This was a really amazing book, and the best part was that I wasn't expecting it to be. I just picked it up at the library because I recognized the cover. I read it in a day and a half. Rhine is just such a real, authentic character. She lives in a time in the future when all children born don't live past 25 (males, that is -- females only make it to 20). When they reach the fatal age, a virus strikes them down. There are "first generations", old and gray, still around. These are the lucky people made in labs and born free of diseases and cancers 50+ years ago. For reasons no one has yet discovered, none of their offspring survive. Rhine and her twin Rowan were born to first generations and lived in New York City. When their parents die, Rowan and Rhine must fight for survival. At 12, they work hard, and Rhine tries not to be captured by the gatherers. Eventually though, they get her when she is 16, and she is shipped off with 2 other girls (ages 18 and 13) to be a sister wife to a House Governor named Linden, who is 21. Rhine has 2 different colored eyes, which is why she is chosen and not shot like many other girls were. The next year of her life had me riveted. She is a prisoner in this mansion where Linden's evil doctor father Vaughn (a first gen) is in charge. Vaughn has created a fake life for Linden, who is very ignorant of reality. (Holograms play a big part in this book.) Linden has no idea that Jenna (one of the wives) had 2 sisters who Vaughn killed before taking them. He also doesn't know that Rhine isn't simply an orphan, that she had a family she was separated from. The mansion is in Florida, and supposedly in this world, North America is the only continent left with inhabitants. Rhine begins to fall for one of the servants, Gabriel. Though she tolerates Linden, she will not giver herself over to him. They never consummate the marriage. Cecily, the 13 year old, has Linden's son, but Jenna dies without having a child. Personally, I think she made sure she never got pregnant. She was bitterly angry at her situation. So it falls to Rhine to replace Rose, Linden's first love who dies in the beginning of the book. Rhine feels caged and wants desperately to get back to her brother. I felt for her after her first botched escape attempt. I had to keep reading to see if there would be consequences. Of course there were, but she doesn't give up. At times, she is endeared by Linden, but she never forgets the life she was stolen from. She questions herself repeatedly because in the mansion, she has so much luxury and comfort. But it comes down to the fact that she's not free. She convinces Gabriel to come with her. Finally, she thinks she sees a way out after having been driven off the property a few times for parties.
I'm curious how the 2nd book will be. I think, oddly enough, that I'll miss Linden (and even Cecily) and the mansion even though they were Rhine's prison. I can't wait to meet the new characters in Fever, and to learn why that is the title.
Wither is a really excellent book to get caught up in. There are so many mysteries yet to be resolved in the next 2 books!
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