The Water Wars by Cameron Stracher

Title: The Water Wars
Author: Cameron Stracher
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Incorporated
Acquired: Bought
Age Group: Young Adult
Grade: 83% or B-
Buy It: Amazon

Welcome to a future where water is more precious than oil or gold...

Hundreds of millions of people have already died, and millions more will soon fall-victims of disease, hunger, and dehydration. It is a time of drought and war. The rivers have dried up, the polar caps have melted, and drinkable water is now in the hands of the powerful few. There are fines for wasting it and prison sentences for exceeding the quotas.

But Kai didn't seem to care about any of this. He stood in the open road drinking water from a plastic cup, then spilled the remaining drops into the dirt. He didn't go to school, and he traveled with armed guards. Kai claimed he knew a secret-something the government is keeping from us...

And then he was gone. Vanished in the middle of the night. Was he kidnapped? Did he flee? Is he alive or dead? There are no clues, only questions. And no one can guess the lengths to which they will go to keep him silent. We have to find him-and the truth-before it is too late for all of us.

My Thoughts::
I bought this book a while back with my Christmas money because I've had my eye on it. I always try to get the most out of my money, but I also wanted to make sure I got some books that I felt I really needed to read. I've heard good things about this book, and the premise really appealed to me. Buuuut it got pushed behind review books until recently.

For some reason once again I had it in my head that the book was supposed to be about something slightly different, but that is most likely due to having not read the description or anything about the book for about 6 months. Eventually I got used to what the book was ACTUALLY about. I think I would have enjoyed the first half of the book more if I didn't expect something different to be happening. But once I got over that hurdle, the book became much more enjoyable.

I love every kind of dystopian or post apocalyptic world but this is always intensified when I can imagine it actually happening. Maybe not all of the technology seemed possible yet, but the problem seemed  eerily capable of happening. Just that possibility made the book come to life in my mind. My mouth grew thirsty as I read, and I could sense the desperation of the character's. Even though the different groups of people viewed things in varied ways, it was all sort of twisted you weren't really sure they knew what the problem really was. Which really hit home because there is always a lot of time of trying to fix things, but never actually addressing the issue.

Overall I think that Stracher did a great job of opening up a world. Dull moments were few and far between. The characters varies and had distinct personalities, changing as the book progressed.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books to Read In A Day

Top Ten Tuesdays is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's top ten is...

Top Ten Books To Read In A Day!! A lot of crazy readers like me can read any book in a day, but I'll take this to mean shorter books and especially books written in verse.

1. Because I Am Furniture by Thalia Chaltas
2. Impulse by Ellen Hopkins
3. Fly on the Wall by E. Lockhart
4. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
5. Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott
6. Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard
7. You, Maybe by Rachel Vail
8. Leftovers by Laura Wiess
9. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
10. Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen

March in Review

I read 8 books this month (you can check them all out in the Books Read page)
I reviewed 4:
 
Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
The Weepers by Susanne Winnacker
DJ Rising by Love Maia
The Rivals by Daisy Whitney

I reviewed 0 movies this month:

Challenges so far:

I read 25/100 books towards my personal goal.
1/5 books for the 2012 Book Blogger Recommendation Challenge
1/6 books for the Zombie Challenge 2012
0/7 books for the 2012 Finishing the Series Challenge

Blog Changes:

I've added and subtracted some blog buttons!

Overall:

This month was even worse than the last! I read a decent amount, but I failed pretty much everywhere else. I plan to do better in April! The school year is coming to an end, I can't believe it!

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a post where I tell you the books that I received this week either by buying them from the bookstore, going to the library or from my mailbox. In My Mailbox was inspired by Alea and turned into a meme by Kristi.

Yesterday by C.K. Kelly Martin

THEN: The formation of the UNA, the high threat of eco-terrorism, the mammoth rates of unemployment and subsequent escape into a world of virtual reality are things any student can read about in their 21st century textbooks and part of the normal background noise to Freya Kallas's life. Until that world starts to crumble.

NOW: It's 1985. Freya Kallas has just moved across the world and into a new life. On the outside, she fits in at her new high school, but Freya feels nothing but removed. Her mother blames it on the grief over her father's death, but how does that explain the headaches and why do her memories feel so foggy? When Freya lays eyes on Garren Lowe, she can't get him out of her head. She's sure that she knows him, despite his insistence that they've never met. As Freya follows her instincts and pushes towards hidden truths, the two of them unveil a strange and dangerous world where their days may be numbered. Unsure who to trust, Freya and Garren go on the run from powerful forces determined to tear them apart and keep them from discovering the truth about their shared pasts (and futures), her visions, and the time and place they really came from.

Belles by Jen Calonita

Fifteen-year-old Isabelle Scott loves her life by the boardwalk on the supposed wrong side of the tracks in North Carolina. But when tragedy strikes, a social worker sends her to live with a long-lost uncle and his preppy privileged family. Isabelle is taken away from everything she's ever known, and, unfortunately, inserting her into the glamorous lifestyle of Emerald Cove doesn't go so well. Her cousin Mirabelle Monroe isn't thrilled to share her life with an outsider, and, in addition to dealing with all the rumors and backstabbing that lurk beneath their classmates' Southern charm, a secret is unfolding that will change both girls' lives forever.

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

What if the world's worst serial killer...was your dad?

Jasper (Jazz) Dent is a likable teenager. A charmer, one might say.

But he's also the son of the world's most infamous serial killer, and for Dear Old Dad, Take Your Son to Work Day was year-round. Jazz has witnessed crime scenes the way cops wish they could--from the criminal's point of view.

And now bodies are piling up in Lobo's Nod.

 In an effort to clear his name, Jazz joins the police in a hunt for a new serial killer. But Jazz has a secret--could he be more like his father than anyone knows?

172 Hours on the Moon by Johan Harstad

Everyone said sending teenagers into space would be their opportunity of a lifetime...

It's been decades since anyone last set foot on the moon. But three ordinary teens are about to change that--and their lives--forever. Mia knows this will be her punk band's ticket to fame and fortune. Midori believes it's her way out of her restrictive lifestyle in Japan. And Antoine just wants to get as far away from his ex-girlfriend as possible. But little do they know that something sinister is waiting for them on the dark side of the moon. And in the black vastness of space, no one is coming to save them... Strap yourself in for this chilling adventure from a young Norwegian author on the rise. You'll want to keep your lights on long after you've read the last page.