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A review by bookishmillennial
Dust by Alison Stine
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial
Oof, this really struck a chord with the pre-teen and teenager that still lives inside me. I was heavily monitored and surveilled as a teenager, so I felt incredibly seen by the main character Thea's experience. Though mine was not directly related to religion and conspiracy theories about the end of the world (our parents had different motivations for being so suffocating and borderline emotionally abusive/holding us in captivity), this story of finding one's voice and finally attaining some autonomy to explore and advocate for yourself was incredible.
This book is set in an almost ghost-town Colorado, where Thea's family has relocated from a bigger city in Ohio after a flood ruined their home, to seek a "quieter, simpler" life. The girls (Thea and her younger sister Amelia) have a farm and are homeschooled by their mom, but to help the family out, Thea is allowed to work at the local cafe, and her supervisor asks her to deliver an order to the library across the street. This is where she meets Ray, a kid her age who is Deaf/hard-of-hearing, just like her, and he knows sign language, which she does not. Thea's parents will barely acknowledge that she is Deaf, and this only has Thea turn inward even more with her confusion, isolation, and desperation to be heard/validated.
As Thea spends more time at the cafe, library, and other folk's homes in this small town, her world monumentally expands with possibilities and ideas she never knew were possible. Your heart aches for her and Amelia, as it's so clear that their parents wanted to keep their worlds as small as possible, so that they could maintain power and control over their minds and bodies. Thea left behind friends in Ohio, so it's not that she never knew kindness or understanding before. This was a new level of inviting her to not only be herself, but to re-get to know herself with these new revelations of what life could be like, now that her disability was named.
The titular "dust" is so incredibly eerie; Thea notices her sister's symptoms that are consistent with those who survived the last Dust Bowl in the 1930s, and this makes for haunting commentary on climate change and those who deny its existence and urgency. The storm was terrifying, and Alison Stine's writing style was so subtle yet fully immersive?! The setting was atmospheric and you could feel the desolation, loneliness, and caution that permeated in the town.
Do I think Thea's parents should have shown a bit more of an arc or done more to remedy their abuse of Thea and Amelia? Absolutely. However, I will always be happy for a main character who suffered deeply when they reach resolutions with the folks who dismissed and belittled them for so long, to finally be heard and treated with dignity. This is fiction, so I'm gonna let Thea have that rushed little happily for now with her family, but her dad especially is still my mortal enemy!
Overall, I really enjoyed reading Thea's story in this YA speculative fiction, even though it broke my heart and made me ache with rage and exhaustion for her. However, I appreciate the Deaf/HoH representation by a Deaf/HoH author <3 I look forward to what Alison Stine writes next.
Oof, this really struck a chord with the pre-teen and teenager that still lives inside me. I was heavily monitored and surveilled as a teenager, so I felt incredibly seen by the main character Thea's experience. Though mine was not directly related to religion and conspiracy theories about the end of the world (our parents had different motivations for being so suffocating and borderline emotionally abusive/holding us in captivity), this story of finding one's voice and finally attaining some autonomy to explore and advocate for yourself was incredible.
This book is set in an almost ghost-town Colorado, where Thea's family has relocated from a bigger city in Ohio after a flood ruined their home, to seek a "quieter, simpler" life. The girls (Thea and her younger sister Amelia) have a farm and are homeschooled by their mom, but to help the family out, Thea is allowed to work at the local cafe, and her supervisor asks her to deliver an order to the library across the street. This is where she meets Ray, a kid her age who is Deaf/hard-of-hearing, just like her, and he knows sign language, which she does not. Thea's parents will barely acknowledge that she is Deaf, and this only has Thea turn inward even more with her confusion, isolation, and desperation to be heard/validated.
As Thea spends more time at the cafe, library, and other folk's homes in this small town, her world monumentally expands with possibilities and ideas she never knew were possible. Your heart aches for her and Amelia, as it's so clear that their parents wanted to keep their worlds as small as possible, so that they could maintain power and control over their minds and bodies. Thea left behind friends in Ohio, so it's not that she never knew kindness or understanding before. This was a new level of inviting her to not only be herself, but to re-get to know herself with these new revelations of what life could be like, now that her disability was named.
The titular "dust" is so incredibly eerie; Thea notices her sister's symptoms that are consistent with those who survived the last Dust Bowl in the 1930s, and this makes for haunting commentary on climate change and those who deny its existence and urgency. The storm was terrifying, and Alison Stine's writing style was so subtle yet fully immersive?! The setting was atmospheric and you could feel the desolation, loneliness, and caution that permeated in the town.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading Thea's story in this YA speculative fiction, even though it broke my heart and made me ache with rage and exhaustion for her. However, I appreciate the Deaf/HoH representation by a Deaf/HoH author <3 I look forward to what Alison Stine writes next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting