Lauren DeStefano is the author of The Internment Chronicles and The Chemical Garden Trilogy, which includes WITHER, FEVER, and SEVER. She earned her BA in English with a concentration in creative writing from Albertus Magnus College in Connecticut. Visit her at LaurenDeStefano.com.
Praise for Wither:
A ‘harrowing debut . . . DeStefano has an observant and
occasionally pitiless eye, chronicling the cruelties, mercies, and
inconsistencies of her young characters. . . . It will be
intriguing to see how DeStefano develops [the larger world] as this
promising trilogy progresses’ Publisher’s Weekly starred review
‘Lauren DeStefano crafts an all too believable future. I loved the
world, the romance, the writing – exactly the kind of book I've
been craving to read’ Carrie Ryan, New York Times bestselling
author of THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH ‘[A] thought-provoking
debut, reminiscent of The Handmaid’s Tale with a touch of Big Love
. . . Rhine’s fight for freedom against the clock—and the
dissecting table—will leave readers eager for the sequel. Give this
one to fans of The Hunger Games trilogy or Ally Condie’s Matched
(2010).’ Kirkus ‘[Rhine] proves herself to be a heroine who faces
her situation with spirit and cleverness. The trapped bride and
mysterious husband are straight out of Gothic romances. By stirring
in elements of sheer creepiness with dystopia and the hot topic of
polygamy, DeStefano creates a story that should have broad appeal’
School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up-This sequel to Wither (S & S, 2011) is set in a dystopian future where all children die in their 20s, which has caused society to crumble. Soon after escaping from Vaughn's home in Florida, Rhine and Gabriel land in the remains of an old amusement park somewhere in the Carolinas. The park is now a scarlet district where young girls are drugged and forced into prostitution, and the gritty scenes are realistic. With some help, they are able to escape and continue on their journey to find Rhine's twin brother, Rowan. When they arrive in New York, they discover that Rowan has burned down their home and is nowhere to be found. Then Rhine becomes sick, three years before the virus is supposed to take her. Gabriel thinks that this has something to do with the medical tests that Vaughn had been doing on her and his son's other brides. They decide to confront him, but before they can leave, he finds them and takes Rhine back to continue running tests on her in his laboratory. The story is unevenly paced and has little secondary character development, and readers unfamiliar with the first novel will be lost, as they won't understand how this virus started or why the society is in chaos.-Erik Carlson, White Plains Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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