A story set in a dystopian world where fresh water is scarce and the divide between rich and poor is extreme. The main character is River Quinn and at the start of the book she is returning home after spending 10 years in a prison camp. Along with her friends, she decides to right some of the wrongs in her community.
The story line is potentially very good but I found the writing style quite jarring. This is a young adult book but it felt more geared towards teenagers. The characters were reasonably interesting but the main character was not as appealing as some of the other characters. The point of view of the story is all through River, so this detracted from my enjoyment. The pacing was a bit stop and start and didn't really pick up until the later chapters. Overall, I felt the book lacked any depth but nevertheless, the story line should appeal to a younger audience.

Ich habe mich über das Buch sehr gefreut. Es ist nicht nur fließend zum lesen sondern auch sehr spannend.

3.5 stars!
A dystopian, post-apocalyptic world, a found-family group of characters and an evil government in the need of toppling? Say no more.
River and her friends (especially Ruthless) were very fun to follow. This book served a lot as exposition to the world and society, but towards the end we get close to the real action.

3.5 stars.

Here's my story of how I came to read this book: I set out this month to read some of the advanced review copies I already have access to. I was scrolling Netgalley to check on my shelf, when I saw The Water Thief as a "recently added" book. I have been in a post-apocalyptic/dystopian mood lately, so once I read the description and saw it compared to The Hunger Games and other thrilling, quick dystopian reads, I knew I had to request it. And lucky me, it was a "read now" (aka, could access it immediately and not have to wait for publisher approval). I have read nothing else by the author or even heard of her other books.

Now, onto the story itself: in short, I liked it. It was an easy read and had some interesting dystopian elements (harmful rains, pure water is only owned by the government, a huge disparity between wealthy and poor, a work camp/prison you can get sent to at any age for small infractions).

River is our main character, and when we meet her, she is just getting released from "the Pen," a work camp/prison that houses thousands of people convicted to serve time. River's crime? Stealing pure water for her ailing father. She was imprisoned at 8 years old and has just completed her sentence a decade later, at 18.

I think the comparison to The Hunger Games comes in with River's personality and thoughts, more than for plot reasons. River is harsh, very anti-social, and closed off. Remnant of other weary and life-hardened dystopian heroines, for sure.

The plot moves slowly at first, as River attempts to find her way back home and reconnect with her mother. She makes a friend along the way, Ruthless, and they reach River's hometown together. From here, I thought a larger plot would kick in, but instead, the pacing is a bit meandering as River tries to decide what to do next. The pacing here and even into the middle was slower and at times read like a backstory or prequel. It isn't until near the end of the book when a classic anti-government scheme begins, dreamed up by River. This is where my interest was fully hooked and why I will be reading the next book!

Something that felt off at first was River's thought-process. River is SO vengeful. She has a hate-fueled grudge against one person in power, and it drives her to make reckless choices and relentlessly try to cause hurt to that person. It's not until the very end of the story that River steps outside of her personal vendetta mindset. It was hard for me to connect to River in her vendetta stage, and I knew she could make so much of a difference trying to better things for the needy rather than just hurt those with wealth. (And she gets there, too. It was just a long transition.)

On a writing note, the dialogue could be stale. The writing itself was good, but the dialogue (especially emotional dialogue) felt flat at times - though not always!

Overall, I think The Water Thief series has the potential to be a dystopian tale that teens and new adult readers will find captivating. I hope the next book expands the scale and gives us some big action!

The concept for The Water Thief is absolutely there - it's Hunger Games but focus on the unavailability of water over food. I enjoy the MC, River, and you can definitely see the Katniss similarities, but Ruthless is the standout character for me.

This was a tough one for me to read though, because the first person present POV is not my favorite. I took awhile to acclimate to the style, and since the main plot (and more interesting aspects of the story) doesn't really come into play until 50% through, it almost made it in the DNF pile. I'm also not sure about the categorization of this as new adult - it reads much younger, and I do think the short sentences and first person POV play a part in that.

The second half of the book is much better, plot-wise, and it seems that will continue into the next book. It does end on a cliffhanger and I have some unanswered questions, so I look forward to book 2 to clear some things up.

Love the plot line and the character development. Will definitely recommend to my friends and family

Loved ruthless’ skins nature and River . Much also is a hood soul.
brave river trying to overcome the evil Lysander…a perfect combination of adventure and fantasy.