The Dormilone family are hunting an object in the desert. Other families are searching for it too but only one family can win.

Wow, what an unusual and fascinating story. Amazingly written, the detail and descriptions were so well done, I was there on the sand with the family. I really enjoyed the dual timeline and the way they converged. The cast of characters were all interesting and I loved how they knit together. There’s such a huge focus on family and I really appreciated that.

I feel like the storyline just didn’t stop, it was always moving, some new problem for the family to solve. The last section of the book flew by so fast and everything happened all at once. Then suddenly it was over and I feel like I got hit by a truck. I’m having withdrawals and I want to read it again so I can travel the sands with Spider and Camel and the rest of the family. Truly an amazing read with such wonderful world building. Loved it.


Thank you to NetGalley and Century Books for the gifted eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A final delight from the sadly passed Mo Hayder. A fantasy series written under the pen name Theo Clare in this first volume we follow a thrown together family travelling a world of desert cities searching for the Sarkpont. With scouts exploring our world this is a wide and deep idea with lots of sublines going on and I suspect the deeper quality of the project will further unravel across the three promised volumes. This is an engrossing and very enjoyable read - the characters are well drawn and the stresses and interplay between them is cleverly defined. Definitely a series to track and enjoy.

This one wasn’t for me sadly. The duel storyline in the first half of the (overly long) book held my interest to see where it would go but that ended half way though the book. The thing was I found the storyline that only lasted half the book more interesting than the main one.

The book is way to long for what it is. Over 600 pages, it was very close to a dnf for me but I persevered. The world of sand was interesting at first but as the book wore on I quickly grew tired of pages of descriptions of ruined cities and buildings etc.

Like most sci fi/fantasy novels there were some pretty deep philosophical questions being explored but they were lost in the mire of monotony.

I’m sure some will really like this one but as I said, not for me at all. Apart from not doing it for me, the 600 page length was totally unnecessary. The bloated format only added to the boredom ultimately.


Thanks to the publisher for the ARC though Netgalley.

I loved this book.

The Book of Sand grabs you, right from the start. It tumbles you headlong into the ruined world of the Dormilones, the dangers and fear they face. Running in parallel to the strange, apocalyptic world of the Dormilones Family is the story of McKenzie Strathie, a seventeen-year-old student from Virginia. The characters in both worlds are equally compelling and beautifully interwoven in a narrative that will absolutely keep you guessing until the end.

I greatly appreciated that there was such a strong emphasis on the family dynamic. If you’re looking for (forced) found family with an eerie, intense mystery? Look no further. The pacing is excellent, the atmosphere is intense, and the world is fascinating.

The best thing about this book, however, is that all the way through I found myself thinking: ‘When I read this again…’ Not if, when. Now that’s the mark of an excellent book.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction
Would I recommend this? Yes
Would I read a sequel? …Maybe. This is the kind of book that is most powerful as a standalone.

It took me a while to process this book. When I started it, I thought, ok, two storylines, they will converge. In a hostile sand world, a family is fighting to survive, and find a mysterious object. They are fighting to find it before others do. In the ‘other’ world, we find a more relatable word, the more real world, and our characters in this world are struggling to understand their draw to sand, and constant pull towards feeling like they have another life.

As the book progressed, drawing me in deeper and deeper, I realised this was not like anything I had read before. I was confused, engaged, and connected. Afraid for the fate of family in the sand. But what of the others on the other timeline? The realness, and rawness of the characters was beautiful. I didn’t want the story to end, because it would mean the end of my time with the family. But because it would also mean they may fail, and then what? Or if they succeeded, what next?

When the story did end, I was speechless. I had to read the ending again. I wanted someone else to read it, to talk about it. What now? What next?

Overall this story is a beautiful read, written with strength and quiet passion. The ending is a beautiful enigma, and I respect that.

*I received this book from NetGalley for review, but all opinions are my own.

The Book of Sand is an immersive and rich story which will dry out your mouth and scratch your skin with it’s vivid images of the desert and its sparse population. Clinging on by a thread to survival, the family at the centre of this tail are a mis-matched gimcrack bunch, much like the patched up tower they live in.

The main interest in the book is these characters and their lives, which build block by block as the story unfolds and they search for a way to leave the dunes and dry lakes. The mysterious Sarkpoint has been eluded to in some vague instructions they have been given and acts as the focal point to draw the story along, but really the family members are where the story excels. They are deep, thoughtful, and real in their differing reactions to the situations faced as they search abandoned towns for water, resources, and ultimately a way to leave the desert.

In terms of endings, Clare doesn’t do much of the work for you. Having assembled enough clues throughout the book, the reader’s intelligence is respected in a visually dense but information-sparse final chapter, which zips off the page like the flourish on a signature. If you need people to explain “what just happened” at the end of films, you might feel a little unresolved by the shoe-laces that have been left for you to tie up for yourself.

This is an epic story, excellently crafted so you can feel the grit and sharpness experienced by the protagonists.

I wasn't sure what to expect from Book of Sand but I enjoyed Mo Hayder's books and this - written under the pseudonym Theo Clare - seemed an interesting diversion from their usual genre. Two concurrent stories run through the first half of the book shifting between the modern world and 'the Cirque' - a shifting desert environment where the remains of cities seem to exist. The family at the heart of the story face the challenge of surviving the Cirque whilst seeking some sort of hinted at redemption. How this links into the modern world tale is cleverly revealed.

The book fits well into an older YA fantasy genre and kept me interested all the way through. (Free copy received via Netgalley in return for an honest review).

At over 600 pages, this was a daunting book, but with such praise, I was really looking forward to getting stuck in. However, it didn’t live up to my expectations at all.
It follows two storylines that, whilst separate, are connected in some way, but I found them disjointed. I did like the characters and felt they were wonderfully weird and all so individual, but I’m afraid that’s where I’ll stop my praise.
I found it too confusing and too busy, and I found I was reading scenes with no explanation or build up as to how they had got into that scene in the first place, which took me out of the novel.
It definitely felt very Young Adult to me, and whilst that isn’t a negative in itself, I wonder if this is the reason why it didn’t grab me. I really wanted to get sucked in, but I found my mind wandering on more than one occasion, distracted by anything and everything, which isn’t particularly what you want with a novel.
I’ve seen lots of 5 star reviews and I can see their reasoning in their reviews, but it just didn’t hit the mark for me sadly.

Good grief this book was awesome! I fell into the flow of the writing immediately, and the two threads of the story were equally enthralling. Amazing characters, brilliantly crafted plot, and a setting built so perfectly it felt real... If you're a fantasy fan, this should probably be your first book purchase of 2022.

My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion.

Embed a mystery in your book and you may snag a reader for the whole journey even if they are increasingly suspicious of where it might be going, what it might mean - and of course the hazard of the modern multi-book deal - you never really solve it at all. The Book Of Sand starts with two concurrent stories. In one a diverse mix of travellers - The Family - are trapped in a weird desert, hiding at night from Djinns and trying as a group to find a slippery goal before their time is up. They go from city to city, despite some of those named cities being on different continents (you can't get from Phoenix to Dubai over a salt lake in a day). In the other story a young American girl McKenzie is having strange visitations by a mystery lizard, and feels out of place with everyone with a hankering for the desert. The two stories do inevitably intercept each other, though not in a way that answers any questions meaningfully.

The Book Of Sand really only kept me with it to see if those questions got answered, and illicited a few exasperated utterances from me too. I'm pretty wary on anything excessively spiritual going on, and here there are moments where people say things like "all the earth religions had something in them" and you have me calling for a point of order. Also the McKenzie story (the overtly YA one here), fades out for the second half of the book leaving the seemingly more exciting desert plot, but that seemed indifferently realised to me, not least how the artificiality of its real world settings worked. There is an aspect of the wonder regarding the reincarnation aspect of the storyline, and how it might actually work, that left me cold - it ends up working out for the overarching plot but I would feel there was more to it than living whole lives for minor bits of information.

In the end The Book of Sand didn't work for me, and whilst there were plenty of things I liked about it (a very good camel in particular), its spiritual subtext was never going to work for me. Whatever it all ends up being about I fear will not justify such an expansive overarching plot architecture and the versions of the characters that exist at the end of the story were not enough to keep me interested. If you are invested int he mystery it'll probably work for you, and I think there are definately things here an older YA audience might connect to, but I;m checking out.

Sometimes I wait a day or two before writing a review… I need to digest the book, mull over it, maybe re-read the last chapter.
This was one of those books.
I started this book going ‘ok,, I can see where this is going’….
And then suddenly a new paragraph and I sat up and went ‘Whoa, I did not see that coming’ and suddenly I was off racing to get to the end!!!
What a marvellous story, truly marvellous!
That last 50 pages or so you will need to read slowly, and read them again to absorb them!
It’s a book I will definitely be recommending and I have NO hesitation in giving it 5 stars.

I am sorry to read that Theo Clare was a pseudonym for Mo Hayden who died earlier this year. You will live forever in the hearts of the people who read and love your books. Thank you x

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for the advance read.

There's going to be another book right? Tell me this is going to be a Trilogy!!
I really enjoyed this (if you can't tell) the cover grabbed me from the start and reminded me of Wool but it's more along the lines of Maze Runner.
Great job

This is an amazing story that I could not put down. It is unique. I have never read anything like it.
There are two story lines that come together in shocking fashion. It is a shame there is so much bad language though. I am not a fan of the ‘f’ word, which is why I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars.
From the ending it looks like this is the first in a series.
Looking forward to the next one.

I really enjoyed this book, right from the beginning it grabbed my attention. It makes me think a little of books like the Maze Runner and His Dark Materials. The world building was immersive and the characters engaging. The first half has you trying to solve the mystery of how the two storylines connect and then there is a shock and the answer starts to reveal itself. There is no great cliffhanger at the end but it will obviously be part of a series and I look forward to the next book.

A truly amazing read!
No matter what I write here is ever going to give this book the praise it deserves it really is an incredible read. I was apprehensive when I first started to read as I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with sci fi fantasy some I have loved and some I just struggled my way through but ohhhh my not this book because this book transported me to another place of deserts and hardship, weird places and a fight to stay alive my head was filled with pictures and my mind full of wonder at the mystery of what was happening in a story that I will never forget.
I loved the characters all of them particularly Spider with his wonderful love for camel and of course Yma who never stopped trying to solve the puzzle of what was happening but really all of the characters were amazing and different in their own way.
Books like this one is why I read I forget everything and live in the story and that takes a brilliant author which we have here and to be able to transport the reader to a different place and time is just pure genius, this is a book that has it all and more.
I don’t have the words to describe the storyline so I’m not even going to try it’s wonderful, magnificent and everything I could have wished for and I really do hope this is not the end and we will get more in the future but I do know that may not be possible sadly.
So a book I place at the top of my favourite reads and one I will never forget I wish I could give it more than five stars because it sure does deserve it.
My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone, Century for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is an interesting book, and I couldn’t quite make up my mind what I thought about it until I actually finished. This is definitely a book of two halves. The first half I felt a bit confused and couldn’t quite work out what was happening as there were two totally different stories going on, with no mention of anything that could bring them together in my mind. However, it was still enough to keep me reading and trying to make a guess as to where it was heading. I was totally wrong in what I’d thought but that just made the book better. The second half really got the story going and I was desperate to see what happened. I particularly liked the relationship between Spider and Camel. The ending was not what I was expecting. However it is a unique read . My only slight doubt about it is that it felt to me as though it was meant to be a series. However, definitely worth a go. 3 1/2 Stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I thought I’ll try this book out because it sounded interesting and it was blurbed by Karin Slaughter. Unfortunately I don’t think this genre is for me.