Young Adult Book Reading Challenges discussion

Did you enjoy Wither? How does it stack up against your other favorite dystopias? Are you planning to continue with the trilogy?

I thought Wither was a fun, light-ish kind of read. The characters were interesting and I've already picked up book2. Certainly as good as UNWIND and UGLIES.

I really liked this book. Some parts with all the descriptions were kind of hard to focus on but I loved the concept of this book. I have never read the Uglies is that a good series?

I enjoyed reading Wither a LOT. To me, though, I didn't enjoy it as a dystopia, but as a general novel. Meaning: the world-building was weak and it didn't make me think critically about my own present society. But the writing was very good (imo) and the author succeeded in getting me to give a crap about the characters. I really loved reading it.

I enjoyed this book. I did find it hard to take this mysterious virus that killed girls at age 20 and boys at age 25. It was a little unbelievable. The main story itself of the three girls was pretty good. They got really close. Linden seemed to be a kind man and he almost won my heart, but I was pulling for (view spoiler)[ Gabriel. I was glad they got together at the end, but I think their escape was a little too easy. (hide spoiler)] I am looking forward to the next one.

I'm really conflicted with this book. At some points I thought it made some amazing points and I liked the characters, and other things just absolutely drove me insane. For example, why is Rhine so obsessed with escaping if she only has a few years to live anyway? She might as well learn to love Linden (and to me it seemed like she was already fond of him) and plot how to get rid of Vaughn instead of plotting escape. Her problem wasn't Linden. It was Vaughn.
and the ending was just too easy. If it was so easy to open the gate at the end, why didn't they do it earlier? and knowing Vaughn's tendencies, why was Gabriel not mysteriously "gone"? There was absolutely no harm done to him, although he was a potential extinguisher of Linden's happiness. I expected more evil out of Vaughn!
The more I think about it, the more I'm leaning towards a lower rating, just for logical inconsistencies.

Almost done!! I am enjoying it.. but not loving the fact that we have been stuck in the mansion the whole book!

Kritika wrote: "I'm really conflicted with this book. At some points I thought it made some amazing points and I liked the characters, and other things just absolutely drove me insane. For example, why is Rhine so..."

I agree with you. There were a lot of things I really enjoyed about this book, but there were too many inconsistencies in the plot, and over time, the more I thought about it, the less I liked it. My biggest problem was ...

****Kind of a spoiler****





how much time Rhine spent blaming Linden and wanting to escape, but then when she discovered that Linden believe she was there voluntarily she just opts not to tell him she's been kidnapped? It made no sense. It was completely out of character for her not to say anything to him. Not to mention the fact that Linden probably would have helped her or at least started questioning Vaughn. There was no motivation for her not to explain everything to Linden when she realized he was clueless. It felt to me that the author just needed it to be that way so it was. I found it very frustrating. Almost enough that it ruined the book for me.

I was completely fascinated by the relationships between the sister wives though, and how they coped with the situation and grew to love one another. To me their interaction was really the highlight of this book.

I gave Wither 3/5 stars. You can find my review here:

-http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

-http://wishingonashootingstarreviews....

I thought the book was nice. I liked DeStefano's writing, but at the end of the day I can't see myself reading the rest of the series. I think the relationship with Rhine and Gabriel was a little too convenient, and Gabriel's personality was almost nonexistent.

What I enjoyed the most about the book were the descriptions the author provided of other places, places we didn't really get to see other than in Rhine's own mind. I definitely liked the writing style, but I felt like the characters fell flat. I think it would have been absurd for Rhine to stay with Linden and learn to love him, so I'm glad it ended up how it did. I think that would have felt like defeat to Rhine.

For a while I felt like Rhine was actually going to fall in love with Linden, and that scared me. Even if he was oblivious to the murders of the other girls in the van, He's still holding her against her will (at least, his father is) even if he doesn't realize that. For her to fall in love with him would disturb me greatly.

I had a problem with the world. I just couldn't picture a world where only North America was left intact. It was hard to grasp the concept of this virus staying dormant in someone's system and suddenly coming to life depending on age and gender. I haven't read many books that deal with viruses, so I guess I don't have much to add to that.

I gave it three stars because it was a quick read, had an entertaining premise, and raised some questions for me to ponder (I like when a book does that- it makes me feel like I've learned something).

This is one of my favorite books. I understand people's complaints, and it's definitely not the most structurally sound dystopian on the market right now, but I still really enjoyed it. I love DeStefano's writing style.

((This is my review and mind you, I'm very bad at writing them))

** spoiler alert **

There are some really mixed reviews about this, thinking it is not appropriate for YA and all that. While the subject matter is more mature, I think it should be fine for some young adults. It mentions stuff, but never really goes into graphic details with the sex and what have you. It depends on the person's maturity level and also, I would recommend the parents to read this book first if their younger children want to read it (anyone under 13 or 14 I'd think) All people are going to have different opinions.

I really liked this story. It was hard to put myself in the MC's shoes, though. Didn't mean I was going to stop reading. The plot was different from anything I've read in a long time and the writing was great and flowy. It was a fast and easy read, but I don't think the author dummbied down the words as some authors seem to do in books I've read.

Cecily was very young for this role. 13 when she married and got pregnant, but that's just how it was back then and in this novel. My own grandmother got married when she was 13, though her husband was 16, I think and not 20 like the husband in this novel. I believed it and didn't think of the husband as a pedophile. I don't think they really had that word in that kind of world/time. I also believed he thought it was normal to have more then one wife and he loved them in his own way. I wonder how he will react when he realizes his first wife has ran away with one of the help.

I do hope there is a sequel. (And going from what I've now seen, I guess there is!)

Sangita wrote: "I gave Wither 3/5 stars. You can find my review here:

-http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

-http://wishingonashootingstarreviews......."

If you post your comments on here we can discuss the book better!

Leigha wrote: "((This is my review and mind you, I'm very bad at writing them))

** spoiler alert **

There are some really mixed reviews about this, thinking it is not appropriate for YA and all that. While the..."

Hummm I never questioned if this book was too much for a young adult or not. Honestly I think it is just fine for young adults... I have read much worse!

I do like Wither and I will read the next book in the series. There are some holes in the story but the characters were interesting enough for me to continue. I'll be interested to see if Rhine finds her brother, what happens to Cicily, and what will become of Gabriel and Rhine. I wonder what will happen with Rhine's eyes? I feel like eventually that will be a big part of the story.

How do you guys feel about boys living 5 years longer then girls? I didn't really understand that. I felt that the book tried to make science into a bad thing. Was it so wrong to dissect Rose's body? I suppose if she didn't donate it to science... but in these circumstances I don't think it's wrong. Now Vaughn giving Linden the fake ashes was wrong that's for sure. What about Rose's baby????? Did Vaughn store some of the virus from Rose and then give it to Jenna??

3.5*

I really wanted to love this book, but just couldn't get past certain issues to enjoy it as much as I wanted to. The main problem for me was the world building - it was so unrealistic! If it hadn't been set in future North America, but a completely different world, I may have been more willing to buy it. It didn't make sense to me that everyone in the remaining world all happened to be genetically modified. How did *everyone* jump on board with this altering at the same time? People wouldn't do this! This "privilege" wouldn't have been affordable for everyone, & with how quickly the virus's issues are realized, there would have been more than enough people in the population to put a stop to everything before it got to such a desperate state.

All this aside, there were plenty of things I really loved about this story. DeStefano's writing style is beautiful! It was easy to visualize all that she wrote as though I were there. The pictures she created were tangible, eerie, & poetic. The characters had distinct personalities & were well written. Even the issue of polygamy was well addressed; a subject matter that usually makes me uncomfortable was handled in a very understandable & realistic way. I also loved the notion of the world dying in such a quiet way rather than going out with a bang. It gives such a hopeless, "withering" feel to the story. This book, while not a fast paced, action packed novel, was still very interesting. It's not like any other story I've read.

I plan on continuing the series, but my expectations aren't very high.