Drought
By: Pam Bachorz
Synopsis From Goodreads:
A young girl thirsts for love and freedom, but at what cost?
Ruby dreams of escaping the Congregation. Escape from slaver Darwin West and his cruel Overseers. Escape from the backbreaking work of gathering Water. Escape from living as if it is still 1812, the year they were all enslaved.
When Ruby meets Ford—an irresistible, kind, forbidden new Overseer—she longs to run away with him to the modern world where she could live a normal teenage life. Escape with Ford would be so simple.
But if Ruby leaves, her community is condemned to certain death. She, alone, possesses the secret ingredient that makes the Water so special—her blood—and it’s the one thing that the Congregation cannot live without.
Drought is the haunting story of one community’s thirst for life, and the dangerous struggle of the only girl who can grant it.
Ruby dreams of escaping the Congregation. Escape from slaver Darwin West and his cruel Overseers. Escape from the backbreaking work of gathering Water. Escape from living as if it is still 1812, the year they were all enslaved.
When Ruby meets Ford—an irresistible, kind, forbidden new Overseer—she longs to run away with him to the modern world where she could live a normal teenage life. Escape with Ford would be so simple.
But if Ruby leaves, her community is condemned to certain death. She, alone, possesses the secret ingredient that makes the Water so special—her blood—and it’s the one thing that the Congregation cannot live without.
Drought is the haunting story of one community’s thirst for life, and the dangerous struggle of the only girl who can grant it.
My Review:
Rating:
★★
Several years back I picked this book up from a school book fair with my sister, the blurb had me intrigued right off the bat. However, like many of the books I've gone through lately it was shoved to the bottom of my TBR and only just rediscovered after some serious cleaning.
Drought follows Ruby, a young girl struggling to be heard among her people. Ruby is part of a Congregation, that has been enslaved for hundreds of years by a ruthless man, Darwin West. Their only goal to endure and wait for their savior, Otto to come rescue them. For hundreds of years Ruby has been forced to collect water from the plants surrounding their village, it's all she has ever known.
Ruby only wants to be free, to see the modern world and save her people, but no one in her Congregation with listen. She wants nothing more than to save them and walk away from their torturous lives, however she gets shutdown and berated at ever turn. Even her Mother won't listen.
Then the day comes when a kind Overseer, Ford promises her love and happiness. He is kind to her and opens her heart in a way she never thought possible. He begs her to leave with him but Ruby's blood is sacred and she must stay in order to sustain the Congregation, her people.
I struggled though this book from the very beginning. At first I was a bit confused as to the characters history and their purpose. How can a society exist in modern times with no one outside knowing? Who is this Visitor that comes to collect the cisterns full of water? What is his purpose for collecting it? Who is Otto really?
This book felt as though it had more of a religious, cult-like meaning. The Congregation seemed to force their views on Ruby, never allowing her to voice her thoughts. The there are the many debates between Ruby and Ford about their differing views on the "gods" they pay too.
Unfortunately, for me this just wasn't my cup of tea. The writing was great but the story seemed lacking at times. I feel as though I walked away with more questions than answers.
Published by: K
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