Review: Dry

Dry by Neal Shusterman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As a dystopian fan and an armchair prepper - meaning I know a bit about it; please don't invade my house looking for supplies, there aren't any - this book was a strange read. On the one hand, the number one rule of prepping is don't tell anyone you're prepping. No one should have known that Kelton's family had anything stored away. On the other hand, every other aspect of this is pretty much perfect. I'm restraining the impulse to go out and stock up some water now. (See above re no supplies in my house.)

The Shustermans have obviously researched this very carefully, and it shows in the different viewpoints and POVs scattered throughout the book. I did have to reread the end a couple of times to make sense of it, but at that point I was flying through the pages so it's probably my fault!

A brilliant, chilling read.

Receiving an ARC did not affect my review in any way.


"If you're getting this report, and you're in the Southland right now - there is a mandatory evacuation," says Anderson Cooper. His image is accompanied by shots of military personnel helping families evacuate onto massive trucks, handing out water to long lines of people. "Evacuation centers are being set up throughout Southern California in school gymnasiums, churches, and malls - but there seems to be a staggering number of people who are choosing not to cooperate with these government mandates."
"Look on the bright side," I say. "At least malls have a purpose again."
The next shot shows mobs of people flowing like a human river down a winding road, and disappearing beneath a forest canopy. "These families are making their own way toward Lake Arrowhead and the Big Bear Lake area, but reports on the ground tell us that people who have been entering many of these woodsy areas aren't coming out on the other side..."
Everyone watches silently, and then I turn to Kelton. "Hey, bug-out boy - If they're not making it through the forest, what makes you think we will?"
"I told you, we're not going where they're going."
And that's good - because if all those people aren't getting to the high lakes, there's only one of two places they're going. And neither of them are places you come back from./78

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