Review: Dust Girl

Dust Girl by Sarah Zettel

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I cannot say I truly enjoyed this book. It was boring at times and though full of wonderful details, none of them added anything to the story in my opinion. We know Callie has features of both white and black, she talks about how coarse her hair is plenty to get the point across. But we really never see her struggle because of her mixed "race". She is either assumed to be a white girl or glamoured when her skin color would give her away. There is only the internal struggle. Bull Morgan doesn't count. He knows she is mixed and he knows she is human and fairy because he is a dead person being brought back by her Uncle to kill her. These are not things he already knew. This are things he is informed about by her fairy uncle. So his use of the word pickaninny to describe her doesn't count.

The plot seemed to go nowhere for the majority of this book. She sets out to look for her mother and in the end still hasn't found her mother. She doesn't even for sure know where her mother is located. She thinks her mother is in California because of the movie she saw in the theatre but it is never reveal if she is actually in Hollywood. Not until the end does the plot pick up and then it's just a fast paced blur of circles. Never ending circles. First she is looking for her mother. Then she is taking care of guests. Then she is running from the guests along with Jack. Then she meets some other fairy folk. Then she is looking for her mother again, headed to California. Then she is running from Bull Morgan. Then she is being rescued from the Trixies and Bull Morgan. Then she meets back up with one of the fairy folk. Headed toward her grandparents. Then she is held hostage by Bull Morgan. Then she is headed again toward her grandparents. Then she is running from her grandparents. Then she is dead, well half dead. Then she is looking for her mother again. The whole thing was just confusing and unnecessary. Couldn't she just go looking for her mother and run from Bull Morgan. But I guess she needed to meet her grandparents to understand they were not the people she wants to be associated with and that her Uncle is a jealous jerk who will kill her to gain the throne. And the book ended with nothing resolved except a subplot and no real insight into what in the world is going on with the whole ordeal.

Callie herself was somewhat interesting but the majority of the time was spent talking about the color of her skin. Yes we know she is mixed, I would be more concerned with learning what it means to be a fairy than I would be with something I have known since I was a child.

I liked to story but honestly I don't know if I would want to read the next two books. If they go nowhere or have no real hook to keep me reading, I can't say I would want to read them. I would rather just read a book that pulls me into the story.



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