Young Adult Book Reading Challenges discussion

What do you think of Rhine's relationship with Linden's other wives - Jenna, Cecily and Rose? Are they friends? Enemies? Fellow victims? Do you have more compassion towards one of them or all of them equally?

I'm only 60 pages in, but so far it's a little difficult to have sympathy for Cecily when she's so eager to be a wife. I guess that's because she's so young and used to be an orphan. I like Rose so far. Not sure what to make of Jenna because she's so quiet, but Rhine is a pretty sympathetic protagonist because she and her brother had a pretty decent life before she was stolen. I'll have to read more to get more of an opinion of all of them.

Mary wrote: "...Rhine is a pretty sympathetic protagonist because she and her brother had a pretty decent life before she was stolen. I'll have to read more to get more of an opinion of all of them."

The more I learned about their life together, the less 'decent' or comfortable it seemed to me. They had managed to survive and to earn money but they lived in fear and in hiding. Also, the more I learned about Rowan from Rhine's reminisces, the less I liked him.

I like how he is as a brother to Rhine. Would I like him if I met him in the streets? No, probably not. But looking after each other is definitely something I love for siblings to do. Like Jenna does. Love Jenna. Cecily has her tender moments, but I remain satisfied with my original opinion: she makes me want to strangle her.

I have to say that I truly loved Jenna. She never lost sight of what they did to her sisters and her former life. Although Cecily was kind of annoying at first, when they explained the fact that she had been in an orphanage her life I understood more of why she was happy to become a bride. As for Rose she was awesome!
I think they are a great little team :)

While Cecily was a complete brat and treated the staff horridly, it was more understandable as I read the book. She was put into a position no 13 year old should be put in, and didn't know how to act. Her immaturity shone through when she was put in a grown up situation as a wife and mother.

I think Jenna was one of my favourite characters in the book, just for her strength.

I've read the first 10 chapters, and Jenna is my favorite so far. She is so stubborn and she may succumb physically to Linden, but never mentally. Cecily annoys me to death with all her whining and attention-seeking.
It's a little weird how the three wives are so open about each others' relationships with Linden, and I was very disturbed when Cecily got pregnant. She's thirteen for God's sake! I loved the quote where Rhine tries to keep Linden coming to her room if only to protect Cecily, who will "let him do anything" to her.

I never felt that Jenna came alive as a character, but obviously most of you would disagree with me. :)

I thought Rhine's relationship with Rose was VERY interesting. Rose seems like a good person, but very imperial.

As for Cecily, I have nothing but compassion for her. Okay, and some annoyance too. ;)

I actually like Cecily. Sure she can be annoying, but she's really young. I feel bad for her. She doesn't really know better.

Kritika wrote: "She's thirteen for God's sake! I loved the quote where Rhine tries to keep Linden coming to her room if only to protect Cecily, who will "let him do anything" to her."

I don't think it's a good idea to impose our idea of what's an appropriate age to get pregnant to this story. A thirteen year old who has only 7 more years to live (i.e. has passed the mid-point of her life) should not be treated in the same way as a 13 year old who will live for another 60 - 70 years (i.e. one who feels as if she's immortal).

Rhine's attitude towards this is too 21st century for my liking. She was privileged in that she had time to get to know her mother and had the protection of her parents until she was 12. She's not acting like a person who understands what's needed to help the world survive until a solution can be found for the drastically reduced life-spans.

The people in this society who are committed to helping the human race continue recognize that it's necessary for young women to produce children as soon as they are able. In fact, the sooner the better to ensure the children grow up with memories of their mothers.

I would agree with you, Grace, but if I remember it right, even the narrator of the books sees Linden/Cecily paring as wrong and unsavory, which makes me think that the interpretation you suggest is not overwhelmingly accepted in the world of Wither. To me, it felt that sex with underage children was considered as tacky in the book as it is in our world.

Grace, I was thinking more along the lines of Cecily being just old enough to have children and then suddenly having motherhood thrust upon her. Your logic would make sense to me if everyone matured proportionally to their lifespan; I didn't think that was the case in this story. You just die early.
I was also thinking of how dangerous teen pregnancies are when the mother's body isn't ready for it - as I think the case is for a thirteen-year-old girl. I know it's not that different but I'd be ok with it if Cecily had been 16.

Tatiana wrote: "What do you think of Rhine's relationship with Linden's other wives - Jenna, Cecily and Rose? Are they friends? Enemies? "

Rhine certainly tries to support her sister-wives. It seems that she's trying to be a sister to them and tries to understand who they are and what they're facing.

Unfortunately, I think the portrayal of Jenna, Cecily and Rhine is too contemporary. These are three young women who have been plucked out of the 21st century and dropped into some distant future with their 21st century attitudes and weaknesses intact.

Rhine tries to "protect" Cecily from Linden because she's so young. Why should we assume that attitudes towards 13-year old women becoming pregnant are the same then as they are now. If we look at our own history we'd understand that 13-year old children 150 years ago were treated differently than they are now so why should we expect 13-year old children 150 years (...or 300 years or whenever this story is set) from now will be treated the same as they're treated now especially if there's been a destructive world war and a catastrophic advancement in genetic engineering.

Jenna says she turned to prostitution to support herself - what else was there for a woman to to. Good grief! If everyone is dying so young there must certainly be a shortage of workers in every area of life. Why would it be so hard for young women to find work?

Oddly enough, Cecily is the one person whose reaction seems believable. She's come from a hard life and now finds herself being pampered and spoiled. She's taking advantage of the situation and she's also taking her role as wife and potential mother very seriously. She's the only one who takes advantage of the library to expand her knowledge and prepare herself for her role. Her self-centredness and tantrums are annoying and make her unlikeable. But I find her attitude toward sex and motherhood to be realistic and understandable given the time she's living in.

Jenna says she turned to prostitution to support herself - what else was there for a woman to to. Good grief! If everyone is dying so young there must certainly be a shortage of workers in every area of life. Why would it be so hard for young women to find work?

This is very well said. It also struck me that the book is so much abuse/sex-centered. I just don't see why a world with people with shorter lives would suddenly become so preoccupied with sexually enslaving women. I can sort of see the need to use them for medical experimentation, to solve the crisis, but the sudden surge of prostitution? Wouldn't people care more about food and shelter and just keeping the life going?

I agree with that but I think they thought of women as breeders. I am reading the second one now and Rhine mentions that alot of times how they women are becoming known as "faceless breeders". The prostitution thing is better explained in the second book which is really good :)

I read Fever as soon as it came out, I love Wither.. Fever was good don't get me wrong but, not as good as Wither.
I seriously cannot wait for book 3... in book 1 you almost felt sorry for Vaughn then in book 2 you want to rip his head off! I love how DeStefano has brought this world of hers to life, and shared it with us all!

Rachel wrote: "I actually like Cecily. Sure she can be annoying, but she's really young. I feel bad for her. She doesn't really know better."

Yes Rachel, I agree. There is an excerpt in the 2nd book where Rhine talks about how she's grown taller and her neck is longer; little details like that.. I like that DeStafano is sharing her growth with us.

I can't wait for book 3 either!! Do you know when it comes out Tammy?
And yeah I think alot of people say she is immature which is true but in the 2nd book she is very different.

Tatiana wrote: "Jenna says she turned to prostitution to support herself - what else was there for a woman to to. Good grief! If everyone is dying so young there must certainly be a shortage of workers in every ar..."

Maybe, but the wealthy 'immortals' would probably be rather like extremely wealthy creeps these days- players or jerks- and would have used prostitutes quite a bit, even if they were married. I think that the author showed the dirty side of that society because it was that side that needed to be changed. She was telling a story, and that story was very dark and dirty and dodgy. She was telling the story as Rhine saw it, not as an outsider would see it.

I liked Rhine's relationship with her sister-wives, especially towards the end. I knew that Cecily was willing to be a wife, and Jenna was not, but I didn't get much more than that in the first hundred pages or so of the book. Jenna and Ceicly seemed like opposites to me. I felt like I was finally getting a grasp on their personalities by the end of the book, but by then it just seemed too late.

Grace wrote: "Tatiana wrote: "What do you think of Rhine's relationship with Linden's other wives - Jenna, Cecily and Rose? Are they friends? Enemies? "

Rhine certainly tries to support her sister-wives. It see..."

Love your comment about there being jobs everywhere.. in fact this got me thinking. People would have to be trained so young for work. No schooling at all really. Straight to learning how to run the power plants and all the blue collar jobs.

I will admit sister wives make me a little sick. But I suppose in this world you just suck it up. I mean Rhine never was said in the book it was gross that they all shared the same husband.

I really felt bad for Rose. Who was the real wife... and then just wanted her husband to be happy with another wife. I suppose this happens today when someone dies young you wish you spouse to move on with their lives. But 3 wives??? I just don't know!

So was Jenna killed? I couldn't tell if that was for real or not?

I don't understand why Rhine didn't tell Cicily that the grandfather had been bottle feeding her baby. She should've told her that! I am curious what will happen to Cicily in the next book!!