In a Handful of Dust by Mindy McGinnis: Review

Title: In a Handful of Dust (Not a Drop to Drink #2)
Author: Mindy McGinnis
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Buy This Book: Amazon / Book Depository

The only thing bigger than the world is fear.Lucy’s life by the pond has always been full. She has water and friends, laughter and the love of her adoptive mother, Lynn, who has made sure that Lucy’s childhood was very different from her own. Yet it seems Lucy’s future is settled already—a house, a man, children, and a water source—and anything beyond their life by the pond is beyond reach.When disease burns through their community, the once life-saving water of the pond might be the source of what’s killing them now. Rumors of desalinization plants in California have lingered in Lynn’s mind, and the prospect of a “normal” life for Lucy sets the two of them on an epic journey west to face new dangers: hunger, mountains, deserts, betrayal, and the perils of a world so vast that Lucy fears she could be lost forever, only to disappear in a handful of dust.In this companion to Not a Drop to Drink, Mindy McGinnis thrillingly combines the heart-swelling hope of a journey, the challenges of establishing your own place in the world, and the gripping physical danger of nature in a futuristic frontier. (Goodreads summary.)

Me before reading this book.

I recently reviewed Not a Drop to Drink and it got 4.5/5 from me, I absolutely loved it. I was so mad at myself that I had owned it for months and hadn't bothered to get to it. I had been missing out. It's a beautiful story and so well written that it earned McGinnis a spot on my auto-buy list. I loved how much Lynn developed over the course of that novel, she showed such a large amount of growth, and all for the better. McGinnis introduced character after character that I came to care for and root for. She devastated me with the end of Not a Drop to Drink, but I was still desperate to read In a Handful of Dust and see what would happen to Lynn, Lucy and the others next. 

I didn't know what In a Handful of Dust was going to be about. I'd had a few guesses when I was about halfway through the first book, but then McGinnis went and gave me that ending and I knew I was completely wrong. This book actually takes place about ten years or so after the events in Not a Drop to Drink. And this time we get the story through Lucy's point of view, something I was quite excited to get but also nervous about. I knew I'd miss Lynn's, and I really did. 

After the end of Not a Drop I was actually really pleased we had skipped ahead ten years. I know I wouldn't have been able to deal with the characters emotions after the events of book one. To put it more accurately, I couldn't deal with my emotions after the events of book one. So it was nice to see them all years later, to see how each character has changed over that time. Lynn made me fall in love with her in book one, she's such a strong, determined character and I loved how she grew throughout that book. She's changed even more over those ten years, she's become a proper mother to Lucy and it was so touching to watch them together. At the start of Not a Drop to Drink, I could never have imagined that Lynn would be someone who'd help build a community, who'd surround herself with people that she could help. Lynn is just one of the strongest characters I have come across in a long time.

It felt a little strange to suddenly see Lucy all grown up, considering she was a five year old the last time I saw her. It's nice to see the woman she's turned into, so different to Lynn because her upbringing was so different. She brought out a softer, motherly side to Lynn that you'd never have expected. Lynn gave her a childhood so drastically different from her own, she made it so Lucy would never have to kill for water. She didn't want Lucy to have to spend her whole life just fighting to survive.

I really should have learnt my lesson from book one though, McGinnis wasn't going to leave them alone to be happy for long. An outbreak of polio leads to the deaths of many children and adults of their settlement. When Lucy is suspected of being the carrier who infected the others, she's made to leave and of course Lynn goes with her. They plan to make their way to California, where there's rumours of a large city that has desalination plants that mean water isn't something you have to fight for every day. I knew this wasn't going to be an easy trip, they would be tested and pushed to their limits and I was scared. I've learnt my lesson from book one, Mindy McGinnis can't be trusted because she will happily break my heart at any moment.

I'll confess that I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first, although I find it hard to put my finger on why exactly that is. I think having the book from Lucy's point of view instead of Lynn's didn't help. I like Lucy as a character, but I don't connect to her as much as I do with Lynn. Her story doesn't touch me in the same way that Lynn's does and there's just something about her that I struggle to connect with in this book. Lynn is still my favourite character and I really did miss her. This book also has similarities to Not a Drop to Drink, it has moments where the pace slows up quite a bit and then a lot of the action happens right at the end. The pacing just felt a little off in this,  and I was also sad to see us leave behind such brilliant characters and then not really see any new ones introduced.

The ending was my least favourite part of the book. It not only felt quite rushed but it leaves it open again to another sequel. I don't exactly mind that but I am not sure I would read the next book. I think it's partly because I really am still heartbroken about what McGinnis did to me in book one. I know that I can't really trust her to give the characters a happy ending and that scares me. I found this one enjoyable but it didn't affect me as deeply as Not a Drop to Drink did.

4/5 Butteflies

I still love McGinnis and her beautiful writing, but she scares me. I am not sure I could deal with reading another book in this series, she really has me worried about what she might put the characters through. I'm not sure I can handle it. Lucy is a character I like, I'm just not entirely sold on her point of view. I missed Lynn; wonderful, hilarious Lynn. Yes, she's in this book but it felt wrong to not be getting her story. The pacing was a little off in this one, it slows down a lot in places, which is understandable in a book where the characters are walking a large distance. But I then feel like the ending gets rushed and leaves it open again. Why can't McGinnis just give me one slightly happy, satisfying ending? WHY!?!

*I received a copy of this novel from the author/publisher/publicist via Edelweiss in exchange for a free and honest review and received no monetary compensation for this review.