Dry

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

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

4.5 Stars

“It’s so quiet now,” I say. “It almost makes you forget what’s out there.” “Nothing out there but people,” Henry points out. “People can be monsters. Whether it’s just their actions, or whether it’s who they really are, it doesn’t matter. The result is the same.” … “Sometimes you have to be the monster to survive.”

Southern California is desperate for water, but there’s nothing left and the tap has officially run dry. Neighbors begin to turn on each other and chaos is rising across the state. Alyssa’s desperate to keep herself and her brother safe after her parents don’t return from a mission to get water. She pairs with with unlikely allies in hopes of surviving. Dry is a gripping story of show more the lengths you’ll go to survive, and if it’s possible to life with yourself in the aftermath.

Things I Liked
I really loved that we got so many different POVs throughout the story, not only with the main characters, but also the snapshot chapters that showed what was happening around other parts of Southern California. The writing felt so personal, like a journal. It made it easy to feel like you were in the story.

The whole book is really a warning for global warming, climate change, and the inaction that doomed an entire state. And I loved that they addressed how the media decides what’s newsworthy and important enough to get coverage.

I don’t know if I’ve ever been so anxious while reading a book. It was so eerie and thrilling it felt like a horror movie, waiting for other shoe to drop. And the overwhelming relief when you get some semblance of safety was this high that made this book a true rollercoaster.

Things I Didn’t Like
I didn’t really love or connect with any of the characters. And it’s a testament to the incredible writing that I was still so emotionally invested in the story. I thought Jacqui was kinda just mean and abrasive - I get it’s literally an end-of-the-world situation, but I didn’t necessarily want to root for her. Kelton had his moments, but he definitely did some sketchy things. Henry was a bit of a know-it-all and a try-hard. Overall, I didn’t really latch onto anyone. I appreciate their selfishness and self preservation, but it just didn’t really connect to the characters.

I had so many intense emotions while reading this that I actually had to pause a few times to collect myself. Neal and Jarrod Shusterman infuse drama and intensity into this collapsing world in a way that puts your heart in an aching state of desperation. Dry is really like no other book I’ve ever read, and it a truly unique experience.

I received a copy of the book from Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review. 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

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

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