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

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.