Review: Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis

Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis
Katherine Tegen Books
Source: Edelweiss
ISBN: 9780062198501
Release Date: September 24, 2013
Pages: 188

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A gripping and fresh story of a teenage girl's fight for survival in a near-future landscape where water is more precious than gold. If she has water, she has life.


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 important, 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 ability to get by, Lynn has no use for the world beyond the nearby fields and forest. 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 gutsy and unwavering efforts to survive in a harsh frontierlike future.

This is what I wanted Life As We Knew It to be like. The world that Mindy McGinnis creates is extremely realistic a world where America is slowly running out of fresh water and what you would do to defend your one lifeline. This isn't a fast paced novel, so if that’s what you are looking for this might not be for you. Not a Drop to Drink shows a different view of post-apocalyptic fiction. It shows the day-to-day routine of one girl trying to survive. Lynn never knew any other way. The world has been like this since before she was born. Survival is all she knows.

I liked the main character, Lynn. She never had a chance to be weak. The weak don't survive. Her mother drilled that into her that from a very young age. Lynn grew up alone with only her mother for company and each other to rely on. She knew one thing and that was to defend their pond against everyone. Anyone or anything new was viewed as a threat and needed to be eliminated.

Lynn was extremely blunt, but naïve at times. As tough as she was Lynn did not know a lot of things that others took for granted, like ice cream. Her birds and the bees chat with her neighbour had me laughing so hard. Lynn changes a lot throughout this book. At the start she is hard and unforgiving in defending her land, but after she has a run in with same new characters she begins to change. She realizes (reluctantly) that maybe not everything is so black and white and she can help others survive too. I loved her relationship with Stebbs. They created an odd uncle/niece type relationship where they each made it seem that they barely tolerated each other, but really they cared a great deal about the other. The parts that had me laughing were the back and forth between those two.

While this is a slow paced book it still contains some action. I was glad that it wasn't filled with fighting as that’s not the story being told. While the parts with it were great I loved the rest, the day-to-day mundane of Lynn and Lucy’s routine.  The epilogue did wrap everything up nicely and it was very refreshing to see a YA post-apoc novel as a standalone and not made into a series.

My Rating:

Review: In The After by Demitria Lunetta

In The After by Demitria Lunetta
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Edelweiss
ISBN: 9780062105455
Release Date: June 25, 2013
Pages: 244

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In this heart-pounding thriller from debut author Demitria Lunetta, one girl must fight for her survival in a world overrun by violent, deadly creatures. Perfect for fans of New York Times bestsellers like Across the Universe.

Amy Harris's life changed forever when They took over. Her parents-vanished. The government-obsolete. Societal structure-nonexistent. No one knows where They came from, but these vicious creatures have been rapidly devouring mankind since they arrived.

With fierce survivor instincts, Amy manages to stay alive-and even rescues "Baby," a toddler who was left behind. After two years of hiding, they are miraculously rescued and taken to New Hope, a survivor's colony built on a former government research facility. On the surface, it appears to be safe. But there are dark and twisted secrets lurking beneath that, once uncovered, could have Amy and Baby paying with not only their freedom...but their lives.

Demitria Lunetta will hook readers with this suspenseful, cinematic, action-packed page-turner, while giving hungry YA audiences a new heroine to cheer for.

Right from the start I loved this book. You are thrown into the action from the beginning. The story is mostly told in the present with flashbacks of Amy's past. I think people who liked Ann Aguirre's Razorland series would love this book. It is action packed with a relatable main character. I read this book in one day, so that pretty much shows how much I liked it.

Amy Harris was fourteen when They first came. The monsters are hideous, snarly, scary predators that are incredible fast with impeccable hearing. The monsters took everything from her, friends, family, a normal life. She has to adapt to survive. In one of the first flashbacks you see her having to venture out of her home for the first time to get food and her looking back thinking she should have died. She has to learn to kill to survive. She eventually finds a toddler in the grocery store and deliberates whether she should rescue her or leave the toddler to die, but saving herself. Luckily, she rescues the toddler and names her Baby.

Baby is sweet, but mysteriously quiet. I enjoyed how Amy still told Baby fairy tales, which gave Baby something to believe in. Even during a post-apocalypse it was nice to think you can still get a Happily Ever After. Since Baby is only three when she is found she has no vocal skills and Amy develops an adapted version of sign language to use with Baby. I really liked that addition to the novel. I though it was something different that I haven't seen in the science fiction that I have read before. This way of communication probably saved them and allowed them to survive in silence for so long.

After three years of surviving she and Baby are rescued and brought to New Hope. To be honest once they were rescued and brought to New Hope I kind of lost a bit of interest in the story. I think this was mostly because I really liked Amy's narrative of survival and it switched from survival to her adapting to society. I also didn't really like the introduction of the love interest. I think the book could have stood on its own without this. It has a great story about survival and adaption. It just always seems a love interest is thrown into YA science fiction.

Overall, I thought this was a great debut for the author. It had a strong plot with interesting characters. There were some points that were predictable in the book. I guessed half the ending, but the other half I didn't really see coming. I can't wait for the author's next book.

My Rating:

Review: After The Ending by Lindsey Fairleigh & Lindsey Pogue

After The Ending By Lindsey Fairleigh & Lindsey Pogue
Series: The Ending #1
Publisher: L2 Books
Source: Netgalley
ISBN: 9780988715417
Release Date: February 22, 2013

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When people started getting sick, “they” thought it was just the flu. My roommate, my boyfriend, my family…they’re all gone now. I got sick too. I should have died with them—with the rest of the world—but I didn’t. I thought witnessing the human population almost disappear off the face of the earth was the craziest thing I’d ever experience. I was so wrong. My name is Dani O’Connor, I’m twenty-six-years-old, and I survived The Ending.

The Virus changed everything. The world I knew is gone, and life is backwards. We’ve all had to start over. I’ve been stripped of my home, my dreams…all that is me. I’m someone else now—broken and changed. Other survivors’ memories and emotions haunt me. They invade my mind until I can no longer separate them from my own. I won’t let them consume me. I can’t. My name is Zoe Cartwright, I’m twenty-six-years-old, and I survived The Ending.

We’ve been inseparable for most of our lives, and now our friendship is all we have left. The aftermath of the Virus has stranded us on opposite sides of the United States. Trusting strangers, making sacrifices, killing—we’ll do anything to reach one another. Fear and pain may be unavoidable, but we’re strong…we’re survivors. But to continue surviving in this unfamiliar world plagued by Crazies and strange new abilities, we have to adapt. We have to evolve.

And more than anything, we have to find each other.

Overall, I liked this book. It had a good concept and somewhat likeable characters. I thought Dani and Zoe each had a distinctive voice in the narrative, which sometimes with multi POVs they end up sounding the same. I liked how Dani and Zoe wrote emails to each other for most of the book. I did find it unlikely that the power would be down, but the internet would still be up? But this is fiction and sometimes requires a little imagination. The emails were where I felt the most emotion from Dani. For example, when Cam died it just felt like bad acting on Dani's part. She said all the right stuff, but I didn't feel anything for her until she wrote to Zoe and told her about Cam dying.

When you actually think about the concept that 90% of the population is dead it is just saddening. Everyone who has survived has lost multiple loved ones. There were no children in the book, because the young didn't have the antibodies to survive. One of the survivors lost her kids and husband. You can see why none of the survivors wanted to talk about the "Before."

The Crazies were psychotic. You could tell there was something wrong with them even before they did something. They were creepy and unstable. But what kept urging me on reading was what they did. Each Crazy was unique and reacted to the situation differently.

Dani's ability was awesome! I didn't know how I was going to feel about the Abilities spin to this book. It definitely was different, but I think I really liked it. When she was attacked it was amazing how the animals circled around her to protect her. She really was like a Disney Princess.

Even though both women were separated for the majority of the book they overcame similar hurdles and both found a relationship. I liked how Zoe's relationship slowly developed. It wasn't just love/lust at first sight. Dani's relationship seemed sudden as she did lose her boyfriend, and she didn't seem to grieve that much, but that could be thanks to Chris' ability.

I thought the ending was great and I can't wait until the second book is out.

My Rating:

Review: If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch

If You Can Find Me by Emily Murdoch
Series: N/A
Source: Netgalley
Release Date: March 26, 2013

There are some things you can’t leave behind…

A broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen year-old Carey can remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence, with the one bright spot being Carey’s younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother disappears for good, and two strangers arrive. Suddenly, the girls are taken from the woods and thrust into a bright and perplexing new world of high school, clothes and boys.

Now, Carey must face the truth of why her mother abducted her ten years ago, while haunted by a past that won’t let her go… a dark past that hides many a secret, including the reason Jenessa hasn’t spoken a word in over a year. Carey knows she must keep her sister close, and her secrets even closer, or risk watching her new life come crashing down.

If You Find Me is a heart-breaking novel about two young girls who must learn to cope with civilization and learn to deal with their past. This novel was brilliantly written. It brought me to tears imagining what they went through to survive on their own. Carey not only had to survive, but raise her young sister and protect her from her meth addicted mother and predatory men.

My Rating:

Review: This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer

This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Series: Last Survivors #3
Source: Bought
Release Date: January 1, 2010

It’s been a year since a meteor collided with the moon, catastrophically altering the earth’s climate. For Miranda Evans, life as she knew it no longer exists. Her friends and neighbors are dead, the landscape is frozen, and food is increasingly scarce.

The struggle to survive intensifies when Miranda’s father and stepmother arrive with a baby and three strangers in tow. One of the newcomers is Alex Morales, and as Miranda’s complicated feelings for him turn to love, his plans for his future thwart their relationship. Then a devastating tornado hits the town of Howell, and Miranda makes a decision that will change their lives forever.

I had really high hopes for this book after the last sequel in this series was so disappointing. I really enjoyed the first book, Life As We Knew It. This book was slightly better than the second, but overall it was still a bit of a mess.

I found Miranda to be extremely whiny and selfish throughout the entire novel. When it finally rained she decides to enjoy it peacefully without waking her family. This could have been disastrous if the snow finally did melt and they had a drought. What if the family ran out of drinking water and they could have captured the rainfall to survive?

I didn’t feel that Miranda and Alex had any chemistry. I think they only felt romantic towards each other as they were similar in age and the only opposite sex not related to each in the vicinity. I just didn’t buy into the whole lovey doveyness that was portrayed.

I did love that the family was reunited. The characters had to make some hard decisions by the end of the book. The ending itself didn’t surprise me as this series is about surviving. Things are not going to back to normal for these characters again and the decisions that they make are going to affect the rest of their lives.

Even though the end of this series was disappointing I still love the concept of the book, where a meteor smacks into the moon forever changing Earth. I;m a sucker for a disaster novel especially one with such pretty covers. Even though the rest of the series did not live up to the potential I will still read the fourth book the author is releasing this summer.

My Rating:

Review: Flood by Stephen Baxter

Next year. Sea levels begin to rise. The change is far more rapid than any climate change predictions; metres a year. Within two years London, only 15 metres above the sea, is drowned. New York follows, the Pope gives his last address from the Vatican, Mecca disappears beneath the waves. Where is all the water coming from? Scientists estimate that the earth was formed with seas 30 times in volume their current levels. Most of that water was burnt off by the sun but some was locked in the earth's mantle.

The world is drowning. The biblical flood has returned. And the rate of increase is building all the time. Mankind is on the run, heading for high ground. Before 50 years have passed there will be nowhere left to run.

When I first started reading this book I wasn’t sold on it. The book started too slow, but soon enough the storyline picked up. I enjoyed the premise of the book of the world slowly drowning from floods, tsunamis, etc. What I loved about the book was the action sequences, and the relationships of the hostages and how they kept in contact throughout the years.

My Rating:

Review: The Moon Dwellers by David Estes

The Moon Dwellers by David Estes
Series: The Dwellers Saga #1
Publisher: Self
Source: Bought
Release Date: June 27, 2012

In a desperate attempt to escape destruction decades earlier, humankind was forced underground, into the depths of the earth, creating a new society called the Tri-Realms.

After her parents and sister are abducted by the Enforcers, seventeen-year-old Adele, a member of the middle-class moon dwellers, is unjustly sentenced to life in prison for her parents' crimes of treason.

Against all odds, Adele must escape from the Pen and find her family, while being hunted by a deranged, killing machine named Rivet, who works for the President. She is helped by two other inmates, Tawni and Cole, each of whom have dark secrets that are better left undiscovered. Other than her friends, the only thing she has going for her is a wicked roundhouse kick and two fists that have been well-trained for combat by her father.

At the other end of the social spectrum is Tristan, the son of the President and a sun dweller. His mother is gone. He hates his father. Backed by only his servant and best friend, Roc, he leaves his lavish lifestyle in the Sun Realm, seeking to make something good out of his troubled life.

When a war breaks out within the Tri-Realms, Tristan is thrust into the middle of a conflict that seems to mysteriously follow Adele as she seeks to find her family and uncover her parents true past.

In their world, someone must die.

I have been wanting to read this book for awhile. I have read some really great reviews on it.

Finally, one of my book groups choose it as a monthly read, so it moved up on my TBR list.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The first few chapters I had a problem getting into the book as it was a bit slow. I realize it was a lot of character and back story building, but those chapters just didn't captivate my attention. But, I took a break, switched books, and when I picked The Moon Dwellers back up I finished in under a day.

The Moon Dwellers is the first in a trilogy. The main character Adele (named after the author's wife) is a middle class citizen in the Moon Realm. Mankind was forced underground generations ago due to a disaster that made the Earth's surface unlivable. The underground world is split into three Realms, called the Tri-Realms, the Sun Realm, the Moon Realm, and the Star Realm. The Star Realm is the poorest and the furthest underground, with their citizens living in shanties and crime is everywhere. The Moon Realm is the middle class realm, but their citizens still struggle to live, as the Sun Realm taxes everything so severely, the citizen can barely afford to live. The Sun Realm is the closest to the surface and holds the rich and elite of the society.

When Adele's family is taken by the Enforcers, the Sun Realm's police, Adele is unjustly thrown in jail, she must break free and locate her family. Along the way she meets two inmates with their own dark secrets.

This book had a nice balance of plot, action, and great characters. I loved that Adele was a total badass who could take down anyone with a roundhouse kick. The only part I had trouble connecting with was the whole love at first sight. While the concept is great for this book, I'm not sure I totally can believe it.

You can tell that the next two books are going to slowly unravel the mysteries and secrets that were presented in this book. I can't wait to read The Star Dwellers.

My Rating:

Review: Yesterday's Gone Episode 1 by Sean Platt & David Wright

Yesterday's Gone Episode 1 by Sean Platt & David Wright
Series: Yesterday's Gone #1
Publisher: Collective Inkwell
Source: Author
ISBN: 9780984338191
Release Date: July 31, 2011

On October 15 at 2:15 a.m. everyone on Earth vanished.
Well, almost everyone.
A scattered few woke alone in a world where there are no rules other than survival... at any cost.

A journalist wanders the horrible reality of an empty New York in search of his wife and son.
A serial killer must hunt in a land where prey is now an endangered species.
A mother shields her young daughter from danger, though every breath fills her with terror.
A bullied teen is thrilled to find everyone gone. Until the knock at the door.
A fugitive survives a fiery plane crash. Will he be redeemed, or return to what he’s best at: the kill?
An eight year old boy sets out on a journey to find his missing family. What he finds will change him forever.

These survivors aren’t alone...
Someone or something is watching them.
And waiting...

Strangers unite.
Sides are chosen.
Will humanity survive what it never saw coming?
The only certainty is that Yesterday’s Gone.

You’ve never read anything like Yesterday’s Gone – the epic, groundbreaking, thrilling new series. Look for a new 100 page episode each month.

Yesterday's Gone focuses on a select few survivors. A reporter who wakes up without his wife and son, a creepy serial killer, a mother with a young daughter, a bullied teen and his drunken step-father, a fugitive who survives a plane crash, and a young boy who is alone and looking for his family.

Before the book begins the author explains how when he was young he enjoyed watching a television serial, which consisted of 20 minutes. Each episode would bring a new exciting story. Thus what began as their first attempt at serialized fiction.

I thought there was a wide variety of characters, and enjoyed going from character to character. I hope in the next few episodes these characters will cross paths as oppose to having several separate plots. There is always the risk of too many characters. Sometimes in order for each of them to have an individual voice they end up becoming caricatures of themselves, which this book may have veered to at times, but overall it wasn't too corny or contrived.

I am interested in reading more episodes mostly because I want to know what is going on and who is watching them!

My Rating:

Review: The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer

The Dead and The Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Series: Last Survivors #2
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Source: Bought
ISBN: 9780547422268
Release Date: June 1, 2008


Susan Beth Pfeffer’s Life as We Knew It enthralled and devastated readers with its brutal but hopeful look at an apocalyptic event--an asteroid hitting the moon, setting off a tailspin of horrific climate changes. Now this harrowing companion novel examines the same events as they unfold in New York City, revealed through the eyes of seventeen-year-old Puerto Rican Alex Morales. When Alex's parents disappear in the aftermath of tidal waves, he must care for his two younger sisters, even as Manhattan becomes a deadly wasteland, and food and aid dwindle.

With haunting themes of family, faith, personal change, and courage, this powerful new novel explores how a young man takes on unimaginable responsibilities.

The Dead and the Gone centres around Alex Morales. A Puerto Rican boy who goes to a Catholic school. This is the second book in The Last Survivors series, where an asteroid bumps the moon a little closer to the earth causing severe changes to tides, volcanic eruptions, etc.

I found a lot of what happened in this book was repetitive of the first book and Alex's voice was very interchangeable to the main character in the first novel, but I did enjoy Miranda's character in the first novel more. She just seemed stronger where Alex's character came across as flat and boring. And when he wasn't boring his reactions were completely unrealistic. After someone tries to pimp out your sister you DON'T shake his hand and say "no hard feelings!"

One of the stronger characters in the novel was his youngest sister, Julie. At the start she is nothing more than a whiny brat who fusses if she didn't get her own way. As the novel continues, even though she is only 12, she must push her childhood aside and help her brother survive.

The author does try to show that Alex must suffer and scavenge, but they seem to have a lack of resourcefulness, and I'm not sure they would have actually survived in a real disaster.

My Rating:

Review: Ashfall by Mike Mullin

Ashfall by Mike Mullin
Series: Ashfall #1
Publisher: Tanglewood Press
Source: Bought
ISBN: 9781933718552
Release Date: September 27, 2011
Pages: 466

Many visitors to Yellowstone National Park don’t realize that the boiling hot springs and spraying geysers are caused by an underlying supervolcano, so large that the caldera can only be seen by plane or satellite. And by some scientific measurements, it could be overdue for an eruption.

For Alex, being left alone for the weekend means having the freedom to play computer games and hang out with his friends without hassle from his mother. Then the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts, plunging his hometown into a nightmare of darkness, ash, and violence. Alex begins a harrowing trek to seach for his family and finds help in Darla, a travel partner he meets along the way. Together they must find the strength and skills to survive and outlast an epic disaster.

Ashfall is about a teenage boy who is home alone for a weekend when a supervolcano erupts in Yellowstone Park and sends most the United States into chaos. He then makes the decision to go out on his own to find his family. While only a two hour car ride away becomes a months long journey of scavenging food, finding shelter, and surviving the fallout of the volcano eruption.

I mostly enjoyed this novel because of the dark grim feel throughout the novel and I do love a good disaster novel. The first bit of the book was quite fast paced, but as Alex begins his journey to Illinois the pace slows down.

I liked that everything didn't just fall neatly into place at the end of the novel. I felt it was quite realistic and showed how society could react to such an event. You might have people out for themselves, but there will be those ones who will help those in need.

The characters were well written. Alex changes so much throughout the novel, and by the end of the novel he is truly an adult. Darla and Alex seem very well suited and complement each other. I enjoyed how they didn't trust each other, especially given the circumstances, but learned to rely on each other, which eventually developed into a relationship.

My Rating: