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katykelly's review against another edition
4.0
Immature and selfish teenage girl... caught up in global viral apocalypse.
I remember reading a dystopia where a drug addict was our protagonist in a zombie apocalypse story, with loyalties and priorities swaying between his instinct for drugs and that for survival. This is nothing like that book but the main character has a similar issue - she's a teen, with loyalties towards her phone, her friends, her make-up.
Ruby is excited about her recent first kiss at a party when The Rain begins, a shower that brings with it death - there's something in the rain that kills you if you get wet... Nothing is going to be the same now. Ruby, her friends and family must try and survive, try to find others and get themselves somewhere safe... can they even drink the water? Take a shower? Use a toilet?
It's a great premise, with danger in every cloud. And though other reviewers have criticised Ruby, I actually thought she was very realistic - how many teens would REALLY undergo an instant conversion and turn their back on their whole history of dating, clothes and make-up. Of course her head will be turned by a looted jewellery shop, she'll spend time putting on mascara in the midst of a worldwide crisis. But on the other hand, she also shows us how anyone will step up to some degree if called to.
It's a genre with a growing audience, though authors need a really good gimmick/antagonist to rail against.
I listened to the audiobook of this, which suited the talking-to-the-audience narrator style. The voice of Ruby was suitably young and annoyingly guileless/careless.
There is some description of 'death by rain' and plenty of dead characters, which should be taken into account when recommending this. One for ages 11+.
I remember reading a dystopia where a drug addict was our protagonist in a zombie apocalypse story, with loyalties and priorities swaying between his instinct for drugs and that for survival. This is nothing like that book but the main character has a similar issue - she's a teen, with loyalties towards her phone, her friends, her make-up.
Ruby is excited about her recent first kiss at a party when The Rain begins, a shower that brings with it death - there's something in the rain that kills you if you get wet... Nothing is going to be the same now. Ruby, her friends and family must try and survive, try to find others and get themselves somewhere safe... can they even drink the water? Take a shower? Use a toilet?
It's a great premise, with danger in every cloud. And though other reviewers have criticised Ruby, I actually thought she was very realistic - how many teens would REALLY undergo an instant conversion and turn their back on their whole history of dating, clothes and make-up. Of course her head will be turned by a looted jewellery shop, she'll spend time putting on mascara in the midst of a worldwide crisis. But on the other hand, she also shows us how anyone will step up to some degree if called to.
It's a genre with a growing audience, though authors need a really good gimmick/antagonist to rail against.
I listened to the audiobook of this, which suited the talking-to-the-audience narrator style. The voice of Ruby was suitably young and annoyingly guileless/careless.
There is some description of 'death by rain' and plenty of dead characters, which should be taken into account when recommending this. One for ages 11+.
audrey_took's review against another edition
1.0
I liked the premise, but for the love of pete, Ruby was one of the most unlikeable main characters I've ever read.
bright_night's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
ambeesbookishpages's review against another edition
3.0
The full review can be found at The Book Bratz
The first time H2O was on NetGalley I was denied for it, and then my library never had it and I always had too many ARCs to read to actually go out and buy it. Recently Sourcebooks Fire sent an e-mail out with the sequel to this book, and this one for download. I jumped at the chance. I am a little torn about this one, I liked it enough to finish it but I didn't love it enough to care about what is going to happen next.
Ruby isn't someone I would get along with in real life. She is way to superficial to me. Girl, almost every you know - wait - EVERYONE but ONE person you know is dead, from some alien bacteria and you are worried about what you look like!? After Simon dies, Ruby gives herself a spray tan and dies her hair red, and from there it only goes down hill. I am thinking the makeup, hair and clothes was Ruby's version of having a mental breakdown. That or she was really at a loss on what to do. Also, I dislike books that the main character knows they are telling a story. Ruby made is clear on the first page she was telling this story, and though she may have had a whit to her and claims she told "Everything she knew." I wasn't a fan of the whole idea. Literally at the end of the book she was talking about if this would get turned into the movie. Ruby, 83% of the world is dead. I doubt anyone wants to produce, let alone make a movie right now.
I liked the idea behind H2O though. An asteroid fell to Earth years earlier, making a big mess of everything. The bacteria that made the rain deadly was in the asteroid, and as soon as it was exposed to Earth's water it was on a feeding/reproduction frenzy. Soon all the water is polluted including the clouds. The bacteria wants to get to your blood. If you ingest it, it will melt your insides, if it touches your skin you will get a rash that burns and hurts so bad that you want to peel your skin off, and eventually you will. The world building and idea for the post apocalyptic world were there. But, Ruby is the problem that I have with it all.
The most emotion that was evoked from me during this book is when she has to leave the dog behind, and he chases the car. I cried a little bit at that. That was the extent of the emotion for this. Sadly, I wasn't a fan of H2O. Which is sad since I was really looking forward to it. I have hopes though that Ruby will grow up a little bit in the next book.
The first time H2O was on NetGalley I was denied for it, and then my library never had it and I always had too many ARCs to read to actually go out and buy it. Recently Sourcebooks Fire sent an e-mail out with the sequel to this book, and this one for download. I jumped at the chance. I am a little torn about this one, I liked it enough to finish it but I didn't love it enough to care about what is going to happen next.
Ruby isn't someone I would get along with in real life. She is way to superficial to me. Girl, almost every you know - wait - EVERYONE but ONE person you know is dead, from some alien bacteria and you are worried about what you look like!? After Simon dies, Ruby gives herself a spray tan and dies her hair red, and from there it only goes down hill. I am thinking the makeup, hair and clothes was Ruby's version of having a mental breakdown. That or she was really at a loss on what to do. Also, I dislike books that the main character knows they are telling a story. Ruby made is clear on the first page she was telling this story, and though she may have had a whit to her and claims she told "Everything she knew." I wasn't a fan of the whole idea. Literally at the end of the book she was talking about if this would get turned into the movie. Ruby, 83% of the world is dead. I doubt anyone wants to produce, let alone make a movie right now.
I liked the idea behind H2O though. An asteroid fell to Earth years earlier, making a big mess of everything. The bacteria that made the rain deadly was in the asteroid, and as soon as it was exposed to Earth's water it was on a feeding/reproduction frenzy. Soon all the water is polluted including the clouds. The bacteria wants to get to your blood. If you ingest it, it will melt your insides, if it touches your skin you will get a rash that burns and hurts so bad that you want to peel your skin off, and eventually you will. The world building and idea for the post apocalyptic world were there. But, Ruby is the problem that I have with it all.
The most emotion that was evoked from me during this book is when she has to leave the dog behind, and he chases the car. I cried a little bit at that. That was the extent of the emotion for this. Sadly, I wasn't a fan of H2O. Which is sad since I was really looking forward to it. I have hopes though that Ruby will grow up a little bit in the next book.
natixii's review
1.0
I almost gave this book a 2 because it was fast and easy to read. But you know those people that if the world were to come to a halt right now you at least wouldn't have to deal with them any more? For 90% of the book that is who the main charicter is. The wrighting is poor, the main charicter is nauseating, and from the way it read the author probably hasn't acctuly ever experienced dehydration... or even really looked it up, which is odd as it is a BIG plot point.
And yes, I am not a teenager, YA is not my preferred reading group, I only read this because a co-worker insisted it was amazing. So I am very much not the target audience of this. But trust me, if I had read this as the asshole teenager I used to be I would be even less forgiving then I am being now.
The good thing, and it almost hurts me to say that, is that by the end the main character does seem to acctuly show some growth and development.
And yes, I am not a teenager, YA is not my preferred reading group, I only read this because a co-worker insisted it was amazing. So I am very much not the target audience of this. But trust me, if I had read this as the asshole teenager I used to be I would be even less forgiving then I am being now.
The good thing, and it almost hurts me to say that, is that by the end the main character does seem to acctuly show some growth and development.
caseyflemingo's review against another edition
2.0
This is one of the most conflicting books I have ever read. The main element is, Ruby is an annoying protagonist. At first, I was able to sympathize with her, and her way of speaking was fitting for a teenager. But in contrast to Ruby and her thoughts/behavior is the horrifying things happening around her. There are some elements of this book that will haunt me, in a beautifully tragic kind of way, and those are the parts of the book I loved, as painful as they were. But those elements are surrounded by Ruby doing things that are so annoying or frustrating that it’s hard to keep reading.
Overall, this book is a fascinating premise and I am going to read the sequel, hoping maybe Ruby will be a little less infuriating.
Overall, this book is a fascinating premise and I am going to read the sequel, hoping maybe Ruby will be a little less infuriating.
liss_28's review
4.0
3.5 ⭐️ rounded up.
The idea of this was really good. Killer rain? How/who could survive that. Definitely makes you think especially when everything is made up of water that comes from the sky.
Ruby was exactly how a 15 year old girl would act during the possible end of the world. But you would think 15 year olds would still learn from their mistakes and she more or less just got lucky she didn’t die. Constantly running out of her house without making sure there weren’t rain clouds, going far distances without waterproof protection, etc.
To me I wish it was written as more of a journal entry than a book with chapters.
Overall it was pretty good and worth reading.
The idea of this was really good. Killer rain? How/who could survive that. Definitely makes you think especially when everything is made up of water that comes from the sky.
Ruby was exactly how a 15 year old girl would act during the possible end of the world. But you would think 15 year olds would still learn from their mistakes and she more or less just got lucky she didn’t die. Constantly running out of her house without making sure there weren’t rain clouds, going far distances without waterproof protection, etc.
To me I wish it was written as more of a journal entry than a book with chapters.
Overall it was pretty good and worth reading.
alyssaindira's review against another edition
3.0
Hey guys, so I finished H2O by Virginia Bergin, and I must say, this book was definitely a toss up. When I first started reading it, i had high hopea. The narrator (Ruby) was funny and relatable. The storyline was easy enough to follow and began smoothly. I enjoyed the first half of the book, when all hell broke loose because of the killer rain. I don't recall if they ever stated why that happened, but in most books like this, the government probably had it's hands all over it. What better way for population control? This book definitely made me think about everything I take for granted. Water especially. But, the second half of the novel went downhill. I felt likethe storyline just seemed to face into rambling, nothing really concrete. Just space. Void of emotions or good ideas. So basically, I skimmed the last 150 pages, not really impressed with the story anymore. *sighs*. The only thing worth talking about in the second portion of the book is all the strange people who show up randomly, that was just weird... They didn't really have any purpose in the story whatso ever. Anyway, I probably won't read the second book, The Storm.
voidkid's review
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Goodness. This sure was a book.
Genuinely, it could have been a good one! It really could have, there were some great ideas and there were moments where it seemed like the author genuinely was enjoying writing this and was writing something with really strong emotional moments.
But the thing is, this author was writing for YA without actually talking to a real teenager because. Goodness. This was cringey. The writing was so, so cringey.
The unnecessary capitalization (YOU DONT NEED TO DO THIS TO GET YOUR POINT ACROSS), the jokes cracked at just the right time so that every bit of tension is completely gone, the annoying main character, the damn butterfly emoji filter instead of cursing.
Look, I get not wanting to write swears in a ya book, but for the love of all things good and holy just use a substitute instead of the butterfly emoji. Every time I saw it I rolled my eyes and the scene got ruined for me. People could be dying, screaming in pain and fear, and this girl is writing butterfly emojis.
The main character was just. Insufferable. Think the mean girl from your high school who thinks she’s a good person for not tripping you when she really, really wanted to, and says that out loud, to your face. And she didn’t get better! At all! Even at the end, she was still complaining and acting holier than thou and so upset about the fact that she kissed a nerdy boy that she mentions that at the very end of the book, instead of, I don’t know, anything else.
The supporting characters were only there to help her survive and to move the plot along. The treatment of minority and disabled characters was.. weird, to say the least. The only minority character that could be considered one of the major characters is never allowed to speak (literally, she’s selectively mute), and is really only there to show us that no, the main character is a good person! Look at her help this poor little girl!
It was. Ugh. It was bad. The book had potential, but the execution was horrible.
Genuinely, it could have been a good one! It really could have, there were some great ideas and there were moments where it seemed like the author genuinely was enjoying writing this and was writing something with really strong emotional moments.
But the thing is, this author was writing for YA without actually talking to a real teenager because. Goodness. This was cringey. The writing was so, so cringey.
The unnecessary capitalization (YOU DONT NEED TO DO THIS TO GET YOUR POINT ACROSS), the jokes cracked at just the right time so that every bit of tension is completely gone, the annoying main character, the damn butterfly emoji filter instead of cursing.
Look, I get not wanting to write swears in a ya book, but for the love of all things good and holy just use a substitute instead of the butterfly emoji. Every time I saw it I rolled my eyes and the scene got ruined for me. People could be dying, screaming in pain and fear, and this girl is writing butterfly emojis.
The main character was just. Insufferable. Think the mean girl from your high school who thinks she’s a good person for not tripping you when she really, really wanted to, and says that out loud, to your face. And she didn’t get better! At all! Even at the end, she was still complaining and acting holier than thou and so upset about the fact that she kissed a nerdy boy that she mentions that at the very end of the book, instead of, I don’t know, anything else.
The supporting characters were only there to help her survive and to move the plot along. The treatment of minority and disabled characters was.. weird, to say the least. The only minority character that could be considered one of the major characters is never allowed to speak (literally, she’s selectively mute), and is really only there to show us that no, the main character is a good person! Look at her help this poor little girl!
It was. Ugh. It was bad. The book had potential, but the execution was horrible.
bookishwillowdusk's review
3.0
I was very up and down with this book. While the premise was very interesting, I couldn't really relate to Ruby (early teenager) so I had a hard time really feeling the struggle. I think for that age group (13-16) it would be a pretty good coming of age story or really just a more relatable one. But I struggle with how annoying ruby was and how self centered she was. Couldn't really get behind it.