Not a Drop to Drink is very good, I’ll say that.  I wasn’t sure what I was expecting it to be but it’s not what I got.  It was pretty straight forward and unapologetic.  Lynn has lived with her Mother spending every day struggling to survive and protecting their pond.  Water has become scarce all over the world and clean water even rarer.  Lynn’s pond in many ways is keeping them alive and most be protected at all times.  Lynn’s mother is hard.  She has taught Lynn from a young age how to use a rifle and to shoot if anyone gets to close.  After a tragic accident that kills her mother, Lynn is on her own.  She decides to make an alliance with her neighbor, Stebbs.  Together they work to protect her pond and check out possible threats to them.  This leads them to Lucy, Eli and Neva.  They have escaped the city but are unprepared for living in the wild.  Lynn takes Lucy home as both Eli and Neva are unable to care for the five year old.  Before this the only people that Lynn knew was her mother and Stebbs.  She was taught that everyone else was their enemy out to get their pond.  Over the course she learns that not everyone is as ruthless and that helping someone is not weakness but also can be a strength.  When far more ruthless men build a camp not that far from them, Lynn will do whatever it takes to save her new “family”

I liked the minimalist of the writing style.  It really sets the whole mood of the novel. Lynn’s life is a struggle but it’s also pretty simple and straight forward.  She does what needs to be done.  The writing matches that.  It doesn’t over elaborate or go into much details. It tells you what happens and let you fill in the gap.  Lynn is a smart, strong but also vulnerable.  Living away from the world, there are many things she doesn’t know about and leads to funny but also sad realizations about the world.  She has been taught not to trust anyone but learns that sometimes to survive you have to.  She’s not a shrinking violet, waiting to be rescued but will do the rescuing.  The story is not afraid to be violent and talk about the nastier part of life or is it afraid of killing off characters.  This is a harsh world they live in and tragedies will happen but life moves on. You can either deal with it and be stronger or not.  There is a sequel but l really liked the ending.  I liked the sense of hope it brought with it.  I’m not sure there is a need for a second one but I’ll probably read it.