Wither

When I first saw the cover for Wither I had high hopes that the story would be just as captivating, that it would be hard for me to pull my eyes away, and it was. This story was a beautifully written dystopian novel that really showed the inner struggles of a girl who seemed to have everything a young girl should want - a grand lavish mansion, beautiful dresses, a personal attendant, and the devotion of a man who loves her but without true freedom. Like the cover depicts, Rhine is a bird trapped in a beautiful cage, an illusion.

Yet, despite what has happened to her I have to admit Rhine's life before being captured by the Gatherers was awful. She's an orphan and was living with her twin brother in the basement of her family home because it was the safest place to hide from beggars, thieves, and men who steal young girls off the streets and from their homes. Both her and her twin had to work to keep from starving and they each had to take turns at night keeping watch for intruders. Given the circumstances of Rhine's life I could easily have pictured this story going a completely different route if Rhine's situation was just a little different and if her character was just a little different.

I, like Rhine, had to constantly work at not forgetting how she had gotten to the lavish lifestyle that she is living, to not forget that she was stolen away, her freedom taken, and her brother left alone miles away in a factory strewn Manhattan because it is very easy to forget when her old life is completely hidden away. She doesn't forget though, no matter how many times people tell her to not run away, that it's dangerous, that the life she is living isn't so bad, and that if she just behaves she can have “anything” she wants. Rhine doesn't give in no matter how tempting the words are because she knows that this world she is in cannot give her her brother, and her freedom.

Wither is a story that shows the beauty and darkness of the human heart, it was really a story about the characters, not just Rhine herself but her sister wives, her husband Linden, her ambitious father-in-law, and many other characters that weren't just there to fill the space or carry the story along but who truly added to the tale. Unlike a few other dystopians Wither isn't about the action and the external forces but about the will and strength of the people.