Review: The Rain by Virginia Bergin

Title: The Rain (AKA H2O)

Author: Virginia Bergin

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books

Publishing Date: July 17th, 2014

Pages: 386
Audio Length: 10 Hours and 41 Minutes

Genre: YA Apocalyptic
TW: Death

Series: The Rain

Source: Audio

 

It's in the rain...and just one drop will kill you.
They don't believe it at first. Crowded in Zach's kitchen, Ruby and the rest of the partygoers laugh at Zach's parents' frenzied push to get them all inside as it starts to drizzle. But then the radio comes on with the warning, "It's in the rain! It's fatal, it's contagious, and there's no cure."
Two weeks later, Ruby is alone. Anyone who's been touched by rain or washed their hands with tap water is dead. The only drinkable water is quickly running out. Ruby's only chance for survival is a treacherous hike across the country to find her father-if he's even still alive.

What made me pick this book up: 

I saw this book at Barnes and Noble under the title of "H2O") and I loved the cover. 

What did I like about the cover: 

So for the H2O one I loved the way the acid rain was eating away the cover, that's what really caught my eye. 

With this cover I love the color pop. We all know I love color pop. I love the girl walking by herself, it really shows how alone she is in the book. I love the dark clouds and the rain.

What made me read this book: 

Creepy scary acidic rain? Count me in. I love anything creepy and scary and apocalyptic. And it's really hard to avoid rain especially when you don't know it's deadly.

What did I like the most: 

I love the idea of the book. It's really scary. The thought that something as simple and unavoidable as rain being deadly? Sure you can avoid it by staying inside. But there's just a few things wrong there. Mainly being what happens when you run out of food? And then what if it's in the water? Because if it's in the water, what are you going to drink? What are you going to do if you run out of water?

And then there's the problem of the fact that we don't try to avoid the rain, so if we don't know that it's deadly rain and we're just walking outside... Well, we're dead. 

The writing for the most part is pretty good. It's realistic and not too far fetched, it was enjoyable to listen to. 

The narrator was also really good, for the most part. 

What didn't I like: 

The main character, Ruby, is really annoying. She's very self centered, whiny, and not very bright. Everything is about her, and how she is feeling. Or she's only worried about this guy that she made out with and who isn't even really her boyfriend. Or she's looting stores to find sparkly expensive and not very practical clothes, shoes, jewelry, makeup. It's so stupid.

It's also pretty slow and kind of confusing at times. It starts off quickly, but it has parts that are so slow and boring I could skip it all. 

I wish it had a better main character. A more likable main character. She was a stuck up jerk. And actually another character calls her out on it, and it's great. 

I would have rated it much higher would it have been a better MC. 

Would I read the rest of the series/more from this author?
I plan on it yes. 

It was a good and unique story, but fell flat.

“And the curtains weren’t enough. I shut ten thousand doors in my head and even then I couldn’t keep it out.” 
― Virginia Bergin, H2O

Author of the H2O duology (H2O and The Storm) (UK titles: The Rain and The Storm), and The XY (UK title: Who Runs The World?).

Born 1966 in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, UK. I studied psychology and (briefly) fine art/film and video at university. I have had lots of different jobs – so many I’ve lost count – including writing tv documentaries and online education projects. I live on a council estate in Bristol, UK
Website: http://virginiabergin.com/
Twitter: veebergin