Not a Drop to Drink (Not a Drop to Drink #1)

Wow. I totally can't imagine living in a world like this and can't help but think that I would be one of the people who couldn't survive. So, when I meet a strong and capable main character like Lynn, I am always in awe.
Lynn grew up with her mom, and her mom taught her everything she knew. In this world, their pond is the most important thing, and they defend it with their lives, and for them that also means taking lives. Lynn knows how to shoot, purify water, cut down trees, skin and dress a deer basically everything that keeps them alive in a world without help, stores, electricity, or running water.
It is so hard to review without spoiling things, but basically Lynn grows through some of the people that unexpectedly comes into her life and makes her question some of the things she was taught about outsiders. There are also some that prove everything right. There is such character development and that is one of the things that I love.
Through a little girl Lucy, the most change, determination and strength came out in Lynn. She not only had a helper in Lucy, and someone else to teach how to survive, but she also had a lot to learn from the little girl. Seeing the bigger picture, survival, and not bothering the adults even with something that should have needed their attention, she was selfless and caring to others. The theme of family, togetherness, and friendship really shone through these two characters in particular.
The romance is sweet and subtle, a slow build, my favorite kind. Lynn knew nothing about men except they were evil from her mom, and she realizes that just like women, they can be good or bad, or some shade of gray in the middle. So it is really fun to watch her learn what flirting is.
The story would have been a five star if it weren't for the ending. I guess that for some it would be great, realistic, and fitting for the story, but for me, it did not work. I was so heartbroken and though the way it ended up was full of hope in promise in others, I still couldn't get over the shock and the loss.

Bottom Line: Loved the main character, and 3/4 of the story but the ending was NOT for me.

When I first read the summary for Not a Drop to Drink earlier this year, I was certain it was a “me!” book, which is why my complete conflicted feelings on the book make me even more disappointed. While I enjoyed the story that was Not a Drop to Drink and thought it was expertly written, I did have some major problems with the characters in this novel. So let me start with the good:

The world of Not a Drop to Drink felt real, frightening, and worse of all, plausible. A world without running water seems all too likely a grim, futuristic scenario, and the research behind water crises was apparent in this book. Much of the book was devoted to the problem of finding and purifying water. It could have been boring, but was saved from being so by the lush world created around this problem.

Furthermore, I thought there were very real and present threats throughout Not a Drop to Drink, which I appreciated. The grimness and routine of Lynn’s world was shown in full, but at any moment I knew something could happen that would threaten to take away Lynn’s water source for good. The minor characters were all dynamic characters that I long to learn more about. However, that brings me to the main problem I had with this book: Lynn, or rather, the way her character was portrayed at certain parts.
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVED Lynn. She’s tough, unnerving, and quick-thinking. She acts(and shoots) firsts and take questions later. When everything’s a matter of survival, she know she has to do whatever it takes just to stay alive. As the story progresses, she lets some more of her humanity in without losing her survival instinct. I LONG for characters like this. I feel so often in science fiction or Dystopia, you get tough female characters who are tough at the EXPENSE of their humanity. Vulnerable characters can be good characters too, and being a “strong” character and being kind and potentially vulnerable are not polar opposites. So naturally, I quite enjoyed this exploration of Lynn’s character. However. . . I never really felt the exploration.

It’s hard to describe, but basically, as time passes and Lynn meets more humans, she opens up a little. She’ll shoot if needed, no questions about that, but she realizes that not everyone is an enemy, and she needs to be able to distinguish the two. Naturally, this set of events comes with a lot of emotions, many of which Lynn has never experienced before, like being attracted to a boy or caring for a little girl. However, while I was told Lynn’s emotions, I, as a reader, never felt them. Lynn would cry in grief and I would be stone cold. She would react hastily and I had no “oh, Lynn” moments like I do with so many characters. Lynn would react to things, but she never really felt.

This isn’t even a case of not being able to connect to a character, at least not in my opinion. It might be that, but in stronger ways. There have been times I couldn’t relate to or connect to a character, but I still understood their emotions. I still felt like they were feeling something. Whereas in Lynn’s case, I NEVER perceived her feeling emotion. Some awful things happen and just. . . nothing. But she wasn’t emotionless, because her actions said otherwise. This wasn’t even a Katniss situation where I thought the character HAD emotions but was so out-of-touch with them. It’s more like McGinnis, as the author, was the translator between me and Lynn, and something just got completely lost in translation.

It saddened me, because the actual plot of Not a Drop to Drink was compelling, but I am a character-driven reader, and feeling that utter lack of emotion between Lynn and her actions was seriously distracting. I am not sure what the original intent was–I think I would have understood more if I felt McGinnis was attempting to make Lynn emotionless, which I could have gone for giving her situation and upbringing, but that’s not how it came across. Once again, I will say how impressed I am by the sparse world crafted in Not a Drop to Drink, and how conflicted I am about the characters.

Final Impression: I have SUCH conflicting emotions on this one. On one hand, it’s a well-written book with a fabulously done world and plot, but there was something so off in Lynn’s character. She wasn’t completely emotionless, and she wasn’t out of touch with her emotions, but it was like I, as the reader, was given no brige to access them myself. The final result was my utter lack of apathy towards most of the characters in the novel, including Lynn herself. I wanted them to be okay for the story’s sake, but whenever any of them were in danger, I wasn’t catching my breath.

When I first heard of this book, I was put off of by the title of it. An entire book about having no water? But then I realized what that would mean if it were to ever happen... Death to humans, plants, and animals alike, and this story became a lot more interesting and I needed to know what would happen.
"Water water everywhere, but nor a drop to drink."

Something I will say, McGinnis is not afraid to give her readers the FEELS. They were all over the place in this book. From heart stopping moments to awwww moments. It was full of them. I would love to explain, but I can't for fear of spoilers. Just be prepared if you're planning on reading this sometime soon.
"Pain is nothing to be ashamed of."

One thing I did think it was lacking was adventure. I wanted the villain to appear a little more just to make them fight more. Had the events in the end of the novel been spread sporadically through out it, I would have rated this 5 stars. But for the most part I was a little bored. There were times when I was like O_O but then nothing like that what happen again for a bunch more pages.
"Self reliance had been [her] mantra. Nothing was more important than themselves and their belongings."

As for the characters. I liked them and the writing because they fit together so well. I couldn't really connect with Lynn, but I felt that was because she had a hard exterior due to the situation she was in. And the writing flowed so nicely, ironic in a world where water doesn't anymore. I just wish I could have been given a clearer picture of the world surrounding them. I'm a huge fan of world building (which is why I'm not a huge fan of dystopians... I haven't found one I just LOVE yet.) and while McGinnis gives us a glimpse in the beginning and then again when winter starts, I was still left wanting more.
"It seems like it'd be kind of nice not spending every minute living working against dying."

In short, this was a good dystopian to help me start expanding my horizon It had a solid romance and some thrills that I didn't see coming. This was a solid debut that gave me all the feels! I can't wait to see what else McGinnis has up her sleeve.