Dry

It’s not a beautiful day in the neighborhood. Southern California has had their source of water cut off, literally, by surrounding states. One day, it’s normal conservation of water: no watering lawns or frivolous use of water. The next day, it’s searching stores for bottled water and finding them empty. After that, it’s mayhem and chaos. Because this is a teen book, the main characters are teens. Their survival is left up to them, because most of the adults are conveniently absent from most of the story. The story is suspenseful, illustrating a disturbing scenario of mob action and “water zombies” who will kill for a mouthful of water. But the problem with this dystopian tale, like others of the genre, is that adults are show more either too stupid or clueless or uncaring of the disaster that is unfolding, and now the survival of a sane society is up to the kids. And though the conclusion wraps things up fairly nicely, there is little mention of the aftermath. It seems unlikely that these teens could just accept what has happened and go on with their lives, after what they experienced and what they were forced to do to survive, but that seems to be the case. I would expect them to be in therapy or at least, not as well adjusted as they seem to be. There is no question that the characters of this novel are well written, the plot is compelling, and the story is a page-turner. And if the book had had a strong adult influence, it would have been a different story. But it might have been a better one. show less

What an amazing book! I love the way Neal Shusterman always takes a what-if scenario and morphs it to freaky disaster proportions. In this case, he and co-author Jared Shusterman have got a not-too-improbable scenario where southern California is having a drought, and FEMA decides to prefer one disaster over another while leaving some citizens hung out to dry (gee, THAT hasn’t happened in recent history.) When the water in the taps gets shut off and suddenly all that’s left is what was in your house or on the store shelves the moment the taps ran dry, predictably, humankind turns into a pack of savages, or as Shusterman(s) call it—water zombies.

And really, this DOES have the feel of a zombie book, in an absolutely cool way. There show more is almost no humanity in the behavior we see portrayed in sickening detail, from stores, to mobs, to price gougers, to opportunists, to predatory. It is sickening, and the sad thing is, while you want to curl your lip in disgust and swear these creatures are beneath you, that you would never do something like this, the flip side of this coin is how realistically the authors paint their desperation. Is it any easier to stand by and do nothing while you watch your loved ones die before your eyes? How many of us wouldn’t pick up spears and turn feral if it was the only way to survive? A truly great Shusterman book.

Trigger Warnings: violence, sexual assault

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader. show less

This book was gripping from the get go. From page one, I was thirsty and paranoid. Dry is terrifying in that THIS COULD HAPPEN! We're already slowly killing our environment (some would argue, not that slowly)and Dry shows what would happen if part of the country ran out of water. At first a mild panic sets in, but then you think this won't last, help is coming. It can't be that bad. But as the hours drag on and the death toll starts rising, everyone turns into animals. Water is something we all take for granted, but without it death is imminent. Told through the perspectives of five teenagers trying to navigate their way through this crisis and survive, Dry is downright scary. It's a dystopian novel that could happen tomorrow. In that show more regard it's very similar to Ashfall by Mike Mullin, in which the eruption of a super volcano turns the US into an apocalyptic nightmare. These things could happen. Read this with a bottle of water. For your own safety. show less

This novel will make you really think before letting the water run while waiting for it to get hot or pouring water down the drain from a glass that is half empty. Drink it or use it to water your pet.

The tap out has finally happened. There is no water. Alyssa and her brother, Garrett, end up on their own when their parents go to get water. They are lucky enough to live next door to people who have prepared for civilization to fall apart. They have a home that is difficult to penetrate, they have stored food and water, and they have a safe place to retreat to away from civilization when it falls apart. Supposedly, it will take about five days for civilization to descend into chaos. Kelton, the next door neighbor, ends up taking Alyssa, show more Garrett, and Jacqui on a trip to the bugout after his family makes a colossal mistake. It’s on this trip that you see what happens to people when they become desperate.

Each chapter is from different character’s points of view, so you can know what he/she is truly like. Jacqui is a survivor. She’s the toughest one of the group and knows what she’s able and/or willing to do in dire circumstances. She keeps her wits about her. Henry is also a survivor, but he never really becomes a part of the group. He’s well aware of his abilities and stays true to the expectations he has for himself. Most characters stay pretty flat. Kelton changes the most because he finds out what he’s truly capable of and consciously accepts and manages all parts of his personality. Garrett is the stereotypical kid who really doesn’t understand what’s going on while Alyssa is blind to her true self the entire time.

This is one of my least favorite books by Shusterman. The characters were all their own worst enemies and it drove me crazy. The main character, Alyssa, is not the brightest bulb on the tree. At one point, she states that she shouldn’t trust another character and explains the really good reasons why she shouldn’t trust him and then says she’ll trust him anyway. I just wanted to thump her head! She created so many problems because of her stupid decisions and then everyone trusts her and she says she must be trustworthy. OMG! I almost hyperventilated everytime a character did something stupid. I do think the story is believable because water is a huge issue here where we live! I don’t think we conserve enough. I know I don’t! The premise that we run out of water is frightening, but the characters are so annoying that I was happy to finish the novel. show less

This book was gripping from the get go. From page one, I was thirsty and paranoid. Dry is terrifying in that THIS COULD HAPPEN! We're already slowly killing our environment (some would argue, not that slowly)and Dry shows what would happen if part of the country ran out of water. At first a mild panic sets in, but then you think this won't last, help is coming. It can't be that bad. But as the hours drag on and the death toll starts rising, everyone turns into animals. Water is something we all take for granted, but without it death is imminent. Told through the perspectives of five teenagers trying to navigate their way through this crisis and survive, Dry is downright scary. It's a dystopian novel that could happen tomorrow. In that show more regard it's very similar to Ashfall by Mike Mullin, in which the eruption of a super volcano turns the US into an apocalyptic nightmare. These things could happen. Read this with a bottle of water. For your own safety. show less

In a dystopian future where the water has run dry and led to a Tap Out in southern California, a world of anarchy and chaos soon explodes for a young group of teens who have to find a way to survive.
This book was a struggle for me, simply because it is very stressful and I had to keep taking breaks because my anxiety was on frayed edges. Shusterman did a great job of making these characters very real, with a human range of morality that kept them interesting and layered. I tend to not like younger POV's but that was never an issue for me with this book and despite writing mostly YA none of the setting or real aspects of the world seem sugarcoated.
If you like dystopia's or books that explore people when pushed to their limits this is a show more great one. It is very easy and quick to consume, but also highly stress-inducing, like a wildfire. show less

Is this fiction? Or a peek at the future of California? The most riveting YA book I’ve read all year. Scary in the way that plausible situations are. Frightening in the way that magic and monsters are not because humans are the most terrifying and most unpredictable creatures on Earth.

The “Tap Out” begins quietly, one day there isn’t water. We get to see how this plays out through the different characters’ point of view. It’s the kind of slow horror building that Stephen King excels at creating. On day one the family hops into the car assuming they’ll buy bottled water at Costco- I was already thinking- “Well, that’s not gonna work out.” The thing about a crisis is that by the time you wrap your mind around the next show more step everyone else is there with you.

There are, of course, good people in this story, but as in real life, it is hard to tell anyone’s true intentions. Just when I thought the plot was somewhat predictable, it wasn’t. show less