A review by novelheartbeat
In a Handful of Dust by Mindy McGinnis

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.