A catastrophic water shortage has divided the world into two groups: those who have reliable access to safe drinking water, and those who would do
anything to get it.
Lynn’s life is simple: she and her mom trust nobody, depend
on nobody but each other, and spend their nights in their basement and their
days doing whatever it takes to feed themselves and to protect their pond. Then strangers appear, Lynn’s world turns upside down, and she has to reevaluate
everything she’s ever been taught.
This book starts out grim and gets grimmer; it’s not going
to make a convert of anybody who isn’t already a fan of intensely dark dystopian
fiction. The protagonist is a remorseless killer and the threat (and sometimes
the reality) of rape, slavery, and lesser forms of violence are never entirely
absent. But for readers who like this sort of thing and can hang on through
several chapters during which there seems to be little point in caring about
characters whose lives are so precarious, there is a big payoff.
Lynn’s
claustrophobic world grows whether she likes it or not, and she’s got to find a way to grow
with it or die. Fortunately, there’s a core of resilience and a desire for
connection buried deep within the many layers of rigid self-sufficiency and
misanthropy that her mother has armored her with, and she’s able to grope her
way toward an extremely hard-won redemption.
It’s an ambiguous redemption at
best, though, tainted by irreparable losses: the implacable and deeply
disturbing forces at play in this horrific and all-too-plausible future aren’t
going anywhere. Thoughtfully and realistically written; well above average for books
of this genre; but definitely not for the faint of heart or for younger teens. Highly recommended for readers who loved The Hunger Games or Divergent.
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