Reviews - Sand | The StoryGraph

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406 reviews for:

Sand

Hugh Howey

3.8 AVERAGE

eefmaoam's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I was a little apprehensive about reading this book, after seeing some negative and pretty critical reviews. Therefore I was a little worried Sand would be a big disappointment after having loved reading the Wool Trilogy and Beacon 23, and it would have a negative influence on my enjoyment of the previous books and Hugh Howey as a writer in general. However, I couldn't have been more wrong, luckily!

The story starts of a little slow and getting into this new 'world' was a little jarring; I wouldn't jump into this book straight after finishing the Wool series, since it would be near impossible not to compare the two and end up disappointed after the first part of this book (the book is again divided into several parts within the book itself, which is the norm for Hugh's books). But despite the slow start, the ending of the first part got me completely hooked! The world itself was not as extensive as some other book's world building, but honestly I didn't mind that too much because the concept of this world it pretty easy to understand (I'll do some speculating about the world though:

I do think this world is the same as in the Wool trilogy; some details such as the people not having any clue about how this world came to be, but *still* using names like samsonite for suitcases and calling the non-divers-sand-hallers sissyfoots, reminded me *a lot* of the same phenomenon in Wool. Also the location+setting of this story would make sense with the history of Wool and the use of atomic bombs in this book would also pan out. Very curious if I'll still think they might be in the same universe after the second book, I'll come back to it after reading the next book lol

). The story really ramps up after this and the multiple POV's helped to create an interesting narrative structure with a relatively fast-passed plot. The characters and their different POV's and backstories were a joy to read and at some points deeply emotional (but potentially triggering for some readers).

No, this story is no Wool Trilogy, but damn is this still a really, really, really good book. I can't wait to start reading the second part in the Sand Chronicles and I'm already eyeing the release date of the third in this series. I've said it before, and I'll say it again; if you're looking for some intense, dark, dystopian non-YA stories, Hugh Howey is you're guy!

Content Warnings

john_the_captain's review

5.0

I loved this book even as much as the Wool omnibus. I gave it a 9 out of 10 planets on my blog here - https://johnthecaptainryan.blogspot.ie/2018/01/sand-by-hugh-howey-book-review.html

catshreeve's review

3.0

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

katewarne's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

mythical_reads's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

eryal's review against another edition

4.0

It took me more time that I want to admit to get addicted to this book, but once I did it was amazing. At first even when I couldn't get into the characters it was still and interesting and original enough story idea that I kept reading. All in all, I am now going to hunt out books by him and read more!