Wither by Lauren DeStefano

After reading this...OKAY is the first word that comes into my mind. SIGH is the the first thing I did. This may be an addition to the long list of novels in the highly anticipated and popular dystopian genre. But there's something quite different with the the characters and the story that I cannot precisely put a finger on. I am not saying that it's not good. It was mediocre to say the least. I'm just not fond of the story's atmosphere. It's gloomy and oppressive that you'll feel longing and sadness of the characters. However, there are some things that kept me reading despite the strange plot. The characters, though they all seem to have their griefs to deal with, how they handle them seem different. The main character, Rhine may have been overly sentimental but I liked her anyway. I should probably say how baffled and intrigued I am of Linden's personality. I wanted to hate him, to feel hatred whenever his name is mentioned, because he's the reason for their agony, for their lost freedom, for their miserable lives. But then I realized in the end that he's does not deserve the blame. He's as innocent and trapped as they are. I pity him. I just don't like the fact that he has three wives and spends his night alternately with them. It feels... ugh... you know what I'm talking about! And of course Gabriel, I'm not that convinced with his relationship with Rhine. It lacks development and the story put little emphasis on it so I wasn't that moved. So this is pretty depressing story, but it's not a bad one.