Lauren DeStefano

Sixteen year old Rhine (the central character), along with a host of other young girls, has been kidnapped. All of them are trapped in the dark inside a van. They have no idea where they are going, but, evidently, girls have been disappearing for a while now. Rhine fears she will be killed, sold into prostitution, or forced to become a bride - to some wealthy man who is approaching death because he is nearly...25 years old - and they need to pop out some babies really quickly or the population will die out. Apparently, in this future world, medical science has gotten ahead of itself - and while they have cured all the fatal diseases the world is plagued with today, the children of the first generation of those immune to disease all die at a very early age. The girls die at 20 and the men die at 25. Now, it is not explained why they are dying so young - there is an unnamed virus of some kind that kills them, but how it is contracted remains a mystery - maybe they are born with it? Of course, how this virus knows to kill at a specific age is is an even bigger mystery. The wealthy of the immune generation are busily looking for the elusive cure for this virus to save their children - and perhaps they are not using the most ethical methods to develop this cure. But - here's kidnapped Rhine. A twin. With one blue eye and one brown eye - which is probably what gets her chosen to be a bride. One of three. For the same man.

Almost all of the action takes place inside this lavish mansion - much of which is off limits to the "sister-wives," so we don't get to see it all. The owner of this mansion - Vaughn - is a "first generation" (safe from the virus), so he is the only major character over the age of 25 in the story. His son, Linden (not safe from the virus), is the man to whom these kidnapped girls will be wed. Other secondary characters include the attendants to the sister-wives, cooks, and other household servants, including Gabriel, who forms an attachment with Rhine. All of the characters are written well - even the secondary ones - and the plot unfolds effectively. I had a hard time putting the book down. The three sister-wives contrast each other: Rhine - who only wants to escape and find her way back to her twin brother, Jenna - who loathes the men who have brought her to this place, but is resigned to live out her remaining days in it while looking after her sister-wives, and Cecily - the youngest of the brides who seems to welcome what is happening to her as if she is oblivious to what it actually is (and who is a little bit of a brat), yet the bond that grows between them was explored very sensitively and was interesting to read. Then there were Linden and Gabriel. I was all ready to detest Linden at the beginning of the novel, but I never really could. The sort-of triangle between him, Rhine, and Gabriel left me torn. In fact, I still don't know which one I liked better.

I don't think I would recommend this book to younger teens - Cecily, the youngest bride, is only 13. I understand that with the problems and dying young and all in this world that 13 might not be viewed as too young to start popping out babies, but I just don't think reading about that would be appropriate for younger teens, anyway. Just my opinion.

The ending was good, but not as big a cliff hanger as the endings in, say,
[b:Unearthly|7488244|Unearthly|Cynthia Hand|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1324782984s/7488244.jpg|9621771] or [b:Catching Fire|6148028|Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)|Suzanne Collins|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1268805322s/6148028.jpg|6171458]. I'll definitely get the next one - [b:Fever|11112619|Fever (The Chemical Garden, #2)|Lauren DeStefano|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1324955449s/11112619.jpg|16035084], but I'm going to wait until I finish reading the other bunch of books sitting in my Kindle and on my computer desk.… (mere)