Verwelken

by Lauren DeStefano

First published 2011

Rhine is sixteen when kidnappers force her into marriage with twenty-one-year-old Linden. Scientists tried to engineer a perfect human race but created a genetic virus instead. Everyone born after dies by age twenty-five. Young women are abducted and married to prevent human extinction. Rhine refuses to accept this fate. She plans to escape and return to her twin brother. First she must gain Linden's trust while competing with his two other wives for attention. Linden's father Vaughn watches everything in the house with sharp eyes. Rhine finds an ally in Gabriel, a servant who becomes her secret love. Together they plot their escape. Time runs short as Rhine's twenty-fifth birthday approaches. She must choose between the safety of captivity and the dangerous hope of freedom.

Genres: science-fiction, dystopia, romance, young-adult

Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking

Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family

350 pages · Paperback · Unieboek

Content warnings: kidnapping

More by Lauren DeStefano

Readers who liked Verwelken also liked

View on Siftivo