Pam Bachorz

Candor, Florida is where wealthy families take their children that make trouble. Candor transforms those children into perfect, Yale bound students, and these children always respect their parents, always do their chores, and never get into trouble…Ever.

Campbell Banks built Candor into what it is; he created the technology that makes not just these kids, but also these parents, into what they are. It only takes a week, sometimes two if their strong, to fully make the change from a troubled show more teen to a Candor kid. That is unless Oscar Banks steps in, if the bank accounts big enough and the kids want out bad enough, he can make it happen.

On the outside, Oscar is the perfect Candor kid, he’s his father’s clone, but on the inside and to those select few, there’s the truth: Oscar knows how to block his father’s Messages, he knows how to keep them from turning, how to keep them normal. Then Nia shows up. Nia is different for Oscar, there’s something about her that attracts him, that makes him want to forget everything and stop being careful, something about her that makes him want to leave Candor.

There were parts of Candor that I didn’t really understand, like how Nia and Oscar could talk to each other briefly, a few times and then be in love with one another. Or like how Oscar’s father could never suspect a thing. But despite not buying how quickly their relationship came about, I found that I absolutely adored them! The moments they had were so sweet (like the “museum”, read it and you’ll understand) and they actually seemed so genuine with one another, like they saw the true parts of each other.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised this year by how well the writing has been in debut authors, and Candor was no different. It was very well written, and the characters were developed so well, especially for a short novel. The last few chapters were so exciting and engrossing, that even when my body was saying “go to bed,” I couldn’t put it down.

This was also the first book in a long while to bring a tear to my eye (nothing since The Siren by Kiera Cass has managed to do that). During those last few chapters, I had my ideas on what was going to happen, but when they were proven wrong and it was over, I found a tear in my eye and frantically flipping the acknowledgment pages and the back pages for something else, anything else.

I don’t know for sure if there’s going to be a sequel, but apparently there are Messages hidden in Candor, because I am hoping to revisit Oscar, Nia, and the town of Candor again. show less

I was rather interested in this book based on the plot alone. Yes, it has bad reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, but it does not live up to the promise the plot gives. In fact, it falls flat thanks to 1.) stupid characters, 2.) implausible plot developments, and 3.) an ending that wrapped up 400 pages worth of action in 10 minutes.

Ruby has lived her entire life living practically as a slave, gathering Water (dew collected daily from plants mixed with her blood which gives extended life and show more healing powers). She's 200 years old but looks and acts like she's 16. One of the Overseers, Ford, is the designated love interest of this tale. He's handsome, 18, and working as a slave driver to provide for his mother's cancer treatment. Ruby's mother claims to be looking out for the interests of the community while serving as a reverend for a Congregation that worships Otto, the original man whose blood gave life before he up and left the community to hide in the woods to continue on, but only after impregnating Ruby's mother. The main villain is a man named Darwin West, who is in love with Ruby's mother and, scorned, follows the Congregation into the woods and enslaves them in order to procure and sell the Water to the Visitor. The Congregation has lived there for 200 years and still lives as if it is 1810, waiting for Otto while Darwin manages to live on as a member of the outside community, recruiting Overseers to serve as guards from convicts and the desperate unemployed.

Some tropes employed in this book include Instalove (Ford falls in love with Ruby at first sight, and she pretty much does as well). More importantly than that, everyone in the Congregation is apparently dumb. They make Ruby their leader and then when they realize she is in love with an Overseer they cast her out - by the end, Ruby's mother has become a secondary villain, even trying to kill Ford and tells Ruby she is an embarrassment and not worth love because she "betrayed the community" by trying to save them and not wait for Otto (who is now a Jesus-like figure).

The ending seems like the author realized she needed to wrap it up and after 300 pages of harvesting Water, talking about Ruby's power, love, and how Darwin is evil, the Visitor shows up. I still don't get the Visitor - he just showed up and then left but managed to do so much in the process that concluded the novel. On top of this, Ford is also guilty of religious insensitivity, saying he can't love Ruby because worshiping Otto is heresy and a sin. Ruby, meanwhile, is guilty of "I love him, but I can't love him" in every chapter. We get it, we don't need to be reminded every five pages.

In the end, this book had promise, but just fell flat. Ruby was dumb, her mother was a b*tch (all she had to do was marry Darwin - it was obviously she cared about him, but she was saving herself for Jesus - I mean Otto), and Ruby and Ford fell in love despite them having nothing in common besides googly eyes. Oh, and there were several obvious editing problems (they're versus their came up at least twice, and punctuation usage was off). A good premise does not make a good book. show less

Before I start, I should mention that before reading Drought, I had an entirely different idea of what the book would actually be about. I was expecting a story about a dystopian society that involved lots of action and rebellion. That wasn’t exactly what entailed.

Contrary to what I expected, Drought is kind of a slow book. That’s not to say that Drought is boring, it just takes its time developing the world that Ruby lives in. One of the best parts about this world-building is the show more cult-like society that Ruby lives in. The beliefs of the Congregation, interestingly enough, hold some parallels to religions today (the foremost of which is their belief that their savior, Otto, will come deliver them from their horrible situation if they “sustain” themselves). I found these parallels pretty interesting, and I enjoyed picking them out of the story (the best one? The bad guy’s name is Darwin).

I found the daily life of the Congregation a bit tedious to read about, but Pam Bachorz added bits of excitement at the right moments. I enjoyed how Ruby questioned the beliefs of her people—she spoke to the rebel in me—but I found the responses of the Congregation to be absolutely absurd. Their unwillingness to take action against the people that caused them suffering was incredibly frustrating, which made it feel like an accurate portrayal of a cult society.

Drought had its ups and downs for me, but I don’t regret reading it—it’s an interesting insight into the cult lifestyle with a supernatural twist. The last chapter, especially, was heartbreaking. I’d recommend it to anyone interested in an emotional read that showcases the struggles of trying to escape a binding community. show less

DROUGHT, by Pam Bachorz, is one of those books that, while reading it, made me absolutely insane. Let me explain. There is a lot of information thrown at you in a short amount of time. I had to figure out where this was taking place and what the rules of this society were. Not much of it is explained, so it is left to the reader to understand as you go along.

The Congregants live in a sort-of 'cult' society where they have very little, except for the Water that has kept them alive for over show more two hundred years. They are enslaved by Darwin West who is a very evil man and proves that to these people each day when he orders his guards (Overseers) to whip the people if their quota of Water are not fulfilled each day. This happens often since there is not much water to be found (title hint- drought).

In the beginning, this society of Congregants are tight-knit, until their youngest member and future Leader, Ruby, meets an Overseer who does not possess the same ideals as Darwin. A dangerous romance brews between these two and Ruby begins to question their current lifestyle.

About 1/4 through the book I wanted to stop reading. I searched the book sites for reviews of this book wondering if it would be worth it to continue. One specific review stuck out for me. This reviewer had the same questions I did, but she did say the end was worth the confusing ride. And after slugging through it, I whole-heartedly agree.

My biggest issues revolved around the Congregants. The Congregants constantly pray to Ruby's father, Otto, in the hopes of his return to save them all. They were afraid of their captors, which kept them on a tight leash but any thought about becoming free from Darwin was something they automatically turned down. WHY? I felt these people were brainwashed into staying because of Otto returning 'someday'. I think if they all rose up together against Darwin they could have broken free. Even though enough time had passed (200 years!), it seemed that they didn't even want to be free. Ruby's mother was at the top of my List (not a good list to be on). There were times I wanted to reach into the book and smack her for holding Ruby back from a life outside their prison.

With my constant anger over the Congregants, I realized, that is probably the point. Bachorz skillfully pulled those emotions from me and ultimately made me enjoy the book. She made me invest everything into these characters. I enjoyed the strange relationship between Ruby and Ford. They bared their souls to each other and hoped in the end that would be enough for them to be together. After many revelations, I was glad I finished it. I was not prepared for my mind to wander about it days after finishing it. Bravo Bachorz, you managed to make me crazy then crazy for your book. show less