“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 Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left.”
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Considering that we’ve had three dystopia novels as our Book of the Month this year so far, it’s obvious that not only is dystopia a hot topic, but there have been some amazing novels released on the subject. Wither by Lauren DeStefano is no excepetion.

Sixteen year old Rhine is only four years away from death. Thanks to a genetic flaw, all women die at 20, men at 25. She soon finds herself kidnapped – taken away from her twin brother in New York and sold as a bride to Linden Ashby. Trapped in a polygamous marriage, which has become normal in society, with only four short years left will Rhine resign herself to a life in her mansion prison or will she fight her way back to her brother?

Though I have loved many of this year’s dystopias, their societies resemble one another in a way, so there was always something familiar about each book. About a quarter of the way into Wither it struck me just how original and different the concept was. I can’t say the story was like anything I’d read so far.

From the writing, to the world building, to the characters, Wither was phenomenal – to say I was impressed would be an understatement, I was hooked from the first chapter.

Each character added the light and dark to the story and was so well developed and distinct – even the minor characters left an impression.

The idea of three girls living in a polygamous marriage with their husband is quite dark and strange but was so fascinating and very well presented. The friendship between the sister wives developed slowly but was beautiful to see, but also bittersweet.

Wither has the kind of concept that makes you think. How would you react in that situation? Would you stay, or try find a way out? You find yourself constantly changing your mind about whether you feel Rhine should stay or go, which shows just how involved you become in the story.

The relationship Rhine has with Linden and Gabriel were definitely contrasts but interesting to see how they developed. I’m still not completely sold on how she feels about either- I wonder how much Stockholm Syndrome and proximity played a part, but we’ll just have to see how all that unfolds as the series goes.

It was so nice to pick up a novel with a beautiful cover and not feel betrayed by it – Wither is just as amazing on the inside as it is on the outside.

Dark, emotional and incredible. An absolutely compelling and fantastic novel.

Pages: 358
Publication Date: March 2011
Publisher: Harper Collins
Challenge: Debut Author
Rating: :

Teaser Quote: “She smiles at our husband as she moves, and he blushes, overcome by her beauty. But I know what her smile really means…Her smile is her revenge.”

“In Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. In Linger, they fought to be together. Now, in Forever, the stakes are even higher than before. Wolves are being hunted. Lives are being threatened. And love is harder and harder to hold on to as death comes closing in.”

The conclusion to any much-loved series will always be a bittersweet affair. Maggie Stiefvater’s Forever is no exception to the rule.

When we last left Mercy Falls, Grace had disappeared from her hospital room where she lay bleeding, only to shift into a wolf and go missing in Boundary Woods. The tables had turned for Sam, now that he was cured, he was the one looking out into the woods, waiting for winter to end and for Grace to hopefully return. With our characters’ lives scattered, Forever picks up all the pieces and completes the Wolves of Mercy Falls puzzle.

I think with this series many people had the same reaction as I did. We fell head over heels with Shiver, got a bit disorientated with Linger, but all hoped that Forever would put things right again. And it did, mostly.

Forever is very well written, and I love the way it’s put together in such a beautiful, lyrical way. I never found myself bored, but I did wish that there was a bit more of Grace and Sam’s love shown, it was a bit muted this time around. The emotions we were missing from Sam and Grace, we find in Isabel and Cole.

The ending was definitely – wow. Maggie certainly brings the action, and the tension is heart stopping. It’s not until you reach a certain point that you stop to take a breath because you realize you’ve been holding it all this time.

I hate when you reach the end of a book and you find yourself scrambling through the last pages, desperate to find more of the story, the whole time thinking “wait, no no no, that can’t be it?!” Mostly because there were some parts that just felt like they needed a few more pages, a bit more explaining, particularly for Isabel and Cole. I really, really hope there will be a spin off novel for them at some point because I found them so fascinating this time around – their snark, humor, dark pasts and twisted nature really shone on the page making them a real highlight.

Bit of a random note, but kudos to Maggie for making the wolves come across so authentic. They weren’t people in wolves clothing, they were the animals they truly become.

Ending a series is never easy but Maggie Stiefvater does a pretty good job of it. Besides a few qualms, it’s still a great read. It’s emotional, heart stopping, bittersweet…but just a little bit unsatisfying. Reaching the end is worth it, not just to finally see how it all works out or to say a sad goodbye to Mercy Falls, but for Maggie’s message in the last paragraph in the author’s note. Beautiful.

Pages:390
Publication Date: July 2011
Publisher: Scholastic
Challenge: n/a
Rating: :

Teaser Quote: “Sam Roth, you bastard,” Cole said. There was admiration in his voice, which probably meant I’d made a poor decision.”

“All Mercy knows is that she is an angel, exiled from heaven for a crime she can’t remember committing.

Last year we were introduced to Mercy series and it got off to an interesting start. A unique concept plus a killer cover made for a great combination. I, like many, were really looking forward to the second book in the series, Exile.

When we last saw Mercy she was in the small town of Paradise as Carmen Zappacosta. After facing a kidnapping and dolling out punishment to her captor with powers she thought were lost to her, she also started to develop feelings for Ryan, a mortal. Before she could even begin to address those feelings, her time as Carmen was up.

In Exile Mercy finds herself in the body of Lela Neill, which comes complete with a dull waitressing job in a not-so-nice part of town, and a mother who is at the end of a battle with her terminal illness. What does Lela’s life have in store for Mercy and how will she ever make her way back to Luc? Looks like Ryan may be the key.

I was really hoping that the series would start to pick up in book two but it just fell a bit flat for me. Just as Mercy starts over in a new life it feels like the story goes back to square one too. By the end we’re no closer to finding out why Mercy is being punished or what she should do about it.

The main focus of the story was more about Lela’s life and problems rather than Mercy’s. Even though I still found that interesting, and the ending will take you by surprise, it didn’t quite have that wow factor. There was something about Mercy this time that made me like her a little less, some of her actions came across as selfish and careless, and since we see her and Luc together in the middle of their relationship it’s hard to understand their attraction or why they’re together.

I liked many of the secondary characters – Justine, Cecilia even Mr Dymovsky, but the villain was a surprise left till the very end. A surprise but also a bit…random?

If you loved Mercy you’ll probably still like Exile, but if you were only on the fence for the first installment, Exile might be a bit disappointing. Will I continue on with the series? Perhaps.

Pages: 293
Publication Date: April 2011
Publisher: Harper Collins
Challenge: n/a
Rating: :

Teaser Quote:  “I think I’m going to scream. Or throw up. ‘Qualis es tu?’ I think, gritting my teeth. ‘What are you?’

‘Te gnovi’, something growls into the space inside my head. ‘I know you.’”