A review by monicalaurette
Dust by Hugh Howey

emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I almost didn’t want to finish this book because then it would all end. But I was pushed through with my desire to know where the story ended. But I’m emotionally wrecked by what and who was lost in the journey outside the silos.

“Without the silo, she would be a skull on a hill looking blankly to the cloud-filled skies.”

I read this book on a plane for the most part so I wasn’t able to save any quotes but I also was just reading so fast I don’t think I would have stopped to write any down even if I wanted to. But this one above I thought was so powerful for Jules to think back on her journey so far and how she’s the only one that has walked away from the Silo, only to walk back.

As the end of this whole story arc I knew we’d lose people along the way but the specific people that were lost made me want to cry because they were so important to others around them that made it.

Overall the Silo series to me was great, excited to watch the show soon and see how that stacks up. I’m giving Dust 5 stars because it didn’t have a full happy ending, but more of a bittersweet one. I was happy with how it ended and where they got to, but I wished others were there to see it.

I told myself if Lukas died I would cry so you can already infer that I cried because of this book. He loves Jules so much and to have him go the way that he did was so brutal. Why can’t Jules have love in her life without losing it in terrible ways?

Wonder why Anna never switched the argon out of all the silos instead of just 17, because imagine if 18 were saved.

I like that Donald brought down what he helped to create to allow the other silos a chance outside. I like to think that the group that made it went back to the other Silos and told them what they needed to do to get out.

Had to reread the passage about seven times trying to convince myself that a grown man DIDN’T marry Elise but nope that’s what happened, wish Jimmy had shot that man in the face.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Pedophilia

For the pedophilia content warning - it's that a small child is tricked/forced into marrying a like 30 yo man but she's saved about thirty minutes later and nothing else happens to her.