Day Twenty Four - All About Wither + Giveaway

Well, my lovely readers,  we are up to our last post before a closing post tomorrow! The winner of the Spread the Word Contest will be announced tomorrow along with some other 'stuff'. Anyway, let's turn the spotlight on the beautiful cover of Wither....

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Book Profile

Name - Wither ( Goodreads )

Author - Lauren DeStefano ( Profile )

Release Date - 22nd March 2011

Genre - Dystopian

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

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Insiders Scoop on Wither

1.) I began Wither with the intention of it being a short story for a contest my agent told me about. Several pages in, I realized that not only was it going to be a full-length book, there was no way I could wrap everything up without making it into a series.

2.) I wrote the first draft of Wither in its entirety within the month of September, and during most of that time I was bedridden with the flu.

3.) When I began writing Wither, I had no clue what Rhine's story would be, or where she had come from, or even that her name was Rhine. When she popped into my head, all I knew was that she was someplace dark, and she was terrified of wherever she was going.

4.) Two years prior to writing Wither, I wrote an adult literary novel that accumulated more than 140 agent rejections. I took the hint and put it in a place where it will never see the light of day. Even though it's not a particularly strong manuscript, and certainly not commercial by any means, I'm proud of it. By completing that first manuscript, I'd accomplished my goal of writing a book, proving to myself that I had it in me. I consider it a necessary step to have taken.

5.) It's important to me that my characters feel human. For that reason, I never plan their personalities in advance. When I make new acquaintances, I can't possibly know everything about them; I have to spend time with them and see what sort of people they are, and they often surprise me. I apply the same thinking to my characters.

WAIT!!!!! STOP, DON"T SCROLL DOWN JUST YET!!!!

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of Wither for review AND I would just like to share a "mini" review of it with you right now. Not a terribly long one, I don't want to bore you to tears :) I'll do that another time.

The Short Story? - W.O.W ( Work of Wonder) Lauren DeStefano, knowing that you will read this post, I salute you! You have renewed my faith in my ability to judge a book by it's cover ;) However, I wanted everyone to know that Wither is more than a pretty cover, it's a beautifully written Debut that perfectly portrays the the dark side of Scientific Revolution.

Rhine lives in a world that is dark, full suffering and death yet she can still love and hope. In a society where woman have no say, she fights harder then ever for freedom. Even when she is tempted by the luxuries of the Rich, she is determined to go back to the life she knew, the one filled with suffering and death. To me it was Rhine's strength and independence, her powerful characterisation that lingered long after the last page.

It wasn't the beauty of the cover that causes this remarkable debut to still linger inside my head. It's the powerful characterisation. It's the ability to write a beautiful novel about both suffering and hope. It's the mastermind of fresh new talent. it's not one thing that makes Wither special it's everything.

Okay, so much for short but you just write a paragraph about a book that is so unique. It's a book makes you want to gush on and on about how good it is or just not say anything at all because it's beyond words. I highly recommend everyone to add Wither to their must reads of 2011. The only person you will disappoint is yourself.

Other Review -
All About {n} Bree's Books The Compulsive Reader

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Giveaway Time !!!

Lauren and her awe-some Publicist has offered (1) ONE ARC of Wither and a special piece of Swag to one of you! The swag is so special, I don't even know what it is!!! So it must be pretty special and everyone likes special right?

Official Rules - will be disqualified if you don't follow exactly ( not even kidding guys, I'm fed up already with people who can't follow instructions)

- US ONLY ( Ouch! Sorry Int'l, my thoughts are with you)
- MUST LEAVE A COMMENT ON ONE of Lauren's POSTS
- Must leave all links that are required ( will be disqualified if you don't)
- Must Fill out this FORM
- Extra Entries are optional ( although they are nice :P )

Badass Bookie xx