The First Generation was genetically enhanced at birth to be healthier, stronger, and live longer. The result? Their children and their children's children all die. Girls die at 20. Guys live to be 25. The Virus doesn't discriminate. Now there's two sides--people who want to find an antidote, who continue to have babies, and those that just want to let the human race die out.Rhine and her twin brother are children of two First Generation, who were working towards a cure when they died because of a protest against their research. Her brother does the best to take care of her, but she's taken by the Gatherers, people who snatch up young girls old enough to bare children--from streets, from orphanages, and even from their own beds. From there, they're sold into prostitution, killed, or sold as brides.Rhine's story is a heartbreaking one as she navigates through a marriage she never wanted to be a part of, with a sweet but naive husband who she can never love, continuously pursuing freedom from a situation that seems hopeless with the ever looming threat of a short, short life.