Review: In A Handful of Dust by Mindy McGinnis

Title: In a Handful of Dust
Author: Mindy McGinnis
Series: Book Two in the Not A Drop To Drink Series
Published By: Katherine Tegen (September 23, 2014)
Source: ARC Copy Provided by the Publisher (in exchange for an honest review)
Genre: YA Dytopian
My Rating: 4 Stars!

Book Description:
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.

*Amazon*Barnes and Noble*

I fell in love with McGinnis' writing after reading her debut novel and was eager to dive right back into the harsh and desperate world she had created in Not A Drop to Drink. I was looking forward to seeing Lucy and Lynn again and hopefully find them in a better place, both emotional and with the world around them.

And while the world was somewhat better, what I was really impressed with was the growth in Lynn. It is unbelievable the change that came over her from not only Stebb's but Lucy's influence as well, I loved it and ate it up.

The world they live in is far from ideal or even loving but it has hope and it has potential even with disease running rampant and water still in serious demand you can see humanity slowly coming back, for Lynn, for Lucy and for others as well.

I don't even know how to express how truly great these reads are. They aren't filled with light and airy moments or even loving moments but instead those moments in life that really make a person and define who they are. The choices between love and hate, right and wrong and humanity and cruelty. 

This is raw and it is real, so very real that you can't help but feel transported there. You feel for their struggles, inner and other and you are right there with them. Helping them, guiding them and hoping like heck they make it through what ever trial they are currently endearing.

McGinnis is a fabulous writer. One that draws you into their world and makes you love the harshness and the hard truth of it. You can't put it down once you start it and when it is over you are left feelign lost and bereft. 

These are the reads you need to experience for yourself to really get the full impact of the world and characters she has created, to truly understand their struggles and their triumphs, either way, you won't be sorry that you did once you do. 

*All thoughts and opinions are my own and were not influenced by the author or publisher. I was not compensated for this review.*