Overall

When I saw that Chuck Wendig had ventured into middle grade books, I absolutely knew I had to give this one a try! Plus, it’s comped to The Graveyard Book and it has the most charming cover. There was obviously absolutely no way I could resist all of that!

Dust & Grim sweeps the reader into a modern fantasy filled with unexpected twists on paranormal creatures, siblings learning how to be siblings, and a whole squad of characters you’ll absolutely love. Oh, and there’s Florg. Trust me, you won’t want to miss Florg.

This book was a ton of fun! It nailed the spooky fall vibes as far as the horror goes, while being more paranormal than outright scary, and includes a delicious amount of humor that’ll have you chuckling along with the antics of these characters. Oh, and the characters? Ridiculously fun squad that probably isn’t quite what you’re expecting (I know I wasn’t!). The only character I didn’t love was Molly (which is a teensy problematic, since it’s from her point of view). This one also definitely needs to be a series, since it leaves quite a few unanswered questions, but I’m not seeing anything that suggests it is? I’m really hoping for more Molly and Dustin, though!

My Thoughts

- The narrative voice in this is irreverent and funny, sure to catch the attention of middle grade readers and make them chuckle. There were more than a few scenes that caught me by surprise and I ended up snorting out loud. I love when books catch me off-guard like that with their humor! Molly is definitely snarky, and there are times when her humor borders on childish, but hey, haven’t we all gotten caught in a mood and wanted to reply with “your face” at some point in time? Just me? Anyway, Molly’s narrative voice is very natural and easy to get into, which I’m sure will win over plenty of young readers!

It’s not just Molly who’s funny, though. The entire cast, with their big (and unusual) personalities all come together to provide some very humorous situations and banter which nicely offset the more serious undertones of the actual plot.

- Dust & Grim is filled with all sorts of paranormal goodness . . . but some of it might just catch you by surprise! I love the way Wendig subverts expectations in this book by playing with the traditional forms of paranormal that we’ve come to expect from books. Trust me, these side characters aren’t quite what you’d expect, and I loved that! Especially the vampire. But I’ll say no more on that.

These side characters, though! They’re larger than life and quite a bunch together. I wish they had a bit more screen time, because I absolutely loved them and wanted to get to know them better. I enjoyed my time with this group, though!

- At the heart of this story is a very touching display of sibling bonds between two orphans who are just discovering what it means to be family. By which I mean Molly and Dustin, of course, who were separated as children (for reasons this book doesn’t really go into). At first, they don’t really know what it means to be a sibling, having never really had the opportunity. There are a lot of touch-and-go scenes, where they’re not quite sure what to do with each other or how to interact and plenty of misunderstandings and hurt feelings. This felt so real and true, which only made the scenes where they finally figure it out all the more heartfelt and sweet! Sibling bonds is one of my favorite tropes in general, so I absolutely loved the journey Molly and Dustin take to get there.

- Florg. Just Florg. Florg is a force unto himself and absolutely my favorite part of this book. When Florg speaks, you listen and pay attention, okay? Nobody knows exactly what Florg is . . . or why Florg is . . . but none of that matters. Trust me, you will absolutely not regret meeting Florg. From his very first introduction, I knew he’d be my favorite character, and he didn’t disappoint!

Sticking Points

- Molly’s character felt a little inconsistent, and she seemed to flip-flop back and forth so hard that I sometimes had trouble keeping up with her. Part of this, I’m sure, is meant to be characterization. Goodness knows children her age have their moments of utter irrationality (and honestly . . . don’t we all?!). Molly certainly acts every bit the 13-year-old she’s meant to be. I was rather confused about her age while reading it (because I’m apparently bad at checking blurbs before picking up a book), especially since she acted so young but was also emancipated and talking about going to a fashion design school (which I had assumed meant college). I’m not sure how she became emancipated without a guardian, a place to live, and any sort of income, especially that young, so I’m still kind of confused on that point?

In any case, it wasn’t really her childishness that irritated me (though, make no mistake, she’s definitely childish), since that seemed to fit her character and her journey. Rather, it was the way that her personality seems a little bit all over the place.

She’s reluctant to trust Dustin because she’s just not that sort of person, but for absolutely no reason whatsoever, she blindly and wholeheartedly trusts the uncle that she’d never known about who randomly appeared after her father passed. All at once, she’s mad that Dustin doesn’t welcome her with open arms because she’s his sister, but yet the very first thing she does is demand the cash value of half the estate and even suggest that they may need to sell the business in order to pay her share, and then continue to make demands and threats about suing them.

At one point, someone tries to explain to her what an iconoclast is, and she snaps that, “I know what it is. I read books.” Which okay, reading books does not mean you automatically know what an iconoclast is, number one. But number two, there are simple words that she should know the meaning to that she seems not to. Like she says that when she was in sixth grade, she thought it was a corpse of trees, not a copse of a trees . . . which is an utterly adorable story and characterization that I absolutely loved . . . except that the iconoclast scene absolutely sours and ruins it for me.

Wendig tries to fold these traits into Molly’s character arc, but he doesn’t quite manage it convincingly enough for me, at least. I think middle grade readers will be able to more readily relate to Molly’s indecisions and conflicting emotions, but it wasn’t quite tied together enough in a logical fashion for me personally, which left her feeling like the weak link as far as characters go in this book.

- There are so many (too many?) unanswered questions left at the end of this book, but I’m not seeing anywhere that says this is going to be a series? It might be intended to be a series and I’m just not finding anything about it. However, this book needs to be a series. There are too many overarching questions that just simply aren’t addressed to have a satisfying ending as a standalone. The big quest for this book wraps up nicely, but there are so many plot threads and the book tries to do so many things that it just wouldn’t have been possible to tackle them all. Which is fine . . . if there’s going to be more books in the series! (I hope there are, because I had a lot of fun with this one and would absolutely love to read about more adventures with Molly and Dustin!)

Thirteen year old Molly's father has just died, which is a lot for a young girl to take in, but her uncle arrives with some surprising information - Molly has a brother.

Molly's parents split up just after she was born and her mother (who has also passed away) took the older child and left Molly with her father. Her father had never been much of a provider and Molly learned to fend for herself. She has also learned that there is some sort of family business that this older brother she's just learned about is currently running. Since she needs money to survive she figures she'll go and demand half of everything - or part ownership of the business.

The brother, Dustin, isn't too thrilled to be learning about Molly but ultimately takes her in as she shows she can handle the work. The family business ...? They run a funeral home and are cemetery caretakers for supernatural creatures and right now there's a wizard raising the dead and ruining the eternal slumber for those interred in the cemetery.

I am a tremendous fan of Chuck Wendig's work. I think his YA books are the perfect storm of strong female characters in tough situations and are written with an edge that really pushes YA readers to another level. His books for adults have a real bite to them - which I love. And so I was excited to see a book by Wendig for middle school readers.

The book has all the typical Wendig ingredients - supernatural characters, a tough female protagonist, and a world where monsters and wizards dwell (and die). What could go wrong?

What could go wrong (and what I think does go wrong) is that writing PG does not play to Wendig's strength. With all the right pieces necessary for a 'typical' Wendig book, Wendig, by necessity, pulls his punches and tames down the fervor and venom that he writes so well. He also works (a little too hard) to be clever and funny - an important ingredient for middle school when dealing with dark characters in a cemetery. He can do humor well, but when I think of characters like Miriam Black or Atlanta Burns, light-hearted or fun or funny are not terms that come to mind. But he tries to bring that into play here and for this reader, it doesn't work.

Any Chuck Wendig book is better than none, and while I hope middle school readers will find this and read it and get hooked on Wendig, I also selfishly hope the author will return to writing for YA and adults with all the angst and energy we're used to.

Looking for a good book? Dust & Grim by Chuck Wendig is a fun, dark fantasy/supernatural book for young readers. Those already familiar with Wendig's work may be surprised at the lighthearted tone and, like me, miss what makes his works so delectable.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Spooky kids books speak to me. This is just what I would have picked up as a kid! Put this one on display and it will be checked out the same day.

3.75/5 stars

This book was such a fun read!! I love reading eerie, Halloween-ish stories in October - atmospheric but not too creepy - and this middle-grade was the perfect start! With its fair share of monsters and spooky scenes, this novel has all the ingredients of a quick but enjoyable Halloween read. I related a lot to Molly and her internal dialogue; she’s stubborn and ambitious, but she stands up to her foes and wants to find a place to belong. She doesn’t think she’ll find that with her newfound brother after their first few encounters, but their development from tense rivals to found family (though they are actually family) is incredibly heart-warming.

Plot-wise, this novel is interesting enough; it’s got plenty of intriguing elements (especially the intertwining of monsters, existing folklore, and creative liberties on the author’s part) that kept me reading, ready to see what other aspects of the world would be explored. But as a middle-grade, the climax is *slightly* underwhelming, at least compared to what I was expecting? It may be a me-thing, but I felt the climactic moments could have been slightly more interesting. However, there are so many great things about this story, and I really enjoyed dipping my toes into spooky season with this one!

*I posted this review on TBR and Beyond tours over on Instagram.*






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I thought Dust and Grim is a really decent middle-grade spooky story, perfect for the scary Halloween season!

I really enjoyed both the plot and character development within this story as I found them both to be really compelling in how they were written which really added to the enjoyment of reading this story. Furthermore, the language used in this story felt very realistic to the ages of everyone in it, especially for Molly and Dustin who are both young. I feel like their language used would make this story very relatable to young kids which is what its target audience as being a middle-grade novel.

Overall, a very enjoyable story that I would recommend to anyone wanting to read something spooky but wholeosome.

In Dust and Grim Molly discovers a brother, Dustin, she never knew she had when her dad passes away. Molly moves in with Dustin until they figure out inheritance details but she soon discovers there's a lot more to this funeral home than one would expect.

A great middle grade read for children and the young at heart, especially for the spooky season! It has lots of monsters, spookiness, silliness and humor while still being heartwarming and it teaches good lessons. I'd recommend it for people who like plot-driven books more than likeable characters.

The plot was fast paced and intriguing. The mystery was set up well and it made you wanna keep reading to figure out what was going on. I was hooked on the adventure they went on especially after the monsters were introduced.

I really enjoyed all the creatures that were in the book. They were cool, unique and fun to read. And I really enjoyed their characters, they truly were one of the biggest highlights for me. As you'll read below, I liked them a lot more than any human in the book

There are very clear lessons in here about family, responsibility, jealousy... I'd think that this part would be great for the younger reader but maybe a bit obvious for the older ones.

Overall, I enjoyed the plot a lot more than characters which is why I really struggled at the beginning of the book. I found the main characters highly unlikeable. Molly is very abrasive and hardened for her age, which, to be fair, makes sense with her background. But then Dustin and Vivacia who are old enough to know better, treat a 13 year old unnecessarily bad. At times it felt like those old movies/books where people would treat kids badly for no reason. Especially considering none of the conflict of the book would have happened if they were just slightly nicer to one another. I can't call it the miscommunication trope, since it was more like no commnunication.

Overall though, I'd think that this would make a great read for the younger audience. The author really created a fun and unique world in this book with some great messages and lessons.

This is first time I read author Chuck Wendig's book and I can say I enjoy reading Dustin and Molly' story. Such an adventurous story with amazing world building.
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I like Molly so much. She's so funny, quite sarcastic, and has some curiosity. Everytime I turned the page, I couldn't wait to read Dustin and Molly's interaction each other.
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We can find some of cosplays' explanation in this middle-grade debut book. Also, there's so many supernatural creatures that improve my glossary about them. I love how the author put the 'power of family' thing into this spooky book.
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Overall, this book perfect for paranormal book fans. If you're looking forward for spooky, hilarious story, and trust, you can try to read 𝘿𝙪𝙨𝙩 & 𝙂𝙧𝙞𝙢.

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to TBR & Beyond Tours, Chuck Wendig, Netgalley, and Little, Brown Books for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.

Wendig is a king of horror, and that was honestly one of the reasons why I was a little afraid to read this one. Sure, it’s “middle grade”, like that’s supposed to mean it’s not that scary. I don’t care what age range a book can be, they can get pretty darn scary. (I’m looking at you, Tia Lugo Speaks No Evil).

Luckily for me, I was not as afraid as I could have been. Actually, there were a lot of times where I found myself chuckling because of the humor I got to experience. Wendig is a great author, and while I don’t know if I’m going to get into the horror genre completely, this was a good taste of his writing without the nightmares.

It’s no secret that I love a good middle grade book! Make it one that dabbles in the realm of Fantasy, and you have something that I will snap up in an instant. There’s just something MG Fantasy that hits that perfect mark between darkness and light. My favorite stories fall into this category, and a lot of my favorite characters do too. So, it makes sense that my heart was all in for Dust & Grim.

First up, massive kudos to Chuck Wendig for giving us a female character who adores cosplay! My heart swelled when I met Molly. A little worse for the wear, after the loss of her not-so-great father and an upended life that brought her to the home of a brother she never knew, Molly was my kind of girl. Rough around the edges, using sarcasm as a weapon, but inside just wanting something to fill a hole inside her. Her obsession with cosplay just sold it for me. As she lovingly described the costumes that she had designed, even going so far as to nitpick the little parts that were slightly off, I couldn’t help but smile. Sometimes what we wear outside helps us mirror what we wish we felt on the outside. Plus we get golden dialogue exchanges like this between her and her brother:

He stopped suddenly, “Why are dressed like that? Like a – what are you?”
“Ninja.”
“Why are you dressed like a ninja?”
“Why wouldn’t you want to dress like a ninja?”

Every other character in this story is equally as well written, and just as full of the same kind of vibrant personality traits. It’s not hard to see how easy it is to immediately fall in love with any of them. Especially Florg. A man… erm…. shimmer after my own heart. After all, who doesn’t like Cheese-Its? Seriously though, this ragtag group, this little makeshift family, are truly easy to appreciate and want to root for. You’ll see the trouble that they’re about to get into coming at them full force, and yet you’ll know that they can beat it as a team. I love when a group of characters has chemistry like that. It’s a wonderful thing.

My other favorite part about this book was the way that it handles the idea of “monsters” or what makes someone an “other”. Molly and Dustin are surrounded by all manner of odd entity. Their world is nothing like the one that Molly originally came from, and it would be easy for her to shun it all and in live in her comfortable bubble. Instead, real growth is shown here. There are messages about friendship, giving people a chance, and of course not judging someone before you know them. After all, it is definitely what is on the inside that counts. Here’s another of my favorite quotes, and I think this one is going on my wall.

“Monstrousness isn’t because of you who are, but because of the choices you make.”

My only complaint about this story was that it was written a little confusingly in terms of the age group it would be geared towards. The characters, and the messages present, feel like they are aimed at the lower end of the MG group. Very simple, and palatable. There isn’t anything overly scary, or dangerous present in this story. The dialogue, however, felt a little more geared towards the older readers in this age group. Which, I’ll admit, I loved. As a younger reader this book would have delighted me with all of the new vocabulary available to gobble up. So, I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing. I just wish it felt more seamless.

Still, this was an excellent read! As you can tell, most likely, from how long I’ve gushed on. Please give Dust & Grim a place on your spooky season reading list! This would be a great read-together book, or one for a chapter a night at bed time. Happy reading!

Every couple of weeks I go through anticipated releases on amazon and the last time I did that I saw Dust & Grim and added it to my ever growing wish list as it sounded so perfectly creepy for the soon to be dark evenings. So you can imagine my surprise and excitement when I saw TBR Tours & Beyond were running a blog tour I knew that I wanted a place on the tour.

I am not going to spoil anything about this book but to say that I found it an incredibly dark and comedic Middle Grade which is perfect for this time of year and I know that anyone who likes a little bit of a spooky vibe will eat up this book. I do hope we get to see more of Molly and Dustin as I really liked them as characters and thought that them being the polar opposite of each other really made the story and I actually felt sorry for Molly and the predicament she was in. Then you had the side characters who kept me entertained like I never knew a Vampire could be called Dave until Chuck had written his book. One thing that did enthral me were the descriptions of the forest were so atmospheric I thought I was actually there.

Finally before I give my rating I would like to thank TBR Tours & Beyond for allowing me a place on this tour and to the publisher for sending me an Ebook arc via Netgalley. So for all these reasons Dust & Grim are awarded 4 stars

I really like this book and I look forward to more middle grade by Chuck Wendig. It was such a fun read.

Rating: 4/5
This book is such a fun story and perfect for middle-grade readers! I absolutely adored the MC - her snarky attitude and quick retorts made me smirk on numerous occasions. While the storytelling is not perfect, the nit-picking of certain areas just isn't necessary as the story was so entertaining for my "middle-grade self". The interaction between the siblings was spot on and I mean, a mortuary for monsters?! I loved the concept of this book so much and a perfect story for this time of year!

Special thanks to @tbrbeyondtours & @chuck_wendig for allowing me to be a part of this tour and for the pleasure of reading a great spooky story!!

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review.

After 13 year old Molly loses her neglectful father, she learns that she's got an older brother she never knew about. And that at some point her mom decided to keep her brother and let her father take her. Which is a lot for a teenager to take in. But on top of all that news, she finds out that when her mom passed away, she left her father an inheritance he never claimed. Molly and her Uncle Gordo head to her mom's house to meet her brother Dustin. But something seems..... off. Turns out the family business is managing a funeral home for.... beings that aren't exactly human. While Molly and Dustin butt heads, someone in their lives turns out to be something other than what they seem and now Molly and Dustin have to work together to save everything.

It took me a little bit to get into DUST & GRIM, I wasn't a huge fan of the style of the dialogue. But once the story got going I really enjoyed it. There are a few plot holes that are never resolved, but overall I enjoyed this take on a monster mortuary. I loved the wolves and wanted more of Mothsead.

This is a perfect Middle Grade novel to add to your spooky reads for the Halloween season!

→ 3.5 Stars

I haven't read any of Chuck Wendig's work before (surprising seeing as he has 160 distinct works on Goodreads!!) but his name is definitely recognisable for me so when I saw he was coming out with a horror middle grade debut, I had to join the blog tour!

Dust & Grim follows Molly Grim who is determined to get her share of the family business from her older brother after their parents deaths in order to go to costuming school. What she doesn't realise is that the so called family business isn't just a simple funerary service and she may have just unleashed a monster determined to destroy it and them.

I'm a huge fan of middle grade mysteries and horror-esque reads and a book about two siblings running a monster mortuary immediately grasped my attention. I was a little worried that the contents might read a little young for me but this one definitely falls on the older side of the scale for middle grade. The writing is fun and modern but still has a maturity about it, owing to Wendig's extensive experience. I loved how fast paced it was as well, this may have added to some lack of development in a few areas but I was so engaged with the plot itself and what was going to happen next that I can forgive it for that.

Molly Grim as our main character and introduction to this supernatural business was super snarky, inquisitive and stubborn. Whilst she's very mature for her age and believes she can be completely independent ultimately she's missed out on having a real family and underneath all her sarcasm she just wanted to have a relationship with her brother. Dustin (the titular dust) is shouldering being in charge of the family business and attempting to keep it running as steadily as his mother did. I don't feel like we really got to know his character as much as we did Molly's though, he opened up a bit towards the end but I wished the characterisation had been a bit more equal. It was fun seeing how much they butted heads though but were slowly realising that they made a great team.

I was drawn in by the plot itself from the beginning. We're thrown straight into the story, Molly showing up and inserting herself into her brother's life in order to uncover any secrets that will lead to the inheritance. It's a really fun concept, a funeral business for monsters and supernatural creatures. Wendig fleshes it out well and at no point did I believe that this idea wasn't viable! The conflict was exciting and was a great way for Molly and Dustin to unite in order to figure out how to defeat it. I really enjoyed being introduced to 'The Watchers' too, different magical beings that aid in keeping everything in the supernatural world running smoothly including vampires, fae and the nonmaterial like Florg!

I think the reason why my rating is a 3.5 lies with wanting to know more about the actual funeral process and to learn more about the different creatures. We get glimpses into it and the groundwork is all laid out but the focus shifted to stopping the "rogue devourer" by the middle of the book. The monster mortuary was what pulled me in and I thought that's what it was going to centre on rather then just being the setting. Chuck Wendig also really likes a pop culture reference, this book is jam packed full of them. Whilst they'll probably work for a younger reader, I did find there was a bit too many of them. I also found it odd that there were recognisable mentions such as Star Wars but a lot of them particularly to do with Molly's cosplay only existed in the world of this book. Sometimes I just didn't know what I was supposed to be getting out of them.

Overall, this is an entertaining and hilarious monster adventure. Full of sarcastic one liners and plenty of interesting otherworldly characters, I had heaps of fun going along for the ride. Readers will love the humour and horror elements. I really hope Chuck Wendig has plans to turn this into a series as there is so much potential for further shenanigans with Molly and Dustin as well as getting to further explore the family business. I would definitely pick up a sequel as well as being more inclined to pick up Wendig's other books from now on.

Chuck Wendig’s wit shines through in his MG debut, DUST & GRIM. Molly, a young girl who dreams of going to art school for costuming, is reunited with her (unknown-to-her-until-now) older brother. Molly is snarky and prickly, and unafraid to say whatever it is she’s thinking. But we quickly learn that she isn’t very comfortable in her own skin, and would rather dress up in one of her many cosplay costumes to become someone new. It isn’t until after the death of her father and the appearance of her sleazy lawyer-uncle that Molly learns of the existence of her older brother and her mother (also deceased) who abandoned her at birth. What follows is a heart-twanging emotional journey, with Molly desperate to find a place to belong within this family she never knew existed, while also following the orders of her uncle to “get a piece” of the family business, a mortuary steeped in mystery.

Molly’s older brother, Dustin, constantly pushes her away, partially influenced by Viv, an old friend of the family who helps run the business. Magical mishaps follow, and Molly becomes a key factor in a major, world-altering blunder when she steals a key and allows a trespasser into the magically-secured cemetery the family business is in charge of protecting.

I enjoyed the lead-up to the mystery of the business and what role it fills for the magical world. However, the entire first half of the book drags, with Molly’s slow discovery of clues bordering on plodding and the too-convenient ways she obtains vital objects or information feeling unearned. Thinking back over the book, Molly has very little agency in how she gets this information or discovers these objects—they are handed to her by other characters at convenient moments and she takes these items/info and runs with them. It would have been much more satisfying to see Molly work out clues to lead her to the locations of these objects or find ways to discover this information herself, rather than be told outright.

It was near the 50% mark that we learned what the family mortuary business is and who it caters to, but by that point it felt a little too little/too late. It certainly felt like a different book with a completely different goal. A whole slew of characters were introduced and a new conflict emerged. The only thread holding these two halves together was Molly’s desire to find her place in this family, and Wendig’s humor that continued to ooze between the pages. Unfortunately, Molly’s brother did not become more endearing or relatable as the story progressed, so there wasn’t enough emotional pull to make me want to witness them working out their differences. By the end I’d lost interest in their individual stories and was put off by some confusing world-building.

Overall, this book felt a bit too long, with characters that didn’t feel fully developed and a world that could have used a bit more finessing. It was Wendig’s way with words that kept my interest in the story, along with some charming characters that were introduced around the 50% mark. I wish we’d had more time with these side characters, as they provided comedic relief and offered a peek into the magical world just out of reach of our own.

The perfect middle grade blend of silly, gross, and scary. It has the kind of snarky, witty humor that makes kids feel good when they get it.

There’s also a lot of heart and genuine feelings that are good lessons about love, responsibility, and trust.

A great adventure.

I wasn’t able to get passed the fourth chapter. I didn’t find the characters enjoyable or likeable at all and it turned me off