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.
In a Nutshell: The Water Wars is a unique dystopian that feels very similar to a part of the Pirates of the Caribbean saga.
Putdownability Factor: Ehhh I had to read it fast because I needed to return it before I left, but honestly I wasn't totally into it.
Cover Love: This cover is AWESOME. Its clean, simple, but super engaging. Love it.
Why did I pick this up? Because the cover is so darn cool! Haha. Plus I had this on my list for the debut author challenge!
My Thoughts
The Water Wars was kind of like a Pirates of the Caribbean movie. It was fun, action-filled, and the plot jumped around so fast that I could hardly keep up. You know that feeling of "What the heck just happened?!" Yeah that was me about a gajillion times while reading this book.
The main problem was the characters. They were very one dimensional and they all kind of melded together in my mind. The only one I never got confused with someone else was Vera, and that's probably because she was the only girl in the story until like the last 50 pages. I would have liked the characters to have a bit more personality and depth.
Where Cameron Stracher excel's is the world he created. I really love the idea of a dystopian future without water. Its a really fascinating concept and I think that overall Cameron Stracher did a great job creating this world.
However I think that the plot of The Water Wars was really weak. Everything was built around the fact that Vera cared so much for Kai that she would risk everything for him. But why? Why would Vera put Kai ahead of her own family? It just didn't make much sense. So you start with a weak plot point (finding someone you have a helpless crush on) and then adding in even crazier plots (fights over political power and the war) and everything just starts to get muddled and confusing.
Like I said, this book was like a Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Lots of flash and bang, and razzle dazzle, but not a whole lot of well thought out substance. The Water Wars is a fun book. I enjoyed it to an extent. But poor characterization and a weak plot made it hard to love. Overall I give this 3.5 ice cream cones out of 5.
Who would I recommend this to? Dystopian fans would enjoy this, as would boys who love lots of swashbuckling action.
Note: This review kind of makes me sound like I'm hating on Pirates of the Caribbean but I'm not. I LOVE Pirates of the Caribbean! Just remember: Why do you love Pirates of the Caribbean? For the great plot and characters? Okay maybe for the characters (JACK SPARROW!!!) but you know what I mean. Its mostly the action and adventure and great special effects. At least for me. The Water Wars is the same. Its a good book. But its fun because its got action, and adventure, and kick ass pirate lady with a harpoon gun, not because its got the worlds best plot and characters.
Julia :)
Aw, it's a shame the characters didn't appeal more to you, b/c the premise of the book sounds great! Thanks for doing this review. We hadn't heard about this book yet.
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