Chemical Garden Trilogy Review

     I bought Wither (the first in the series) from a discount books store, having spotted it on my Kindle, but hadn't really thought of getting it. Thank goodness I did! After my scathing descent (not really!) on the Maze Runner trilogy, this was definitely a book deserving of a trilogy!

     The first book follows Rhine, living in a dystopian world where young girls live to 20 years of age, and males to 25. Girls are routinely snatched and married off to young males, in the hope of the reproducing and finding a cure for this infliction.

     This of course happens to Rhine, who courageously plots to return to her brother. 

I don't know what it was about Lauren DeStefano's writing, but I was literally hooked. Maybe it was the style, the way she described the luxury and fantastical world of the mansion, and the decrepit and debaucherous world of the carnival- I don't know. The books literally came alive for me.

By the time the third one was released this year, it was bought within 24 hour of release and read within a further 24. 

     I won't pretend the books are difficult reading, being marketed to young adults, but they do deal with some interesting questions, such as where are we going with genetic engineering of humans? But really they're just fun to read, and a great story.

    The character of Rhine, I felt was developed well from the start. You cared what happened to her, and enough was given away about her past, without it becoming burdening. Her relationships with her "sister-wives" and complex love-triangle also extended your care and understanding even to the more auxiliary characters.

This is one series I hope would never be made into a film, just in case it ruined the images I built up about this trilogy.