Wednesday 12 January 2011

Review: The Water Wars - Cameron Stracher

Genre: YA, dystopia
Pages: 240
Published: January 2011 Sourcebook Fire

Welcome to a future where water is more precious than gold or oil-and worth killing for

Vera and her brother, Will, live in the shadow of the Great Panic, in a country that has collapsed from environmental catastrophe. Water is hoarded by governments, rivers are dammed, and clouds are sucked from the sky. But then Vera befriends Kai, who seems to have limitless access to fresh water. When Kai suddenly disappears, Vera and Will set off on a dangerous journey in search of him-pursued by pirates, a paramilitary group, and greedy corporations. Timely and eerily familiar, acclaimed author Cameron Stracher makes a stunning YA debut that's impossible to forget.

Plot:
Good blurb

My thoughts:
Things have gone really bad in this book. The polar ice has melted and been harvested, dams have been cut off, and rivers are dry. The world has been through wars and what once was the US is now a couple of smaller countries. Vera and her brothers live in Illionowa. They are normal kids, except for being thirsty all the time, eating bad food, and worrying about the future. But they still seem hopeful, and love to watch YouToo. Kai is a mystery kid that Vera meets. He keeps his secrets close, and I like him.

You will also meet a pirate (liked him too), bad people who blow up things, and hear tales about the evil Canadians..what?! Oh yes, Canadians are really really bad in this book. I found that really fun actually.

One thing though, these kids are way too lucky, but then again if they weren't lucky they would have been dead long ago during their little adventure. So I can deal with that, they are kids, it's a YA book, and there are some really bad people here. They need friends on their side and get out of situations more easily.

I liked the take on water in this book. Because it is a very likely scenario that plays out in this book. It could happen, it is also critical of the government and even of those trying to save the nature, the paramilitary group, everyone have something to gain, and the goals are not always in the best interest of the many.

The end is an end, but still there is an opening, for things to get better, or get really really bad.

Recommendation and final thoughts:
An easy YA book that gave you something to think about at the same time. I could see teens reading this one in school and discussing afterwards why things went bad, how to stop them, and different scenarios.

Ps. There is a map, I love maps, yay for the map.

Reason for reading:
I like dystopian YA

Cover:
Kind of ..meh

32 comments:

  1. Dystopian novels just don't grab me. And evil Canadians?

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  2. Interesting dystopian story, and the scary thing is, it sounds realistic.

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  3. Great story. i plan to read dystopian this year =)

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  4. This sounds like a relevant book. If we don't watch it, we just might have trouble with our water.

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  5. Sounds interesting. Especially since I'm now singing *Blame Canada* in my head. :) I actually kinda like the cover. Not great, but interesting. :)

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  6. I have wanted this one for ages. I read a review last year and thought it was fabulous.

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  7. You think the cover is meh? I LOVE it. I can't look away actually.

    Great review!

    :)

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  8. Fantastic review and being an "evil Canadian" myself I am adding this to my wish list!

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  9. This book definitely sounds like it has potential. The whole water situation reminds me a bit of Dune. The cover is a little strange though since it looks like there is water shooting out of the boy's nose.

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  10. Inked
    I hope you like it :)

    Carol
    Lol, sorry to my Canadian friends, I just don't see you all as evil ;)
    No dystopia for you, but it is sooo good

    Irena
    I know, that was sure scary, it could so easily happen an we would just go to war

    Darlyn
    Good idea, I love dystopia :)

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  11. Bermuda
    Since there are already trouble, what will happen on the future? Scary

    Melissa
    Oh no..yup, now I am singing that song too ;) Love that song, haha.
    It's not bad, I just felt meh about it today

    Vivienne
    I wanted it when I first heard about it this summer, oh me an my dystopia weakness

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  12. JuJu
    Glad you like it :D I guess I am just having a meh day

    Freda
    Lol, aye, you will sure read about you wicked Canadians there ;)

    Simcha
    Hm, kind of Dune, but not so extreme. Lol, kind of looks like that *snorts*

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  13. I've read your review of this book and I am impressed - definitely a dystopian story which can happen to us. Canada the new rogue country, lol!

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  14. *gasp* I KNEW all that politeness was a mask for true evil! ;)

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  15. Hi B!

    I've seen this one out there in the blogosphere... Now I should probably pick up a copy! Could really happen.

    Dottie :)

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  16. Hey honey, just wanted to pop in to see how you were doing and to see if you and bf were keeping warm! Not sure how your weather is, but just in case... snuggle in bed =)

    Hugs to you honey!!!! And thank you for always showing your support to me!!! Love ya honey!

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  17. Noooo evil canadians...Being Canadian myself I now want to read this and see how bad they are and laugh to myself.

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  18. Ana
    That was sure the scary part. Some dystopia books are excellent but very far fetched, this one, I could see it happen

    Chris
    *nods* They are sitting their planning and laughing ;)

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  19. Dottie
    I hope you enjoy it if you do :)

    Cecile
    Lol, thank you ;) It's actually really warm at the moment, only -1c! But hey bf and I can always snuggle for other reasons too..:)

    Jenny
    I am sure you would laugh at it, it was funny :D

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  20. Had to google dystopian, lol. I've seen the cover before and it sounds kinda cool.

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  21. elysium
    I love dystopia, it's so bleak and good ;)

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  22. This sounds good, and I enjoy YA.
    Great review. lol about evil Candaians.
    http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/

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  23. This is one of my must-read books for 2011 because I love the premise and the idea of water scarcity doesn;t seem that unlikely to me!!
    I am glad you enjoyed it.
    I think I might like it even better in a more mature setting and not just YA, too!

    Thanks for the review!

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  24. Nice review! it sounds like a cool read =D

    I do like the cover though, simple and cool!

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  25. Naida
    They even call it the Empire of Canada ;)

    Kelly
    They were always so thirsty, oh I hope that doesn't happy. So scary! I need water, I kept thinking how I could never make it there

    Larissa
    Even if I am not 100%, it would still make me pick it up

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  26. I like anything dystopian so I'm definitely going to check this one out- it sounds good.

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  27. I love that its dystopian that's eerily plausible. o.O Yer right...it sounds like the kind of book that would be entertaining AND discussion-worthy.

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  28. i like maps too. yay!
    interesting to note the pirates. i'm taken.

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  29. Darlene
    Kind of wish they would make more dystopia movies too, good ones :)

    Alisha
    I do think students would find a lot to discuss, and most importantly, things that do matter

    Velvet
    Water pirates, gotta love that ;)

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  30. If I didn't have this on my TBR list already it would be added for map, definitely =)

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  31. Mishel
    Maps are awesome, lol. But it showed the new US and Canada, very cool

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