Reviews with content warning for Pandemic/Epidemic - Shift

I almost didn’t think this story was connected to Wool when I first read it. I was wondering almost the whole time how it all connected and if I would ever hear about Juliette again. But as the story went on I was enthralled again. I feel it’s a crime that I didn’t find this series when it first came out and I was still in such a large dystopian kick with my reading because I would have EATEN THIS UP back then. But hey better late than never to the party!

The jump between both different silos and different timelines and years was fun. Trying to figure out what was happening as the story went through to figure out who each person was and how they connected to the overall story of the underground silos. I got to know some people for just a moment and then just see how Silo 1 really works and what they do to keep order when it leaves.

“And so life was lived accidental. It was lived because he wasn’t brave enough to do anything else.”

Because the world building for the most part was already done, this was just extra building to describe how it all came to be - and I really enjoyed it and the journey that Donald went through to to learn what his role was at the beginning, to the lies becoming clear at the end to the true purpose of his involvement. I can’t wait to see what is going to happen when/if Juliette and him meet.

I’m giving this book 4.5 stars because I really liked this book, just not as much as I did for Wool. Also so many things happened and I was feeling like my neck was gonna snap from the whiplash which is okay but my neck hurts now.

“The world had grown as rusty as his memory of it.”

About a chapter before it revealed that Troy & Donald were the same person I literally had the thought of “hey what if they are the same” so that makes me very smart.

I was confused a lot about the importance of Mission’s story but excited to see if there is more that spills in from that time to what happens in the next book since it was Silo 18.

Did NOT expect Donald to do that to Anna, I thought he’d just keep her alive for a little bit to learn more instead of just…killing her right away but glad he shot Thurman. But I felt that if he kept Anna alive longer she would have helped both him and Charlotte in whatever they are about to do. Maybe a hindsight thing for Donny boy.

Not me actually crying about Shadow and how Jimmy was thinking about how ‘oh if he was here he’d be rubbing my leg or meowing at me’ and it made me very sad and go to hug my own cat.

Content Warnings

readerette's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective fast-paced

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

4.25

Not as strong as Wool, but a fascinating prequel and alternate perspective to that book. It feels a bit darker to me since the subject matter is the people who built the silos and why (and none of it's good, just in case you were thinking it might be).

I was immersed, but found myself wishing that it didn't take so long for the details of the truth to emerge, since the general strokes of where it was going were clear early on. I didn't find Donald a particularly sympathetic character, either, which might be intentional but also somewhat reduced my engagement compared to how I felt with the characters in the first book.

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