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A review by katykelly
The Rain by Virginia Bergin
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+.