Review: Devils Unto Dust by Emma Berquist

This was a book that I had to read when I saw that gorgeous cover and read the very exciting summary. And I am pleased to say that this book was pretty great. I didn't fully love it, but it was exciting and I enjoyed it a whole bunch. I am giving it three stars, though, because I know it's also a book that I am going to forget.

Which was a bit depressing. But it was still an exciting read, and I did enjoy it from start to finish. There was not anything about it that I hated. But there sadly was not anything about it that I loved either. I found the writing to be pretty great, which was good. The book was set far back in time, western time, which I enjoyed lots.

There is a lot to talk about when it comes to this book. Going to try my best to explain it all. It's a kind of long book, five hundred pages, but not full of words, so it did not take that long to read it. But I also felt that it could have done with a few hundred pages less, because I was bored so many times. Yes, there was some exciting moments that I enjoyed a lot, but it was also incredibly slow and not much happened at all. I felt like it could have been better. I have seen someone say it was a better version of Walk on Earth a Stranger, and haha. I do not agree with that. Because I loved that book so much, and this one I did not love at all. Devils Unto Dust was similar, except with some type of zombie. But it wasn't the same. This one was much more boring.

This book is told from the point of view of seventeen year old Willie. I enjoyed reading about this girl a whole lot. I sadly did not love her, as I did not get to know her well enough at all. But she was exciting to read about, and I did enjoy that. She lives alone with her three younger siblings, their mom dead and their dad a drunk. They are very poor. And living in the desert. I liked reading about her family, though. They were pretty sweet. But there was also too much focus on that in the beginning, for so long. Grew boring.

The plot in this book is about the desert not being a safe place. About ten years ago many people started getting sick, then they started attacking others. Sort of like zombies. I feel a little disappointed about this, because while I did like reading about these creatures a lot, there was too little about them. Way too little back story. I wished to know more about them. Anyway. This story starts with Willie's dad stealing money and taking off. With her being told to bring she had to bring him back or take his punishment for stealing.

I'm unsure what else to say about this plot. To be honest, there wasn't really that much happening. Willie sets out from her town, to go hunt down her father. She hires some young hunters to help her, because of the creatures outside the walls. All of this book is about her going a few days one way to a different town, then going back again a few days after that. Sure, there are some things happening in the middle of that, but, well, I had kind of expected this book to be a bit more than what I got. Which makes me a little sad.

But even so. I did like this book a lot. I found the story to be interesting, and I wanted to know what would happen to Willie. But I also did not love it. I did not love the characters. Felt like it could have been much better. Aw. I think that the reason for why I had issues loving this book was the lack of romance. As there was none. Then suddenly near the end there are hints of a romance. But these hints were way too small and nothing happened. I could have loved this book, maybe, if there had been some awesome romance.

I said I had a lot to say about this book. That turned out not to be true. Because I'm having issues finding the words. And I don't think I have anything else to say about it. Devils Unto Dust was exciting at times, but also incredibly boring most of the time. There was one death that just made me angry, and not sad. I wish I could have loved this book, but it wasn't to be. Some parts were good, but nothing I will remember, sadly. Thank you to the publisher for the eARC via Edelweiss, and a lovely person for trading it with me.

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