"Wither" by Lauren DeStefano

From Goodreads: "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." 

While I very much enjoyed this book I just feel like something is missing- something that I can't entirely put my finger on I think that I finally figured it out after contemplating it for a few days- I think that what is missing in this book is Gabriel being swoon-worthy. By now I am sure that the vast majority of you are familiar with the fact that I like my book boys to be swoon-worthy (what makes a character swoon-worthy? They are selfless beyond belief, they aren't afraid to speak their mind- oftentimes they are snarky or sarcastic, they are the first to admit that they aren't perfect- typically they are broken to some degree, they look like Jace Wayland- or some variation of Jace, just kidding, kinda... and the likes of) and frankly speaking, I don't find Gabriel to be all that swoon-worthy(with his timidness, his childlike innocence and his perfectly parted hair)- in fact, I don't find that he has much of a personality at all. 

What also irked me a bit in this book was Rhine and Gabriel's relationship overall- I felt like Rhine made a lot of assumptions regarding it (ie. that they even had a relationship- never having discussed it before, only briefly seeing one another, being separated for weeks, upwards of a month, and the likes of). Also, in my opinion, she didn't give him an option of whether or not to tun away- she just assumed he would want to run away and she basically forced him to do so (I think that she was a bit selfish in doing so, not taking into consideration how scary the world outside of the manor would be for him, him not having left the property for essentially half of his life).

That being said, I did vastly enjoy the other characters in the book- Jenna, Cecily, and Linden. I especially enjoyed the relationship that the three sisterwives developed. The moments when the girls were able to communicate through a raise of an eyebrow or a mere lift of the corner of their mouth made the book for me (especially the scene when the three girls work together to manipulate Linden into giving them what they want). As for Linden? I didn't find him to be a horrible person whatsoever (I am very much one of those people who question Rhine's choice to runaway from the home that Linden provided her- a luxurious and safe home versus the real world which was extremely dangerous and scary).

All in all, despite my complaints I did quite enjoy this book. I think that Lauren was able to create a dystopian world unlike any other world currently existing in the world of YA. Furthermore, it becomes apparent that Lauren's ability/ talent to weave a haunting book- in its plot, characters, and overall feel- is also quite unlike any other YA author I have happened across before. I am quite looking forward to what "Fever", the next book in this series, has in store for us!

Rating: 8/10