Review: Not A Drop To Drink by Mindy McGinnis

Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Title: Not A Drop to Drink
Author: Mindy McGinnis
Genre: young adult, post apocalyptic
Series: N/A
Pages: 320
Published: expected September 24 2013
Source: publishers via edelweiss

Rating: 3.75/5

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….

Not A Drop to Drink is a strong, well-written, and evocative read. It smartly captures and portrays a world without easily-accessible water, and McGinnis ably spins her story of survival in desperate times. Main character Lynn is a striking protagonist and a memorable one as she grows up in this world where cholera is once again a deadly force and the thirsty dead roam free. With her third person narration and the story's creative spin on a post/near-apocalypse, Not A Drop to Drink is easily one of the better YA debuts for the latter half of 2013.

The premise itself is a clever one, and McGinnis explores it pretty well. There's not a lot of information immediately dispersed about the world Lynn and her mother live in, but details are slowly revealed through dialogue, conversation, and deed. The desperate atmosphere is palpable, the drama is intense, and above all, it's a believable scenario. Scarcity of drinkable water is something billions of people in the modern world already face, so it's easy to see the possibility in McGinnis's future. The author creates several clever ideas for her characters to be able to live and function in this world, so while Lynn and Laurel have done alright, they always live on the brink of disaster and dehydration.

Lynn is a more grown up, more mature character than a lot of YA protagonists out there. Her life is demanding and one of those demands is that she grow up fast and learn to defend what is hers, be it from other people or from the encroaching and increasingly bold wildlife. Threats come from all sides in McGinnis's world, and Lynn has been capable of killing to stay alive since she was nine years old. Her world is harsh, but Lynn isn't unlikeable. She isn't afraid to make hard choices and do what is necessary. I applaud that, and Lynn's pragmatic approach to survival. Going through the day-to-day chores Lynn performs to just stay alive is a refreshing change from how most authors would approach this kind of story. It makes for a quiter, less action-packed read, but it keeps everything realistic and fresh.

However, the characterization is the main reason I can't rate this book higher. There are more people than just Lynn and her mom in the novel, but none really came to life the way the first two did. Stebbs, a longtime neighbor, came closest, but the secondary cast needs some serious fleshing out. There is a love interest, but he was wooden and ill-defined. I wanted more from the charactets -- Lynn is a powerhouse, and everyone else just kind of fades away. None possess her level personality, logic, or strength. It's frustrating because there is definite potential being wasted for the characters of Neva and Eli especially. Lucy straddles the middle - she's neither as well-rounded as Lynn, but she is not as one-dimensional as her mom and uncle.

If you liked Hatchet, or are a fan of teenage survivalism and self-reliance, Not A Drop to Drink is your book. It's a smart look at a realistic apocalyptic event, told ably and well by a strong debut author. Lynn will remain memorable for me for a long time. While this is a standalone with plenty of resolution, I wouldn't be averse to a sequel, or a companion novel.

4 comments:

  1. This sounds pretty good! I'll have to check it out(: Nice review!!
    Happy reading
    Jackie

    nobentspines.blogspot.com

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    Replies
    1. it's definitely an interesting book. I hope you enjoy it!

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  2. HI JESSIE!!! I still need to get caught up on your blog. I've had my favorite blogs open for like the past three, four days and still haven't gotten around to that o.O. *sigh*. Anyway, you might see a bunch of comments coming from me soon!

    It's a shame you already read this one--we could've done another read-along and it sounds like this one might have been more pleasant of a reading experience ;). I need to read this book soon as the e-galley is about to expire o.O.

    "Main character Lynn is a striking protagonist and a memorable one as she grows up in this world where cholera is once again a deadly force and the thirsty dead roam free." <-- Did I ever tell you how much I love the writing in your reviews? The thirsty dead roam free. Ooooh, sounds so creepy and awesome and if my eyes were not half-open lol, I'd be reading the book now :P.

    "There's not a lot of information immediately dispersed about the world Lynn and her mother live in, but details are slowly revealed through dialogue, conversation, and deed." <-- That's good. Info-dumping would've probably lead to a less desperate atmosphere, less drama, less of a believable scenario. Even if the lack of free, drinkable water is already an immediate reality for some. I'd heard that this one was extremely well done when it came to the details of how everyone and everything functioned in this world.

    "Lynn is a more grown up, more mature character than a lot of YA protagonists out there." <-- MORE MATURE THAN OUR FAVORITE ONE, YOU MEAN?? :)

    "Threats come from all sides in McGinnis's world, and Lynn has been capable of killing to stay alive since she was nine years old." <-- That's the first line, isn't it? I think I remember that one when I opened it and thought, ohhh, yeah. This protagonist is going to be kick-ass, pragmatic, survivalist.

    "Going through the day-to-day chores Lynn performs to just stay alive is a refreshing change from how most authors would approach this kind of story. It makes for a quiter, less action-packed read, but it keeps everything realistic and fresh." <-- Very true. I'd heard about this from Flannery, I think, over at the Readadventurer. That aspect of the story. I applaud that and the fact that it's a stand-alone. This sort of reminds me of Tuck Everlasting, except a survivalist tale rather than one on immortality.

    :( oh no!!! Having well developed characters is one of my... musts. And especially a worthy love interest. It sounds like Lynn is so bad-ass that she outshines everyone else to the detriment of the work. I want to come back in... seven days or so or look at your GR version of this and compare notes on the characters when I finally read the book.

    You wouldn't be averse to a companion novel :O? Or a sequel? Even in the age of so-so-many of them? Woah. I guess that's the mark of Lynn being so awesome. Can't wait until I get to read her tale too!

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  3. I agree completely, Jessie! Either than getting a background on Eli, Lucy, and Vera, they didn't fully come alive on the page. It didn't bother me too much, mostly because Lynn was enough to drive the story forward and the focus was on Lynn's growth and change because of their presence - which was conveyed very well - but the secondary characters could have certainly used a little more fleshing out. Fantastic review, dear!(:

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