Fever (The Chemical Garden Trilogy #2) by Lauren DeStefano

May Contain Spoilers from Book 1

Reviewed by: Siobhán
Format: Paperback
Pages:  341
Published: 16th Feb 2012 (UK)
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Source: Publisher for Review
Genre: YA Dystopian
Buy: Amazon UK I Amazon US I Book Depository

Description:

For 17-year-old Rhine Ellery, a daring escape from a suffocating polygamous marriage is only the beginning…

Running away brings Rhine and Gabriel right into a trap, in the form of a twisted carnival whose ringmistress keeps watch over a menagerie of girls. Just as Rhine uncovers what plans await her, her fortune turns again. With Gabriel at her side, Rhine travels through an environment as grim as the one she left a year ago – surroundings that mirror her own feelings of fear and hopelessness.

The two are determined to get to Manhattan, to relative safety with Rhine’s twin brother, Rowan. But the road there is long and perilous – and in a world where young women only live to age twenty and young men die at twenty-five, time is precious. Worse still, they can’t seem to elude Rhine’s father-in-law, Vaughn, who is determined to bring Rhine back to the mansion…by any means necessary.

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Mini Review: Wither (The Chemical Garden Trilogy #1) by Lauren Destefano

Reviewed by: Siobhán
Format: Kindle Ebook
Pages:  358
Published: 4th Aug 2011 (UK)
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Source:  Bought
Genre: YA Dystopian
Buy: Amazon UK I Amazon US I Book Depository

Description:

What if you knew exactly when you would die?

Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out. When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home. But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant she trusts, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limted time she has left

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Wither (The Chemical Garden #1) by Lauren DeStefano

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 358
Published: March 22, 2011
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Genre: YA Fantasy, Dystopian

Description:

Obviously, something went terribly wrong. Genetic mutations have festered, reducing human longevity to twenty-five, even less for most women. To prevent extinction, young girls are kidnapped, mated in polygamous marriages with men eager to procreate. Sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery, a recent victim of this breeding farm mentality, has vowed to break loose from its fetters; but finding allies and a safe way out is a challenge she can only hope she will survive. A dystopian fantasy series starter with wings.

Review:
There are almost no words on where to start with a review for Wither. It is such a unique, refreshing book. The plot is so unlike any book I have ever, ever read. A genetic mutation causes all girls to die at twenty years old and all boys to die at twenty-five years old. Because of this, Rhine Ellery has been abducted by wealthy Linden Ashby's father, unaffected by this mutation, to become one of three sister wives for his son. The population is taking multiple wives at young adulthood in an attempt to re-populate society while scientists and doctors search for an antidote for this virus killing off the masses.

Wow. Just wow. Rhine, Cecily, and Jenna are all married to Linden, and couldn't be more different. I couldn't necessarily connect with any of the girls on a personal level, but I came to really like each one. Rhine is headstrong and determined to save herself from a life of luxurious imprisonment. Cecily is young, naive, eager to please, and oh-so happy to be the wife of a House Governor. Jenna is strong, bitter, and determined to ride out the end of her life getting Linden back for stealing her family.

The plot was amazing. I loved reading the intricacies of the sister wives, the way the luxurious mansion is set up to depict the outside world with holograms, and how Linden's father has created a suspicious, mysterious environment that is just begging to be unraveled.

This was a book I could not put down. It goes beyond the boundaries of normal dystopian fiction and touches on so much more. Three girls are torn from their worlds and are forced into a polygamous marriage - albeit in a luxurious, wealthy mansion they are imprisoned in - but they learn to create a family amongst themselves with their sister wives. I loved watching each of them grow and develop and the plot never grew stale. The suspense and mystery of the mansion's activities kept the pages turning quickly.

I have fallen in love with Lauren DeStefano's writing and am eagerly awaiting the release of Fever!

Rate: 5/5

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