Thursday 19 September 2013

NOT A DROP TO DRINK BY MINDY MCGINNIS

ISBN: 978-0062198501
ASIN: B00BATIJYE
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Pages/File Size: 320pages
Formats Available: Hardcover, E-Book
Release Date: 24th September 2013

BLURB from Goodreads

Regret was for people with nothing to defend, people who had no water. 

Lynn knows every threat to her pond: drought, a snowless winter, coyotes, and, most importantly, people looking for a drink. She makes sure anyone who comes near the pond leaves thirsty, or doesn't leave at all.

Confident in her own abilities, Lynn has no use for the world beyond the nearby fields and forest. Having a life means dedicating it to survival, and the constant work of gathering wood and water. Having a pond requires the fortitude to protect it, something Mother taught her well during their quiet hours on the rooftop, rifles in hand.

But wisps of smoke on the horizon mean one thing: strangers. The mysterious footprints by the pond, nighttime threats, and gunshots make it all too clear Lynn has exactly what they want, and they won’t stop until they get it….

With evocative, spare language and incredible drama, danger, and romance, debut author Mindy McGinnis depicts one girl’s journey in a barren world not so different than our own.


MY INITIAL THOUGHTS
Dystopian/Post Apocalyptic is at the moment my favourite genre so looking forward to reading this one. As you read this book you get really behind the characters and want them to overcome and survive the horrific situation of a water shortage.

MY REVIEW

I received an E-Arc of this book from Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.
The cover depicts a scene from the book, where Lynn (or Lauren, though I think most likely Lynn) is standing guard on the rooftop of their house, watching the pond. The title is "Not A Drop To Drink" as water is much in demand and quite literally like gold to find.
I like the dark and light contrast on the cover which suggests that things will improve. In that the dark side represents the post apocalyptic world with very little water, so death and little vegetation and then there's the light side, which would suggest re-growth and recovery.
I also like that the title is in blue to represent water. There's a quote from the author Michael Grant, would that make me more likely to buy the book? No, even though I haven't heard of Mindy McGinnis the cover would draw my attention and the blurb would hook me enough to buy it! So would the cover make me pick up this book in a book store? Definitely, yes.
The main characters we initially "meet" are Lauren, Lynn and Stebbs. Stebbs lives a farm property over next to Lauren & Lynn. So Lauren is alone with her daughter, Lynn. they have to stand watch from the rooftop to guard their pond of water. Water is so scarce it's worth more than Gold. Life for Lynn is full of chores, but they're chores that will help her survive the great water storage. One of Lynn's "jobs/chores" is to gather water from the pond to purify back at the farm. Lynn also has to learn how to fire a gun to protect herself as well as to hunt with for food too. Lynn is taught to distrust other first and make them earn her trust rather than five strangers the benefit of the doubt. Lauren is hard on Lynne but it really is a case of life being survival of the fittest. Then something drastic happens and Lynne is left to cope alone. Can she survive a winter all alone in the farmhouse? Will she survive alone? How can she guard the pond alone and go cut wood and hunt too? What if the South settlers attack again? Or there's the streamers, they may not be very good at survival and knowing what wood to burn but if there's more of them they could still be a danger to Lynne now she's alone. . . . 
Then Stebbs leaves Lynn a note and everything changes, she learns to not think the worst of people straight away. Lynn ends up helping the streamers by taking the little girl travelling with their party as well as her and Stebbs teaching them some good survival techniques. Once again tragedy strikes Lynn and she ends up losing someone whom she so easily could have loved and had a future with. It's so sad, I was like "oh NO!" when the certain scene unfolded. The book does come to a conclusion in that it ties up most loose ends, however there are one or two suitable hints that there could be another book. I mean Lynn could meet a guy . . . or . . .well you'll see when you read the book.
I really refuse to go into much more detail as you really should read the book for yourselves. Seriously if you enjoy post apocalyptic you will love this book. Mindy McGinnis really makes you care about Lynn and all the possibilities that could happen to her. The author, Mindy McGinnis also makes the whole water shortage scenario seem very real and a total possibility too. Her characters and situations are written so well and realistically.
So did I enjoy the book? Seriously I loved it! Would I recommend the book? Definitely its a really good read, I really didn't want it to end as I was loving it so much.
Would I read a book 2? If there is one yes!yes!yes! Would I read more books by Mindy McGinnis? Yes! for sure!

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