WITHER by Lauren DeStefano - Review!

I got an arc of this last winter on Simon & Schuster galley grab, and during my crazy last semester of grad school, I just devoured it quickly but didn't have the brain space to review it properly. I had occasion to pick up a copy at a store recently and read through at a slower pace.

This book first drew me in by it's drop dead gorgeous cover (cover lust, cover lust!) and the insides didn't disappoint. The thing that remained in my mind long after I first read it was the SHOCKING first chapter! My mouth dropped open - thinking, OMG, did that just HAPPEN?!?

Rhine's story just keeps gathering force as the reader gets to know her through her first steps into the strange new dystopian high-society DeStefano has envisioned. I found myself feeling affection for the husband who, from one perspective, can be seen as Rhine's captor, but on the other hand, is just a victim of circumstance. All the players thrown into the situation are very human, but the question is raised, in this desperate situation--with everyone facing early death--20 to 25 years at most to live, just what degrees of "civilized soceity" would go to in order to continue thier way of life, who really is to blame, and can love still be a choice in such a world?

All in all, Wither is a beautifully written book that kept me thinking about it long after I'd closed the last page. I can't wait to see what comes next!!!