Reviews

In a Handful of Dust by Mindy McGinnis

kevinweitzel44's review against another edition

4.0

It took a really long time to read, mostly because of my slump but also because it was slower than its predecessor. In A Handful of Dust, however, was wonderful. It had a beautiful writing style, lovely character development and an exciting journey. Seeing some loose ends tied up and exploring the post Shortage world beyond Ohio was a joy and I plan to join Mindy McGinnis on whatever stories she creates!

novelheartbeat's review against another edition

3.0

3.5/5

I loooved Not a Drop to Drink. I gave it 4.5 heartbeats in my review (the link is below if you want to see it). I’m sad to say that this one didn’t quite live up to the first book. But, I did still enjoy it.

The pacing was a tad painful at first. I had a lot of trouble getting into it, despite how excited I was to read it. It didn’t start picking up until after 35%, but after that I was more on board for the story.

It was very interesting to see Lynn as a grown woman! She was still the same hard ass, stoic Lynn from the first book, though. She still had the “every woman for herself” and “it’s kill or be killed” mentality, too. The focus was mostly on Lucy, though. The difference between her and Lynn was kind of like whiplash from the first book. Lucy is very eager to learn about the world, very trusting of strangers, and kind of naive. The complete opposite of Lynn. To be honest, there were times when Lucy felt more like she was 13 or 14 rather than 16 or 17 because of her naiveté. With the difficult world she was living, on top of being raised by someone like Lynn, you’d think she’d be more mature…

I mentioned in my review of Not a Drop to Drink that it was a very character driven novel. All of the characters felt very real. I think some of that was lost somewhere along the way, because I didn’t connect to the characters this time around like I did before. I honestly think it was just Lucy, though. It’s not that she was a flat character or anything….I just don’t know. Maybe it’s simply that I didn’t like her. I can’t quite put my finger on it. Perhaps she just wasn’t quite as multifaceted compared to Lynn, who was a very complicated character.

I have to say that my favorite part of this book was the world building! It has such a dark and gritty feel to it, which was the selling point for me. I also love the concept – it’s eerily realistic and it’s easy to imagine something like that happening in the future! It’s a scary thought, really. All of our water sources depleted? Just think of all of the times we use water without a thought of how much we’re actually using. Even the simple things that we take for granted – washing our hands, rinsing things off, (cleaning paintbrushes!) swimming pools….it’s crazy to think about.

Spoiler

And HOLY CRAP, they were drinking people?! That scene was insane! I was totally grossed out, and as horrific as it was, in a way it still made sense. I don’t think I could ever condone something like that, no matter how desperate, but it did help to convey that desperation that the people were feeling at the lack of water. But still….eeeeeek. *cringes*

I can’t say I’m 100% satisfied with the ending. It made sense, but…still. It left me feeling somehow incomplete.



This review was originally posted on Novel Heartbeat. To see a breakdown of my assessment, please visit the full review.

reviewsfromabookworm's review against another edition

4.0

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.

sneakyawe's review against another edition

4.0

Darker than I remember the first one being, but still intriguing!

onegirlreads's review against another edition

5.0

4.5 Stars

Solid sequel, the plot twist surprise part was a little cliche for post apocalyptic stories... so I guess I wasn’t really as shocked as the author possibly intended. I did enjoy seeing the world from Lucy’s POV and seeing more of Lynn’s growth. They’re both bad asses and some of my favorite characters now!

myscolon's review against another edition

3.0

2.5 at best. i kept wanting to dnf this book but i pushed through for nostalgia’s sake. i wanted to like it but ehhhh i didn’t really love it. #justiceforspatter

javamamanc's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

greylandreviews's review against another edition

5.0

Greyland Reviews and 5 stars

kitty_kat21's review against another edition

4.0

This is a brilliant sequel to ‘Not a Drop to Drink’ and I enjoyed it just as much. The ending was great.

the_daily_orange's review against another edition

2.0

If I didn't like Lynn... I liked Lucy even less... She is one spoiled child.

The journey they went on.. what was the purpose? To get themselves killed? Yes, they were forced to leave the pond because of Polio... but then their goal got a little muddled. Lynn kept going because Lucy wanted a community life and she would do anything for Lucy. But all Lucy wanted was to go back for Carter... how messed up. Not to mention the part where Lucy chose to beat down Lynn over Carter. I thought there was some real mother-daughter bond, guess I was wrong.

The ending was somewhat ridiculous too.. after all that they've been through, Lynn decided to return. Let me get this straight then... you would die for Lucy, but you can't bare to live with her in a safe and peacefully place.