Review: Not a Drop to Drink - Mindy McGinnis

Where I got it: Kindle
Rating: 4.5 stars  
Cover Rating: 5 stars (This.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: September 24, 2013
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Page Count: 320 p.
Add it: Goodreads

Lynn and her mom are surviving. They have a source of drinking water in a land that is dying of thirst. They have each other and their weapons. Up on the roof looking through the eye of her scope, everyone is Lynn's enemy. It's kill or be killed now and Lynn has no intention of dying. When a lot of strangers appear though, things start to shift. Lynn is going to have to make a lot of decisions, some which go against everything she's been taught.

This was an excellent dystopian read. It was a lot more gritty then I have found a lot of YA dystopian to be. This could be due in large part to the descriptive, disgusting bits that Mindy McGinnis wound into the story. Nothing like the smell of gangrene in the morning...

Lynn was a very strange character. I'm surprised she was able to go against her upbringing even in the little ways that she did. I also really liked Stebbs. He knew what it was like before, so he had a bit more personality than Lynn who was always thinking about survival.

I was surprised by this book many times. Even by the ending it still had some surprises in store for me. I honestly thought the ending was going to be a lot worse than it turned out to be. While the ending was nice, I wished it had been a bit more brutal.

I would definitely recommend you add this to your "to be read immediately pile" because it was quite excellent. I know I'll be pushing this book on to a lot of people.

First Line:
"Lynn was nine the first time she killed to defend the pond, the sweet smell of water luring the man to be picked off like the barn swallows that dared to swoop in for a drink."

Favorite Lines:
"'Why do you always quote poetry at me when all I want is a straight answer?'
'Because I need to use my English degree,'"

"But all she heard was the death rattle."