The Chemical Garden - Wither (The Chemical Garden, Book 1)
A stunning debut YA novel, destined to blow the dystopian genre wide open – The 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 you exactly when you would die?
In our brave new future, DNA engineering has resulted in a terrible genetic flaw. Women die at the age of 20, men at 25. Young girls are being abducted and forced to breed in a desperate attempt to keep humanity ahead of the disease that threatens to eradicate it.
16-year-old Rhine Ellery is kidnapped and sold as a bride to Linden, a rich young man with a dying wife. Even though he is kind to her, Rhine is desperate to escape her gilded cage – and Linden’s cruel father. With the help of Gabriel, a servant she is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in what little time she has left.
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 -
”'Wither is an exceptional novel that begins with a bang and doesn't let you go-it's gut-wrenching, shocking, incredible, and completely and utterly absorbing all at once…. DeStefano is a fearless writer, and though it is firmly its own book, Wither will remind readers of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.’” - TheCompulsiveReader.com