Wool

“It turned out that some crooked things looked even worse when straightened. Some tangled knots only made sense once unraveled.”

The world, the characters, the writing, it was all so amazing in this book. I had no idea what to expect going into this book. I had heard a lot of good things about it from people, but went in fairly blind especially with respect to the plot and what it was really about. I basically knew it was a science fiction novel.

And I was so blown away by this book. It was fantastically written with such real, human characters. I really felt everything they were going through and really cared what happened to them. There were so many layers to what was going on with them and how they were coping with finding out everything about their world.

This book unfolds in a very unique way. You are basically placed at a certain point in time with no background and see the events unfold with some flashbacks, but mostly simply following along. I would say the main character is Juliette, because we do follow her the most, but we also follow the events though other characters too, which I loved.

The last thing I want to comment on is the world. I was so fascinated by this idea of 150 story Silos housing people. This whole idea of having to walk up and down stairs to get anywhere was so intriguing. It also raised the question of why there were not elevators! But I think control is the answer. Going back to the Silos, I loved the disparity that they created. It was fascinating to see how where you lived in the Silo affected your station in life and also your career. The culture was designed in this really weird way that was highly unique.

Overall, this was a great read and I'm really glad I took the time to read it. It is 5 “stories” in one but I think reading all five together is important. However the first few stories were not as gripping and action heavy as the last two. And I think some aspects of the last two could be cut to make the book shorter because some plot points did seem to drag on. I also was disappointed with the ending. I feel like there are still a lot of questions that need answering. I know their is a sequel of sorts, but I'm not sure how much of a direct sequel it actually is. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy a unique science fiction world and for people who do no mind longer books that can drag in places.