Tuesday 23 August 2011

SCIENCE FICTION REVIEW: Chemical Garden 1: Wither - Lauren DeStefano

Release Date: 04/08/11

SYNOPSIS:

A Handmaid's Tale for a new generation! Sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery has only four years left to live when she is kidnapped by the Gatherers and forced into a polygamous marriage. Now she has one purpose: to escape, find her twin brother, and go home -- before her time runs out forever. 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 limited time she has left.


REVIEW:

To be honest when I read the book blurb I wasn’t blown away, I expected a wishy-washy tale that was part Logan’s Run, part Teen angst. What unfurled however was so much better than the blurb led me to believe.

The writing was crisp, the prose outstanding and when added to well-rounded characters (those you’ll love and those you’ll hate) it really made the whole tale sing. It’s cleverly written, the script wonderfully woven and when backed with a unique perspective it really made this a book to remember.

Finally add to this a lead character that the Teen market will be able to associate with as well as adults; it makes this a book that you really can’t put down. Great stuff and I’ll definitely be glued for other titles in this series.

1 comment:

Pat Hollett said...

At first read I thought 'Logan's Run' as well, but then the whole polygamy thing and geneticist father had me convinced it might be different, not to mention your great review which now has prompted me to add another to my long list of TBB (to be bought) list. Thanks again for another good one! :)