⭐⭐⭐⭐
After reading Dry, by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman, I realized this is the first book I’ve read that speculates on what would happen if the California drought escalates. After Arizona and Nevada shut the floodgates on the dams of the Colorado River, which makes up most of California’s water usage, the drought becomes a state-wide crisis. America, in the middle of recovering the west coast from a hurricane, doesn’t even acknowledge the disaster until it’s already too late.
The story switches perspectives between five different characters, with snapshots of other people’s experiences sprinkled in between. Alyssa, the main character, sets out with her brother, Garrett, and their odd neighbor Kelton to find her parents and another source of water. Along the way, they meet the rebellious and headstrong Jacqui and a rich young “entrepreneur” named Henry.
Alyssa’s world becomes a sort of battlefield of strife, with neighbors revealing their true selves in a desperate quest for water. It becomes a true life and death situation.
This book is really well-conceived, which is not surprising from the author who wrote Scythe, another in-depth, intricate story. The idea is nothing I would have even thought about, which makes it twice as important.
The only thing keeping me from rating this book a full five stars was that I think it could have been a bit less extreme in the portrayal of the characters. It made them seem a little more black-and-white and less complex than they could have been, although it might have been intentional to illustrate how a crisis could bring out the best and the worst in all people.
Despite its flaws in character development, the book’s strong plot line brings the themes of drought, desperation, and survival to the forefront in a world where something this drastic could actually happen.
