Wither

The Chemical Garden Trilogy

By: Lauren DeStefano

Narrated by: Angela Lin

Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

Lauren DeStefano makes a stellar debut with this chilling tale. The first installment of a planned trilogy, Wither introduces listeners to a bleak world where a mysterious disease kills most women by the age of 20 and men by the age of 25. Like many girls her age, 16-year-old Rhine has been captured and forced into marriage in an effort to keep the population growing. But, despite her new husband’s wealth, she wants nothing more than to escape her servitude and return home before time runs out.

©2011 Lauren DeStefano (P)2011 Recorded Books, LLC

Better than I expected

Overall, Wither is rather good. There were some plot difficulties. Elements of the world created don't make sense. Maybe they will be fleshed out in the next books. Some of the things that were supposed to horrify didn't, and some of the things that weren't did. The writing was above average though, and that helped smooth over some of the problems.
Plus, with the exception of one evil character, no one is irredeemable, even those we ought to consider bad. They are fairly complex, and you find yourself liking the man you should hate. Even the protaganist has problems remembering to hate him, and she has reason. No one is entirely good either. Even the too good to be true character is flawed, which is nice.
The narration was excellent. I could see the narrator being considered dry, but thought she was perfect for the character who narrated the book. She didn't do a lot with voices, except the exceptionally whiny youngest sister bride, but that didn't detract for me. Too many voices end up being badly done when a female narrator tries to do male voices (and of course the reverse as well).
I will read the next books when they come out.

Could Stand Alone

I enjoyed the story. It was entertaining and interesting but I have no desire to read the other two books. I feel that this could be a stand alone book. The relationships between us he main character and the others needed to be developed more.

Decent YA Story

This was a good, albeit typical, YA dystopian novel. Maybe I’ve just read too most of these, but there was nothing out of the ordinary that made this stand out from the pack for me.

Good but drawn out

This book had an excellent to premis, and for the most part lived up to it. All of the characters were believable and I liked that everyone had some good and some bad to them. The problem was, there were parts that really didn't go anywhere. They just went on and on with thoughts you really could skip without missing anything important. That doesn't mean you shouldn't read it. Definitely do, but don't be surprised if you feel the need to skip some chapters.

Beautiful

If you could sum up Wither in three words, what would they be?

Beautiful, magical and worthy

What did you like best about this story?

The struggle and positive outlook she never gives up

Which character – as performed by Angela Lin – was your favorite?

Rhine because she keeps her head in all situations.

Great story - Mediocre Narrator

Would you consider the audio edition of Wither to be better than the print version?

No.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Cecilie - Angela Lin totally nailed her personality and voice.

What aspect of Angela Lin’s performance would you have changed?

Though she did a fantastic job changing her voice for the characters, particularly Cecilie, I found her general breathless style of reading to be quite distracting. Even simple descriptions were read with a sort of pained, drawn-out cadence that wasn't necessary.

Overall, it wasn't terrible. I did listen to her read all three books, after all.

First Time I've Enjoyed a Narrator

I actually read this book when I was still in high school and I loved it then. Now I listen to it on my way to work. I really enjoyed the narration. I feel like my biggest issues with audio books is that the narrator of first person books doesn't always fit. This is the voice I needed for the Hunger Games series.

A Wonderful Read

If you could sum up Wither in three words, what would they be?

Sad. Powerful. Shocking.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Wither?

Really the whole book was. I listened to it in 3 sittings of 5 hours, 50 min, and 4 and a half hours. I couldn't get enough since it flowed extremely well.

Which scene was your favorite?

I got a laugh when Ryne had to dance with a short, orange haired, chubby, pale and freckle faced man! And that man beautiful got to dance with her husband, which lit up the lucky girl for the night.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I like how the sister wives all help each other and look out for one another.

Any additional comments?

This book had a very small vocabulary compared to the previous book I came from (The Plede). However it flowed so much easier and smoother. The author made me want to listen to the book all at once. It was an easy and enjoyable read and I strongly recommend it!

Not for ME

What did you like best about Wither? What did you like least?

the main idea was a brilliant, and had it been written with a more complex story line i would have more likely purchase the second book.

also the narraters voice for the main character was not what i expected however towards the end i appreciated how she read the main characters voice.

i did listen all the way through the end as i wanted to find out what happened. I was intrigued enough to read it through which is more then i can say about previous books.

Any additional comments?

This is a great book for a teen, and thus it was written exactly on point for the genre.

Best Narration/performance

The narrator/reader did a terrific job. The story was good, but the reader made it great. I will look for more of her work.