
Quality of Writing: 4/5
Character development: 4/5
Plot: 4/5
Overall: 4/5
Thanks to Simon and Schuster Galley Grab for this eBook.
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