Review: Dust Girl by Sarah Zettel

Title: Dust Girl
Author: Sarah Zettel
Publication date: June 26th 2012
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Age group: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Cover rating: 4/5
Content rating: 5/5
Buy: Amazon / The Book Depository

Description: 

This new trilogy will capture the hearts of readers who adore Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle series. Callie LeRoux lives in Slow Run, Kansas, helping her mother run their small hotel and trying not to think about the father she's never met. Lately all of her energy is spent battling the constant storms plaguing the Dust Bowl and their effects on her health. Callie is left alone, when her mother goes missing in a dust storm. Her only hope comes from a mysterious man offering a few clues about her destiny and the path she must take to find her parents in "the golden hills of the west" (California). Along the way she meets Jack a young hobo boy who is happy to keep her company—there are dangerous, desperate people at every turn. And there's also an otherworldly threat to Callie. Warring fae factions, attached to the creative communities of American society, are very aware of the role this half-mortal, half-fae teenage girl plays in their fate.

My thoughts:
It is honestly quite hard to find words to describe how much I adored Dust Girl! I completely devoured this book from the very first page; it gripped me and would not let me go! From the minute I started reading this book, I knew it was exactly my kind of thing and I most definitely enjoyed every single second of it. Dust Girl is a unique book which will certainly stay with me for a long time and I'm sure I'll return to it more than once.

The setting of this book is what made it very special and unique to me! Calliope lives in Kansas with her mother; her town is being destroyed by dust storms and times are hard. I think Sarah Zettel did an amazing job at describing Slow Run and its dismal state and I had no trouble picturing it. It all felt so real- and seriously scary! The mood of the town shone through easily and had me eager to find out what was going to happen. When Callie's mother goes missing, her life gets even crazier.

I loved Callie. I thought she was simply wonderful. She's a really refreshing and strong character who is incredibly easy to like. Callie's been through a lot but her personality is still great and she seems like a person anybody would be happy to be friends with. Jack was a great addition to the story and I found their interactions together really interesting. I definitely enjoyed following Callie and Jack on their journey and I was genuinely terrified at times! The mood in this book is so creepy and my heart was racing at some points. I was so caught up in this story and I love when a book can do that to me.

I honestly did not know much about the Dust Bowl before reading this book, and it has made me want to find out more about this particular period in history. So not only was this book captivating and entertaining, it has also been educational for me! I just loved everything about this book and I hope others will too. It's an original and memorable take on fae and I can't wait to read more by this author.