In a Handful of Dust picks up 10 years after Not a Drop to Drink and Lynn is all grown up and Lucy is not far behind. I really loved the character development (especially Lucy). We are introduced to a few new characters (all of whom I hated.... except Fletcher, he was kind of amazing and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Lynn runs into him on her journey home!!)
overall, A+++ ( )

Just as good as the first book. The ending was satisfying without being rosy-perfect, but there was a bit towards the end that had my jaw drop. I can't really elaborate on that without some serious spoilering, so it is by turns mysterious, uncomfortable, creepy, wtf?, and then no really, WTF?. But not in a bad way? It did tie up a plot thread that was sort-of dangling but it was a total shock to me.

Anyway, this duology is really excellent. It seems as though 2 is all we get, but if McGinnis does decide to write more in this world, I would read the shit out of it. I'm looking forward to reading her other stuff, for real. ( )

2.5 stars. Lucy is an asshole for all kind of reasons, and I'm not terribly fond of the audiobook narrator. ( )

In this post-apocalyptic road trip story, drinkable water is scarce enough to kill for and seventeen-year-old Lucy has lived her entire life in a community whose survival depends on their pond. When an outbreak of polio threatens their little world, Lucy and her adopted mother Lynn set out on a trek across the country. Their hope is to reach the West coast and rumored desalinization facilities that allow people to drink the ocean--all the water one could ever need. Along the way, through encounters with other travelers and surviving communities, Lucy's sheltered idealism is shaken, and she must decide what sort of person she is.

McGinnis tells her tale in matter-of-fact (yet not artless) prose and third person point of view that is somewhat removed despite being limited to Lucy. I'm all about language economy, but I also typically favor deep POV. For some reason, though, the step back in the voice works perfectly for this story and didn't keep me from caring about Lucy and Lynn. They're solid characters, as are several of the secondaries. McGinnis fuels what could be a plodding plot (literally walking across the country) with interesting character interactions and natural dialogue and the tension of knowing that Lucy and Lynn's lives are at stake every day of their journey. I was never bored while reading this book.

Some of the storyworld seems contradictory or is flat-out never explained, but I haven't read [b:Not a Drop to Drink|13112869|Not a Drop to Drink (Not a Drop to Drink, #1)|Mindy McGinnis|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1360951660s/13112869.jpg|18286567] yet; it's possible these things are explained in the first book. For example, what exactly happened to the drinking water and all the technology? The cataclysmic event took place before Lucy was born, and at least two decades later people are still filling canteens with creek water and buckets with rainwater. Yet multiple characters carry firearms (Lynn's weapon of choice is a high-powered rifle), and there appears to be no shortage of ammunition. Lucy and Lynn ride horses for part of their journey, but later come upon a group of people with several cars. It's mentioned that gasoline can't be wasted, but it's not explained how these people are able to replenish the gasoline at all.

Another shaky point for me is the beginning, which feels rushed or maybe just underdeveloped. The book opens with crisis in Lucy's community and focuses on several characters, but it doesn't have time to introduce them fully--not with polio killing someone on page one and spreading from there--so I took a bit of time to start caring about any of them. Again, it's possible this wouldn't be an issue for me if I'd read the first book first, but the reasons for Lucy and Lynn's departure seemed rather contrived and rushed as well. The story doesn't really find its footing until the two women are on the road.

Ultimately, though, the plot is not the point here. The weight of this book rests on the shoulders of Lucy and Lynn, and they bear it well. Their relationship is what kept me reading, more sisterly than motherly, though Lynn has raised Lucy from the time she was orphaned as a young child. Lucy is gifted with the ability to dowse water, wants a full life and believes she can have one in California, wants to find a cure for polio and take it back to those she loves. She waits to distrust people until they give her a reason to. Lynn is ten years older but decades harder, a skilled sniper who has killed to survive and protect others. She no longer expects from life what Lucy does, and she distrusts everyone until they give her a reason not to.

As for the story's conclusion, as one would expect from post-apocalyptic fiction, there is some heartbreak; but it doesn't feel like the author's attempt to shock or crush her readers. Rather, it is the inevitable result of who the characters are at their core. This is a book that looks unflinchingly at the importance of hope and what happens to those that lose it.

The light and dark of Lucy and Lynn, their loyalty to each other that is pushed to its limits, and the observations each of them makes about humanity itself--these are the reasons to read IN A HANDFUL OF DUST. This is a character-driven work that is bleak but not hopeless as it examines the ruthlessness of human nature and the ties that can bind us together anyway. I'm looking forward to discovering Lynn's story in [b:Not a Drop to Drink|13112869|Not a Drop to Drink (Not a Drop to Drink, #1)|Mindy McGinnis|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1360951660s/13112869.jpg|18286567], and if the author ever decides to give us a third book, I'll read that one, too. ( )

Probably ought to have read this book closer to when I got it (After reading the first) or reread the first--even though this doesn't directly fohe first one, it's still pretty closely intertwined, and this entire book I was unmoored, as I didn't remeber how the world ended up this way from the first one, both in the sense of the apocalypse and where these characters were in relation to one another.

Regardless, it's still a pretty decent book. the writing is quite lovely and the characters are well-crafted, I take a little issue with the momentum of the plot, which was jerky at best, but such is the nature of many 'journey' books.

A good read, but I think I liked the first one a bit better. ( )