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No Water For the Desert: A Novel Kindle Edition

by Brittany Buckner (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 14 ratings
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No Water For the Desert is about 19-year-old Grace whose life, well… sucks. Her mother regularly hurls insults at her. She can't get over her gay ex-lover. But worst of all, she is riddled with guilt and shame from being raped at age eleven. Grace devises a plan to fix her life: she leaves her home town Milwaukee to live with her favorite, well-to-do aunt and uncle in the Californian Desert. Things start off well as Grace settles into her new home and community college. But little by little things sour between Grace and her aunt. Where they used to have so much in common, they now don't. Grace begins to resent her aunt's shallow expectations, e.g., how much weight to lose and concealer to apply, what kind of man to marry. Grace finds reprieve in her new and only friend, free spirited Gaycela, an amateur porn star. Even still, Grace's troubles compound, causing her to rethink her entire life. What will it take for Grace to take control over her life? Can she find the courage?
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  1. Print length
    264 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    July 31, 2019
  5. Reading age
    14 - 18 years
  6. File size
    2076 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07VXR1S7P
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ (July 31, 2019)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 31, 2019
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2076 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 264 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1086430336
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 14 ratings

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
14 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Cerise Rose
5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging and Powerful
Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2020
Verified Purchase
I'll be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect from this story. I tend toward fantasy/sci-fi and romance, which this book definitely isn't. But after following the author on Twitter for a while, I decided that I'd give it a shot. I'm so very glad I did.

The book started off by tugging at me through nostalgia. That feeling of life chaos, where one doesn't know what life will bring, or how to move forward into that life. While I had a vastly different upbringing from Grace, there universal snippets of self-doubt, motivation, depression, were all too familiar.

And then this book did the unexpected....it hooked me hard. The characters were both intriguing and irritating. Why did they do the odd things they did? Why do all her female "role models" continue the hostility and pain? How are people this damaged able to function at all? And yet, for all her 19 years old, Grace has a clear understanding of priorities and a firm grasp on her own ethics. From her personal experiences to the judgement of Gaycela, she doesn't whitewash the truth.

So many times I wanted to wrap Grace up in a hug and give her the space and peace to heal. That's my desire for the happily ever after talking, since life rarely offers us that opportunity. This book was real, honest, engaging, and powerful. I highly recommend it.
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E.
5.0 out of 5 stars An emotional story
Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2019
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Great story on how if you're not allowed to grieve and process trauma that it will never go away. Also, friends come in packages you would've never thought they would come in. A short great read.
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Jane McFarland
4.0 out of 5 stars Emotional story that provokes empathy, sadness and frustration
Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2019
No Water for the Desert by Brittany Buckner is an emotional story that provokes empathy, sadness and frustration. Nineteen-year-old Grace is ready to leave behind her hometown that is full of nothing but pain. From being raped at age 11 to an ex she can’t get over to a mother who is just plain cruel to her.

She heads to the desert of California to live with her very wealthy aunt and uncle. She enrolls in community college and makes a few new friends. She has her own car and bedroom. She’s even close to Hollywood where she can start pursuing her real dream of becoming an actress. It seems Grace finally has an opportunity to live the life she’s always wanted.

But the California desert quickly becomes just another stop in Grace’s painful journey. Love and affection from her aunt turn into judgement and criticism. Friendships get complicated and dangerous. And her pursuit of acting is not as easy as she had hoped.

Buckner delivers a story of a struggling, determined young woman who just wants something better for herself. No matter what she does, she can’t seem to catch a break though. I think this is something we can all relate to at some point in our lives which makes Grace very real. She’s faced more in her short 19 years than most people face in a lifetime. It is heartbreaking and we want better for to her.

I was excited to follow Grace on her journey and hoped throughout the book she would find the happiness she was in search of and deserves. My only real criticism is there was a lot more cursing than what I normally encounter when I read. I felt sometimes it helped to convey the mood of the characters, and other times I felt it was unnecessary. Overall, I am glad I read this book and would love to know where Grace goes next!
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Nicky Moon
3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad
Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2019
Verified Purchase
I enjoyed the story and the positive message at the end but, for me at least, the writing style just wasn’t the kind that makes me love a story. It was a quick easy read but not something I would read again.
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NorthernGrrrl
5.0 out of 5 stars Full of Grace
Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2019
This is fantastic and I really enjoyed it. I read it straight through without putting it down. I love Grace & would read a sequel in a heartbeat. The narrative style is so beautiful & effortless. Read it!
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Margaret Adelle Laupp
4.0 out of 5 stars A great (and dark) book club pick
Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2020
It's been awhile since I've read contemporary, so when I saw the author discussing this on Twitter I asked if she would be willing to exchange a copy for review.

Right off the bat, there are some major themes and content warnings a reader should know going in. Themes of r*pe, abuse, and abortion are the most prominent, with some discussion of AIDs as a side theme. But the honest, open way these views are discussed give a lot of food for thought.

The characters and plot felt very realistic. Part of me wondered if this isn't a narrative memoir of some kind. The way people spoke, the way nothing was too perfect or too horrible, but always a mix of very good and very bad, it all made for a life-like story.

The one major critique I had, and the reason I took a star off, was the treatment of Gaycella's character. I was really intrigued by the inclusion of a porn actress as a major character, as few books focus on those. But at times the character felt too much like a negative stereotype of people in the industry. Flippant about morality, uncaring about a lot, having multiple boyfriends at once, and the like. The nature of their friendship was intriguing and heart-achingly realistic, but I wish she had been giving a bit more depth.

All in all, this would make for an excellent book club book... given that your book club is into discussing some heavy stuff.
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Nicole
3.0 out of 5 stars Solid debut
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2020
Buckner takes readers on what initially feels like a zany road trip—there are sandstorms, trailer park homes, and sprawling California mansions. But buried beneath all this is trauma. Both Grace and her aunt, albeit in different ways, have become experts at burying their pain. This is perhaps the most interesting angle in No Water for the Desert: the trauma Grace and her family members carry with them. Thus, I wanted Buckner to linger a bit longer on how the trauma shaped and changed Grace. At times, No Water for the Desert is too plot-driven and Grace gets lost in the shuffle. A wise person once said, “The plot is the lie writers tell themselves to write their story.” Although Buckner sometimes lets her characters get away from her, this is a solid debut.
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Top reviews from other countries

Sara Kjeldsen
5.0 out of 5 stars A great novel!
Reviewed in Canada on July 26, 2023
Verified Purchase
This was an excellent novel about a young black woman who has a dream of acting. Her family is the epitome of toxic - from brutal beatings for an incident that wasn't her fault to slut shaming to constantly commenting on her behind. Grace befriends another girl who wants to pursue acting, but ends up becoming a pornstar. The two have a falling out when Grace learns the truth about her friend's past, but its an opportunity for growth to accept the people who always show up for you as who they are. This is a gritty story with some smiles and laughter.
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PH
4.0 out of 5 stars Cheering for Grace
Reviewed in Canada on January 14, 2021
Verified Purchase
This was a complicated story with many difficult themes. But I found this book to be a page-turner, and I was cheering for Grace right until the book's final pages.
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