Wither by Lauren Destefano

I have to tell you in advanced that this is one of my all time favorite books. I don't usually like dystopian novels, but this one really changed my point of view. I loved Ryhne's character. She was surviving in a world where the men only live to be twenty five and the women only lived to be twenty. The world's constant desire to cure every disease lead to an anonmaly that caused all the children to be born without any diseases or abnormalities. The only problem was that none of them survived past this expiration date. Desperate to find a cure, many of the "first generations" or the older people who started these experiments started kidnapping young women and forcing them into marriages with their young sons. That was their best fate. The worst fate is that the young girls are sold into prostitution or murdered. This story is a must read. It is haunting and beautiful. It is a story of courage, strength and a testament of what mankind is capable of, both the good and the bad. I absolutely cannot wait until February 2012 to read the next book! Five out of five stars!