Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Dry

I was surprised when I enjoyed this book. A story about a teenage girl two years younger than me becoming the leader of a group of misfits and falling for the misunderstood boy next door? No thanks. But thats not what this book is at all. This book is a gripping tale about loyalty, bravery, and trust. The main character isn’t perfect, and the others definitely aren’t either. The plot is maddeningly realistic and the characters act like human beings that make mistakes, some WAY more than others. The line between good and evil is blurred, but you still know who to root for for the most part. The character development was lovely and the writing itself was great. I’m honestly not sure if I have anything bad to say about it, but I gave it 4.75 because I don’t think its the perfect book. I’m not sure I’ll ever find a perfect book, but this one definitely comes close.
Edit: I’ve realized a few things I’ve missed. There were a few points in the book where characters mentioned how bad communism was which I thought was so strange. It seemed forced and like a political statement when no one even asked for it. Also, the reason I stated that the cast of characters being diverse was complicated is because their personalities are diverse, but they really aren’t. The main girl and her brother are of unidentified origin for like half of the book, and they end up being like, a quarter Jamaican and the rest European. Another female character is also very light-skinned but I honestly couldn’t tell you what she is because it was so forgettable. I think Greek? Roman? The rest were completely white. Also I believe there was a singular mention of one of the male characters not liking men, but other than that gay people didn’t exist. No POC or LGBT people in California? This truly is a fiction novel. Anyways, I still thought the story was great, so I’m not changing my review or anything.

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Sexism, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cursing, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Police brutality, Stalking, and Gaslighting

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

I will be giving more detail on some of the warnings while withholding as many spoilers as I can. I’ll label them. Car accident (very minor spoilers):

The vehicles being driven ram into many objects including trees and boulders, which are minor. At one point a vehicle is being suspended by a fence and falls, driving down a steep incline where it safely reaches the bottom. At another point, a driver is describing how they cannot stop the vehicle from falling into a deep slope and hitting many obstacles. The characters get out safely and the vehicle is totaled with the airbags out and tires askew. Later, the characters hear it blow up.

Illnesses (moderate spoilers):

People in a city drink water from an old water distributor (forgive me, I can’t remember the actual word) and it gives them dysentery. The entire neighborhood is sick and stuck in their homes. Two characters’ sicknesses are described with detail- stench of death, lifeless eyes, looks like a corpse- that kind of stuff. A character who contracted dysentery dies “off-screen,” aka it is briefly mentioned after the fact. The main characters deal with horrible dehydration, and it is briefly mentioned when people die from this.

Do the main characters (Main kids who have POVs) die?:

No, none of the main characters die. They almost do.

Do the major side characters (their parents, relatives) die?

One of the characters’ brother dies by gunshot. The significant other of a non-immediate relative also dies. The significant other is mentioned briefly while the brother is moderately described.

How about the death in general? Not who dies, but how bad is it?

Not great. Three characters die from gunshot wounds, at least two were to the head. They are described moderately. Another character refuses to leave the area and is left to burn in a forest fire, but no screams are heard. Many named characters are briefly mentioned to have died of dehydration, and one of dysentery. It’s a state-wide disaster that 200,000 people end up dying from. There are many near-death descriptions near the end.

Fire (moderate spoiler):

There are many forest fires since California is completely dried up. The characters have to surpass one to get to their goal. One character walks through the fire. Another side character is left to die because she refuses to leave the area. Characters struggle with smoke inhalation and one has maybe second or third degree burns.

Sexual and pedophilia related tags (minor spoiler):

Minor characters are willing to do anything to get water during the crisis. Men are taking advantage of this and promising water to young girls if they go into their van, and later promise more if they can get another girl to do the same. This is in a brief POV called a “snapshot.” The girl whose POV is being shown is later mentioned to be a shell of a person. No sexual acts are described. Also, the main character gets into a scuffle with an older man. He insinuates that if she lets him rape her, then she can have some of his water. He attempts fo harass her.

Suicide mentions (moderate spoiler):

During a fire, a main character intends to shoot another main character and then themself to avoid burning alive. The other character tells them to do it, and they hold the gun to the other’s head.

Toxicity/Manipulation/Gaslighting (moderate spoiler):

One of the main girl characters is rude and somewhat bullies other characters. They constantly fight for control but eventually things settle down. Another main male character is a manipulator. He lies constantly, takes credit for things he didn’t do, tries to take over the group, and deceives another character in order to rise to the top. He also takes advantage of struggling people to make money and has little to no empathy for them.

Most minor tags are “what if” scenarios. The speaker is wondering things like, “What if my parents died?” “What if my dog died?” “Was he going to rape me?” etc. when events happen in the story. If they’re not what-if scenarios, they’re very briefly mentioned.

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