Wither
What if you knew exactly when you would die? In the near-future, 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 until 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 amoung her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape – to find her twin brother and go home. With the help of Gabriel, a servant she trusts, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left.
ALA Teens' Top Ten Nominee (2012)
About the Chemical Garden Series
Books in series order
- 1.Wither(2011)
- 2.Fever(2012)
- 3.Sever(2013)
- +Seeds of Wither(2011)
Reading age: 14+ years
This series should be read in order.
By age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. She can thank modern science for this genetic time bomb. A botched effort to create a perfect race has left all males with a lifespan of 25 years, and females with a lifespan of 20 years.
Geneticists are seeking a miracle antidote to restore the human race, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have skyrocketed, and young girls are being kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear children for wealthy men. When Rhine is kidnapped and sold as a bride, she vows to do all she can to escape. . .