Reviews

Shift by Hugh Howey

bublet011's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

becca_s_reads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

zfeig's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-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? Yes

3.75

Not as good as the first book in the series, Wool, but still a good read in the sci-fi post-apocalypse bunker-core genre. 

Answers lots of questions from the first book and does a lot of the world building and prequel work you didn't know you needed. 

All the politicians are deliciously corrupt, the world of the story is darker and more twisted than you thought. Enjoy.

kessler21's review against another edition

3.0

This is book #2 in the Silo Series.

Book #1 [b:Wool Omnibus|13453029|Wool Omnibus (Silo, #1)|Hugh Howey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1349614200l/13453029._SY75_.jpg|18979356], you learn of a post apocalyptic world and everyone lives in underground silos.

Book #2 is a prequel and tells story of the origin of those silos and jumping in time and telling stories of characters in the silo that also lead up to Wool.

The chapters themselves are not that great. The characters and dialog are unimpressive, but the story as a whole, as each chapter combines with another to for this long story line is interesting. I relate the Silo series to the Divergent Series. Enjoyable but nothing special. My favorite part of the books is just the fact of this story spanning a long time period and how the stories combine together. I will read the last story Dust also.

plantsandpints's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

marsius's review against another edition

2.0

Wool, Howey's first book, worked well within its own little universe with its own rules. Within that context, it was actually quite good (if you've seen Snowpiercer, you should be familiar with this. Clearly silly rules, but brilliant so long as you suspended disbelief and let it exist within its world). In Shift, however, Howey, tries to explain those rules and explain his universe. The result is, frankly, not good. Every layer he reveals of the originating conspiracy is seems more ridiculous than the ones that came prior. Two thirds of the book is simple filler, the prose is often stilted, and, despite having attempted far more character development than in Wool, the characters here were somehow worse defined. In the end, I felt somehow worse for having read this, as it's tainted my memories of the original. A sequel could have been welcome (and perhaps as great as the original). Having read Shift, though, I don't know that I'd seek it out, because the entire thing has been tainted.

sailormarz's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

sapphirelain's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

At first I thought I liked this better than wool because it gave us a lot of backstory and I think that I really like to know the how and the why behind things. That being said, it didn’t bring a sense of community, or of a whole separate world like Wool did. But I think that is kind of the point? The lack of both of those things, and the loss. Also I can’t tell if the name of the novel is too on the nose or if it’s genius because it’s cryptic for everyone that hasn’t read it, but is incredibly literal once you have. All in all very solid, but very different than the first book. I think an equal rating of both as 5 stars 

kcecil11's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

sillygosling's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.25