Book Review: Drought

Drought by Pam Bachorz

Released: Jan 25, 2011
Publisher: Egmont USA
Pages: 400
Rating: 5 stars

Ruby Prosser dreams of escaping the Congregation and the early-nineteenth century lifestyle that’s been practiced since the community was first enslaved.

She plots to escape the vicious Darwin West, his cruel Overseers, and the daily struggle to gather the life prolonging Water that keeps the Congregants alive and gives Darwin his wealth and power. But if Ruby leaves, the Congregation will die without the secret ingredient that makes the Water special: her blood.

So she stays.

But when Ruby meets Ford, the new Overseer who seems barely older than herself, her desire for freedom is too strong. He’s sympathetic, irresistible, forbidden—and her only access to the modern world. Escape with Ford would be so simple, but can Ruby risk the terrible price, dooming the only world she’s ever known?

This is one unique novel. Drought was far from what I was expecting but I enjoyed reading every page of it. It was so gripping and produce a lot of emotions to stir within me. Drought is definitely one novel that will get some strong opinionated topics going. I know I got some questions that I would love to see answered in either a sequel or prequel - I won’t go into any detail for fear of spoiling the book for yall.

Drought is well-written and has great characterization, although some of the character’s way of thinking drove be bananas. The plot reminds me a lot of the movie, The Village, with a community isolated from the world worshipping something strange. Ruby was a strong character, struggling over loyalty to herself, the congregation, and love. While the congregation worships a man named Otto and believe he will save them, Ruby is fed up with the conditions they must live everyday and longs for freedom. Only problem, not everyone wants to change things. Darwin West is pure evil, yet the perfect villain. If the congregation doesn’t meet his daily expectations, then he punishes them by starvation, violence, or extra hard labor. The Elder’s and Ruby’s mother infuriated me throughout the entire novel. Why have such devotion for a man that left them around 200 years ago?? It just doesn’t make sense to me.

This is one horrifyingly twisted, yet riveting read. I can’t wait to see what Bachorz comes up with next.

Author Interview: Pam Bachorz

Pam Bachorz

Books:

• Candor

Website / Blog / Buy the Book

Oscar Banks has everything under control. In a town where his father brainwashes everyone, he's found a way to secretly fight the subliminal Messages. He's got them all fooled: Oscar's the top student and the best-behaved teen in town. Nobody knows he's made his own Messages to deprogram his brain. Oscar has even found a way to get rich. For a hefty price, he helps new kids escape Candor, Florida before they're transformed into cookie-cutter teens. But then Nia Silva moves to Candor, and Oscar's carefully-controlled world crumbles.

The main idea of Candor is different than other books I've read. What inspired you to write this particular story?

I was inspired by a mosquito truck! I was living in a planned community in central Florida, where a pick-up truck drove around town twice daily, spraying bug spray off the back of the truck. One night I was walking the dog and I got caught in the spray. The town always swore it was harmless... but what if, I wondered, it had something "good" in it? What if there was Prozac in there, and that was why everybody was so nice? From there, I jumped to brainwashing !

Is there a character from Candor that was your favorite to write? Least favorite? Why?

Oscar was probably my favorite, because his voice came roaring into my brain to restart a salled project, completely rework it, and make it into the book CANDOR is today. Least favorite---hmm, no honestly I really loved all my characters. Nia sometimes was a little hard to get to cooperate... just like she is in the book!

What has your road to publication been like so far?

Well, it was five years of writing, revising, writing, revising and then everything has moved so fast since I got an agent. Life is a fantatic whirlwind at the moment. Everyday I learn new things about how to improve my craft, as well as how to better promote my work and how to connect with other writers.

How long did it take you to write Candor?

It took my five years, but in that space of time I wrote 2 other novels, numerous short stories and picture books, had a kid and moved to a new state!

The ending of Candor came as quite a shock. Can you tell us if there is going to be a sequel?

I haven't decided yet... my next one won't be a sequel but after that, who knows?

If you could send out a subliminal message, what would it be?

Hmmmm. How about "Question Authority"? That would make for some interesting times. Not enough people question what they're told--by their leaders, their managers, their teachers, or the press! I'm not saying that the world is one big conspiracy, but we should be sure that our opinions and actions are truly our own.

Aside from writing, what are some of your favorite things to do?

Well, I watch far too much television... I am the kind of person who sits down in front of her TV with the "TV PREVIEW" edition of ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY and programs, say, 20 different things to record on her DVR. I just love storytelling of any kind.

I love to do writing things of course--meet my writer friends for "writing dates", go to book clubs, or go to writing conferences. And I read tons. Besides that, I spend my time hanging with my family, trying to find time to hit the museums and a few plays/musicals every year, and traveling.

What are some of your favorite books to read?

I read very broadly, at least within the YA Genre! I nerd out just as any other reader about the big releases, like CATCHING FIRE, but I also love finding debut authors who have something new to say, like Malinda Lo's ASH.

Do you have any projects that you are currently working on?

I am revising another YA novel for Egmont USA.

Anything else you would like to say?

We've been having a lot of fun with online promotional stuff for CANDOR. Come check out the website for the "real" Candor, FL at http://www.candorfl.com/! Check out the facebook fan page, too, we'll be doing even more cool stuff there soon too.

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Thanks so much Pam for a great interview! You can check out my review for Candor here.

Book Review: Candor

Candor by Pam Bachorz

Releases: September 22, 2009

Publisher: Egmont USA

Pages: 256

Rating: 3 stars

In a town where his father brainwashes everyone, Oscar Banks has found a way to secretly fight the subliminal Messages that turn even the most troubled kids into model citizens. On the outside, he's the perfect Candor teen, and no one knows that he's built an entire business around helping new kids escape before the Messages take hold.

But then Nia Silva moves to town, and Oscar thinks she's perfect exactly the way she is. Soon he must make a choice: let Nia be lost to the brainwashing, or help her stay special and risk himself in the process.

Sci-fi isn’t what I would normally read, but I was intrigued by the summary and some of the great reviews I saw floating around. To say the least, I was a little nervous starting this, but in the end, I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would.

It was a little slow in the beginning and I didn’t actually start getting into it until about a quarter, maybe half, way through. It felt like the story wasn’t really going anywhere at first, but once the real problems started occurring about halfway through, then things got more interesting. Although, some things I thought were a little predictable, but there was enough surprises to keep me wanting to know what was going to happen next.

Even though the messages made all the characters pretty much the same, some of their actions or choices showed glimpses of their true self. Oscar, the rebel that he is, stood out the most. He tries to beat the system by making his own messages so that he can be able to think for himself. I support him 100% because I definitely want to be able to make my own decisions, whether good or bad. The only thing I didn’t like was how fast Oscar fell in love with Nia. It seemed to fast, therefore it wasn’t really believable for me.

I do have to applaud Pam Bachorz for writing a very unexpected ending. If I were honest, I don’t fully like how it ended (you’ll know what I mean when you read it), but I love the idea of something different. It seems that a lot of books end the same way, so it’s nice to jazz things up a little bit. Overall, this was a great debut, one that even non sci-fi fans will enjoy.