Review: Not A Drop To Drink (Wendy McGinnis)

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.

Author: Mindy McGinnis
Hardcover, 352 pages

Genre: YA/Dystopian
Expected publication: September 24th 2013 by Katherine Tegen BooksARC Provided by Publisher For An Honest Review

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I'm a YA librarian and author, represented by Adriann Ranta of Wolf Literary. My YA debut, NOT A DROP TO DRINK, is a survival tale set in a world with limited fresh water. It will be available from Katherine Tegen / Harper Collins, September 9, 2013.
I'm an avid blogger, posting six days a week to my personal blog, Writer, Writer Pants on Fire, which features interviews with agents, established authors, and debut authors. Learn how they landed their agents, what the submission process is really like, and how it feels when you see your cover for the first time. I also do query critiques every Saturday on the Saturday Slash for those who are brave enough to volunteer.
I also contribute to the group blogs From the Write Angle, Book Pregnant, Friday the Thirteeners, The Lucky 13s and am a member of the Class of 2k13.

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The title is what drew me to this book. The title “Not A Drop To Drink” led me to believe that this would be a creepy, survival story and so I was immediately drawn in. The cover is gorgeous. A lone barn with a pond in a dark atmosphere…hmmm.. Veryyy interesting…

So the story begins 

“Lynn was nine the first time she killed to defend the pond” 

…UM YEAH!!! Hello Hunger Games! Lynn and her Mother are lone survivors on a small piece of land with one of the only watering ponds left and their entire existence depends solely upon the protection of their water supply. 

The first couple of chapters are incredibly intense with Lynn and her Mother “protecting” their land and let me tell you ….They leave NO prisoners!! I mean it was intense! Lynn’s mother spent her years training Lynn for anything and everything that involved war. She prepared Lynn for the worst and this is all she has known. 

For a while it is only Lynn and her mother in the story and then in comes the neighbor, Stebbs. I like his character. He is more fatherly and protective and something that Lynn has never known. 

There are several twists in the story that I DID NOT see coming and they really threw me for a loop. I liked it though. I liked that I was getting used to something and then the writer just totally recreated it and for the better. 

I like the introduction of Eli and his family. I really liked Lucy’s character. She dug into Lynn and made her feel emotions. She had been taught for so many years to be hard as stone and show no mercy and the introduction of this one little girl changed all that for her. 

If I say much more I will totally give away the story so I will leave it at this. This story is full of action, suspense, SURVIVAL, and a little romance on the side. I really liked the survival aspect the best and would recommend this to anyone who enjoyed Hunger Games YET…Don’t expect a lot of characters because they are very few…but just enough to make the story perfect.