WITHER by Lauren DeStefano Review and Giveaway!

When I first heard the premise for this book, I couldn't wait to read it. And now, I plan to put myself first in line to request book 2 in the series (because, yay! there is going to be a book 2).

WITHER (The Chemical Garden Trilogy) by Lauren DeStefano (Simon & Schuster, March 22, 2011)


Simon & Schuster is an amazing publisher, and they've offered up 5 (FIVE!!!!!) finished hardcovers of WITHER for giveaway. Check below for details!


WITHER touches on issues like genetic engineering and DNA testing and polygamous marriage. In a society where females die at age 20 and males at age 25, every second counts. The main character, Rhine, wants to live her life the way she wants to live it in a way that makes us care about how she's going to get out of captivity and back to the world she knows.

There are a few things that really set WITHER apart from other dystopic stories.
First, the world of captivity is drawn perfectly with the words for us to see. I felt like I was living in the nice big house with Rhine. I was eating the same food and going to the same parties. So nicely done!
Second, the relationship between the sister-wives makes us truly see each of their transformations and care about their individual circumstances. They're all different ages and from different backgrounds, and each has to find a way to live in their new surroundings and cope in a way to make their life bearable.
And finally, Rhine, though married to the house governor, has found someone else she'd rather be with. And as her minutes of life tick away, each second she's not with him is painful for us all.

I'd highly recommend this one for fans of paranormal and dystopic teen fiction! Seriously, don't miss out! Of dystopic stories, this one rises to the top.


Here's the author talking about WITHER!



From Amazon:

By age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. She can thank modern science for this genetic time bomb. A botched effort to create a perfect race has left all males with a lifespan of 25 years, and females with a lifespan of 20 years. Geneticists are seeking a miracle antidote to restore the human race, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have skyrocketed, and young girls are being kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children.

When Rhine is kidnapped and sold as a bride, she vows to do all she can to escape. Her husband, Linden, is hopelessly in love with her, and Rhine can’t bring herself to hate him as much as she’d like to. He opens her to a magical world of wealth and illusion she never thought existed, and it almost makes it possible to ignore the clock ticking away her short life. But Rhine quickly learns that not everything in her new husband’s strange world is what it seems. Her father-in-law, an eccentric doctor bent on finding the antidote, is hoarding corpses in the basement. Her fellow sister wives are to be trusted one day and feared the next, and Rhine is desperate to communicate to her twin brother that she is safe and alive. Will Rhine be able to escape--before her time runs out?


Source of books: From publisher

*Please note: This contest is for United States shipping only.*

For your chance to win one of 5 hardcovers of WITHER, all you need to do is:

1) Follow this blog
2) Comment on this blog post

For extra entries:

1) Blog about this contest and leave a comment telling me
2) Tweet about this contest and leave a comment telling me
3) Also, if you've never won one of my contests, please tell me in the comments, and you'll get an extra entry!

And make sure you leave me a way to get in contact with you when you win!

The contest will run through midnight on Monday, March 21, 2011!

*****

Don't forget I'm also giving away:

ODD GIRL IN by Jo Whittemore (Aladdin Mix/Simon & Schuster, March 22, 2011)
CLICK HERE TO ENTER!


ALIEN INVASION AND OTHER INCONVENIENCES by Brian Yansky (Candlewick, October 2010)
CLICK HERE TO ENTER!


NUM8ERS: THE CHA0S by Rachel Ward (The Chicken House, March 1, 2011)
CLICK HERE TO ENTER.