kp_reads_in_the_dark 's review for:

Wool by Hugh Howey

3.75

adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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On the whole, interesting. I picked it up after bingeing the first season of Silo on Apple TV, and it's curious to see how the two differ. (A fair amount of artistic license was taken by the show writers/producers, it looks like. Even more interesting to notice that Hugh Howey is an executive producer on it, too.) But focusing on the book -

The story felt decently paced, a bit slow in some parts. There were a few scenes and situations where I was gripped, but otherwise not so much. It's a compelling premise, but I found myself annoyed by some things that felt neglected or under-explained.

I'm curious enough to continue with the series and read the second book, though, so it can't be all that bad.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

I don't understand how Juliette became sheriff or, more specifically, why Holston nominated her to succeed him. George's murder is barely mentioned and we don't know what Juliette's role in solving his death was, so how did she impress Holston (and Marnes) enough for them to promote her? I also don't buy Lukas' and Juliette's romance - he feels like too much of a mama's boy while she's busy saving herself, Solo/Jimmy, AND six children? And I don't find Billings' transformation - at the very end of the last act -compelling. It's a huge swing from being a defender of the status quo to putting Bernard to cleaning. One overheard radio conversation wouldn't be enough to transform someone's belief system so radically and so quickly. I don't want to gripe or nitpick, but there are too many hiccups in the storytelling to make for an immersive experience; there are good elements, but they just don't come together for me. In the end, it the whole thing made more sense when I learned that Howey wrote and self-published only the first 7 chapters as a free-standing novellete online.