Wool (Book Review)

Hugh Howey

Sci Fi (Post-Apocalyptic)

2012

5 / 5

This is going to be a short review simply because I loved it. Had I known it was a post-apocalyptic novel before joining a bookclub that was featuring it, I definitely would have read it earlier.

It was so much fun. It’s not perfect, but it was so enjoyable and such a great ride with wonderful twists that I can’t give it anything but five stars. If you’re a fan of post-apocalyptic novels, you should definitely pick this up. It’s both a survivalism story and a thriller, with a really compelling setting and fun characters.

Some parts get a bit slow, but the story jumps around enough (in a good way) that I was definitely compelled to keep reading.

While I thought the characters are interesting, varied, and generally realistic, they could have been given a little more complexity. While I liked Juliette, there were times when I wanted to get to know her better, and I didn’t really feel the connection between her and another character. My favourite character was Mayor Jahns for sure - we don’t get enough tough older women characters in this genre. Given there are two more books, I think we’ll get to learn about the characters in more depth (I’m assuming - unless the next books go somewhere else).

I’m assuming the title refers to not just the wool for cleaning, but the expression “wool over their eyes”? Clever.