Len spends most of her time ruminating on her writings that never made it to paper; keeps sane by reading books and listening to music. She reviews most of them out of love and the joy of it.
by Lauren DeStefano
March 22, 2011: Simon & Schuster
"What if you knew exactly when you would die?
Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.
When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home.
But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left."
Review
In this not so-impossible future, humans are have a time limit. Humanity's desire to eliminate diseases and prolong life have backfired. Now, succeeding generations will die young. Men will die at 25, and women at 21. Because of this, girls are forced to marry young and men get multiple wives.
The story is hauntingly beautiful. The plot is not too farfetched with recent scientific attempts for medicine breakthroughs.
I could imagine Rhine like a bird living in a golden birdcage. Her life as a wife was not that bad if you looked at it in another way. Everything was laid out for her. She has no need for anything more - at the cost of her freedom.
The mansion she's living in is not only a prison for her but a lie. Secrets lurks in dark corners that even Linden does not know. Holograms substitute for reality because it is no longer there. Though the friendship that she shares with her sister wife is real, and her growing feelings for Gabriel cannot be denied. Then there's Linden as well, who tries to win her affection.
But can love be bought? Shared? With the little time that each individual has, the clamor for filling the population have voided the aspect of love in a marriage or relationship in general. I think far more than dying, it is the disregard for both life and love that are more frightening than dying young.
In this not so-impossible future, humans are have a time limit. Humanity's desire to eliminate diseases and prolong life have backfired. Now, succeeding generations will die young. Men will die at 25, and women at 21. Because of this, girls are forced to marry young and men get multiple wives.
The story is hauntingly beautiful. The plot is not too farfetched with recent scientific attempts for medicine breakthroughs.
I could imagine Rhine like a bird living in a golden birdcage. Her life as a wife was not that bad if you looked at it in another way. Everything was laid out for her. She has no need for anything more - at the cost of her freedom.
The mansion she's living in is not only a prison for her but a lie. Secrets lurks in dark corners that even Linden does not know. Holograms substitute for reality because it is no longer there. Though the friendship that she shares with her sister wife is real, and her growing feelings for Gabriel cannot be denied. Then there's Linden as well, who tries to win her affection.
But can love be bought? Shared? With the little time that each individual has, the clamor for filling the population have voided the aspect of love in a marriage or relationship in general. I think far more than dying, it is the disregard for both life and love that are more frightening than dying young.
