Review: Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis

Title: Not a Drop to Drink
Author: Mindy McGinnis
Series: Not a Drop to Drink #1
Published: September 24, 2013
Publisher: HarperCollins

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Lynn knows every threat to her pond: drought, a snowless winter, coyotes, and, most importantly, people looking for a drink. She makes sure anyone who comes near the pond leaves thirsty, or doesn't leave at all.

Confident in her own abilities, Lynn has no use for the world beyond the nearby fields and forest. Having a life means dedicating it to survival, and the constant work of gathering wood and water. Having a pond requires the fortitude to protect it, something Mother taught her well during their quiet hours on the rooftop, rifles in hand.

But wisps of smoke on the horizon mean one thing: strangers. The mysterious footprints by the pond, nighttime threats, and gunshots make it all too clear Lynn has exactly what they want, and they won’t stop until they get it…

I'm a bit disappointed in this book for a few reasons. First, the concept was stellar -- the Earth's drinking supply is running low, and what little we do have is contaminated and deadly. Now, everyone fights over fresh water on a daily basis, struggling to survive. It's a phenomenal idea, but in my opinion, wasn't fleshed out as well as it could have been in this book.

Let's talk about the character of Lauren, or "Mother" as our protagonist calls her. I understand what the author was going for here: the only characters with real names in the book were people that our heroine, Lynn, allows herself to love and care for. Perhaps she didn't have the greatest relationship with Mother as they struggled to survive each day, but then why would she spend so much time crying for her at night? To me, the two emotions conflict with each other and just don't add up. And SPOILER ALERT: the idea of just naming her "Mother", disengages me from the very beginning. So when she dies, I could actually care less. I felt zero sympathy at all.

About halfway though the book, our plot thickens and everything gets a bit more interesting. We're introduced to new characters -- ones that Lynn is feeling protective over (she's never sensed it before); ones that she hates (a group of men out for her pond), and one that she may possibly even love romantically. But then....it all goes downhill from there. I don't want to add in too many spoilers, but the book just becomes really cheesy and unpredictable, and that makes the entire story seem totally unbelievable.

I wish I could write something better, but hey, someone reading this might disagree with me and I'd love to hear their thoughts!

1 out of 5 stars